PROSPECTIVE TITLE:  BURDENED CHILDREN:  THE SUBJECT AREA
A social construction of resilience by children of survivors of the holocaust – “how to get on in life”  

EXPECTATIONS:
Studies of Holocaust survivors and their adult children, suggest a second generation complex' characterized by processes that affect separation from parents, identity, self-esteem, interpersonal interactions and worldviews. Stories of survival and loss, terror and strength have been relayed to the children by survivors during their formative years.  The resultant impact will be explored from the perspective of  compensatory strengths and moral persuasion.  New definitions of resilience will hopefully be discovered.

This exploration could result in:
Contribution to the current literature on 2nd generation holocaust survivors.  
Contribution to the current literature of Social Constructionist theory in relation to traumatic events.
An understanding of how people use living narrative to construct purposeful selves.
An exploration of the self-referencing story of the holocaust resulting from stories heard by children of survivors of the holocaust and resultant issues of identity, power and authority.
An understanding of how traits that enabled survivor-parents to survive the Holocaust resulted in positive attitudes to ‘how to get on’ in life; for example, traits such as resilience including: adaptability, initiative, and tenacity; task-orientation, coping skills and adaptability to change and strong family values.


RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND QUESTIONS:
A number of pokers will be put in the fire at the same time to inflame emerging results and course corrections to explore further new ideas as they emerge.

Transformation dialogues with small groups of adult children of holocaust survivors will be held beginning with a pilot.  To ensure no self-other dichotomy, I will be a full participant in the dialogue. The participants will receive an orientation package so that they know what has happened beforehand i.e. what the research has generally said --and where they are going.  Individuals will be contacted in advance as well to help build a trusting relationship.

Some of the interview questions will be framed with an Appreciative Inquiry (Cooperrider et al) lens to facilitate a shift in the causal narrative to a more emergent narrative.

For example, in relation to power and authority:
1. If you could change how you respond to authority, what would you change?
Or, an example in relation to positive impacts:
2. How has survivor stories given you strengths and capabilities you might not otherwise have had?

Ethical Considerations:
I believe the process is the message and that we effect change at an individual and system level the moment we step into a dialogue with a group of people, i.e. a human system.  For this reason, it would be an ethical imperative that any interview process ensures that individuals will not be harmed.

A contract with interviewees to ensure understanding of the process and purpose will be pursued.