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עמוד:*36
* 36 intelligence activities became merely a business of import - export . For example, Peter Treves was assigned to a key economic position at the American Embassy in occupied Italy . Despite their position of “foreign aliens”, Italian Jews, unlike Japanese - American residents, worked for Uncle Sam and became a useful resource after the American invasion to South and Central Italy, recruited by military intelligence, and later by what would become the C . I . A . ( Idem ) . It is interesting to note that in these oral stories collected by Pontecorboli, terms like “despair,” “depression,” “collapse,” or “defeat” rarely appear . If they do appear they are related to old male migrants who couldn’t be reintegrated in a new line of work, couldn’t learn a new language, and failed to adapt to a new culture . Therefore, they couldn’t enjoy the fruits of decades of skilled careers . But in most cases, even regarding self - made adults, we can see outstanding flexibility in their ability to adapt to a new reality, to roll up their sleeves and to start from scratch, climbing the rungs step - by - step with their own resources . Reading story after story of Jewish fugitives to America as recounted by Pontecorboli, we can trace benefit finding . Examining the stories, how can we explain the lack of signs of pathology, as commonly assumed by medical literature ? Research nowadays came to a conclusion that can be seen as taken from the existentialist and so called “new age” literature . Today, there is overwhelming evidence that individuals facing a wide variety of very difficult circumstances, view them as highly positive ( Tedeschi and Calhoun, 2004 ) . Benefits from the experience of concentration camps were reported ( Frenkl, 1962 ; Bettelheim, 1960 ) . Post - traumatic growth has been documented in relation to various natural and human made events, including life threatening disease, terrorism, war, sexual abuse, immigration, death of loved ones, illness, criminal victimization Joseph and Linley, 2008 ) . There has been a long tradition of seeing human suffering as ( offering the possibility for the origin of significant good ( Tedeschi and Calhoun, 2004 ) . It appears that the phenomenon of post - traumatic growth 4 occurs in a wide range of people facing a wide range of circumstances, and surpassing even what was present before the adverse circumstances . Scholars have found that this growth is composed, among other things, of an increased appreciation for life, the awareness of marginal aspects of it, more meaningful relationships, starting new paths with a general sense of personal strength, and the discovery of new possibilities, meanings and ideals for one’s life ( Tedeschi and Calhoun, 1996 ) . Optimism, openness to experiences, self - confidence in coping, being supportive of others, disengagement from the past and self disclosure in supportive social environment can be among the predictors for a healthy coping with trauma and growth ( Butcher et al . , 2013 ) . Also named as resilience, thriving, drawing strength from adversity, transformational coping and positive 4 psychology .
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אדמוני, אריאל
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