Using Social Constructionist Thinking in Training Social Workers Living and Working Under Threat of Political Violence‪.‬

Living under conditions of political violence such as war and terrorism was for years an idiosyncratic local phenomenon. Such concerns were mostly theoretical for the Western world until the events of September 11 made living under conditions of political violence and uncertainty an existential reality for most of Western society. This situation is a challenge for helping professionals, who are seeing more cases characterized by trauma, massive stress, loss, and uncertainty. Furthermore, because helping professionals are themselves exposed to the political violence and uncertainty, their personal experience of it may affect their professional performance and result in their feeling overwhelmed and burned out. The tendency in such situations is to look for an expert who can propose the "right" and "ultimate" therapeutic intervention (Cwikel, Kacen, & Slonim-Nevo, 1993; Loewenberg, 1992; Pehrson & Thornley, 1992; Shamai, 1998). Most intervention programs for dealing with the stress created by political violence are structured and time-limited. Participants are taught about the effect of massive stress and trauma along with specific techniques for coping (Cwikel et al., 1993; Gal, 1995a, 1995b). Often, however, these training programs fail to take into account the personal and the professional experience of the participants, especially the expertise gained by living with the uncertainty created by political violence. Some participants express anger toward the "experts," claiming that they come to lecture and then disappear, leaving the participants in the stressful situation (Shamai, 1998).