![Sample our Health and Social Care journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5938/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Health-Social-Care.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
Determination, ingenuity, education, and religiosity have been associated with agency and resilience during trauma. Studies indicate that agency may be related to socioeconomic background and schemas prior to traumatic experience. This qualitative study thus examines agency as noted in the interviews of seventeen Holocaust survivors and members of the Holocaust Speaker’s Bureau, reflecting on their experiences before, during, and after the Shoah. Themes related to individual agentic responses in terms of socioeconomic background, relationships, routine versus immediate (ad hoc) survival response, determination, hope, and worldview are discussed and their meaning for future study of trauma and clinical practice is addressed.
KEYWORDS:
Acknowledgments
Our research would not have been possible without the exceptional and essential contribution of the participants and their families. We would also like to express our appreciation to the Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust Speaker’s Bureau and Elizabeth Edelstein, Vice President for Education for their support for our project.
Declaration of interest state
The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.