ISRAELI MORALE DURING THE GULF WAR

This paper reports findings of a study on the influence of theGulf War on the morale level of Israeli men and women. Havingat our disposal panel data from the pre-war period, we wereable to measure the changes in morale over time at the individuallevel by means of a standardized questionnaire. On the basisof previous theory and research, we expected that individualmorale would be affected by proximity to risk areas and by gender.The results indicate that, taking the panel as a whole, themissile attacks had only a small adverse effect on individualmorale. Contrary to our expectations, we found that people livingin high-risk areas did not experience greater decline in moralethan residents of the low-risk communities. However, there hasbeen a salient difference in the effect of the war on the basisof gender: whereas the morale of women did not change, we foundan appreciable decline in the morale level of Israel's men.These results are discussed in terms of the unique featuresof the Gulf War with regard to the civilian population: whilefemales were preoccupied with various activities related tothe needs of the family, Israel's men became demoralized becausethey were unable to perform their traditional roles as soldiersand protectors.     

Transitions On and Off AFDC: Implications for Parenting and Children''s Cognitive Development

The goal of current national and state legislation on welfare reform is to decrease the number of people who are dependent on public assistance, most of whom are mothers and their young children. Mothers' patterns of welfare receipt in the 3 years following the birth of a child were examined vis-à-vis their associations with maternal emotional distress (General Health Questionnaire), provision of learning experiences (Home Observation of the Measurement of the Environment), parenting behavior, and the child's cognitive test score (Stanford-Binet) in the third year of life. The data set was the Infant Health and Development Program, an eight-site randomized clinical trial designed to test the efficacy of educational and family support services in reducing developmental delays in low-birthweight, preterm infants (N = 833). Strong negative associations were found between receiving welfare and parenting behavior and child outcomes at age 3 years. Outcomes varied depending on when the mother received public assistance (earlier or later in her child's first 3 years) and family poverty status on leaving welfare. The parenting behavior of mothers who had left welfare by their child's third birthday was more likely to be authoritarian if she had left public assistance without also leaving poverty. Implications of these findings for the well-being of children in low-income families are discussed.