Characterization of Stress Situations and Coping Strategies among Arab Bedouin Teenagers Living In Unrecognized Villages‎ in Israel

The lives of Bedouin teenagers in the unrecognized villages are complex and characterized by duality- on one hand, they face the universal challenges of their age, and on the other hand, they struggle with new challenges resulting from the conflict between their traditional systems and the urban ones.‎

‎This study is based on the transactional model of Lazarus and Folkman (1984). ‎The coping strategies derived from this model were examined mainly in Western populations.‎ ‎In studies conducted in non-Western ones, the results were inconsistent.‎ ‎Therefore, the purpose of this study is to characterize unique stress situations Bedouin teens cope with and their coping strategies.‎ ‎In addition, it aims at understanding whether coping strategies help them deal with stressors in the same way they help people from Western societies.‎

‎Due to the characteristics of adolescence in general and the characteristics of adolescents in the traditional Bedouin society in particular, it was decided to use an art-based research method.‎ ‎The present study is divided into two parts. ‎After analyzing the results of the first part, which is a pilot, it was decided to conduct the other part, whose results have not been analyzed yet.‎

The analysis of the paintings and explanations from the first part showed three main themes of stressful situations that characterize the lives of Bedouin teens: (1) study pressure; (2) natural disasters; (3) road accidents. An interesting finding was that Bedouin teens focus on painting and explanation of stressful situations more than on coping strategies.