Education of Jewish Children in Nazi Occupied Areas Between 1933–1945

Jacqueline Silver, School of Educational Leadership for Change

This inquiry looks at the efforts to educate Jewish children who lived under Nazi occupation in Europe and North Africa between 1933 and 1945. My research question asks what are the important factors that relate to understanding the improvised, and generally clandestine, education of Jewish children during the Shoah in German occupied areas between 1933 and 1945. My goal has been to offer answers to the questions who, what, where, how, and why Jewish children received education. The information has been retrieved from multiple sources in order to gain a comprehensive understanding not only of how Jewish children were educated but also the effects of this education on them emotionally, physiologically, socially, and morally.

Children, who lived in Germany during the rise of National Socialism and later in German ghettos and concentration camps, in orphanages, forests, or hidden in Christian homes, convents and monasteries, dealt with constant fear, trauma, hunger, and other terrible conditions. This work shows that despite severe restrictions there often were adults who took responsibility for providing children with “schooling” that gave them a semblance of normality and contributed to their lives in other ways. The conditions under which children lived during this period, the treatment they received from the adults with them, and their activities often determined, to a great extent, their survival and even conditions of their later lives.

Data for this study has been retrieved from several sources in order to corroborate historical information. It has come from biographies and memoirs, articles, documentary films, archived videotaped interviews of survivors as well as interviews conducted by the author.

Role and Effect of Social Determinants on Moral Judgment: A Study of Employee Behavior When Communicating Using Social Technology

Patricia Oelrich, School of Human and Organizational Development

Research from 20th and 21st century scholars demonstrates from any moral or cognitive perspective, that social determinants play a dominant role, particularly on ethical behavior. This study’s main purpose was to examine how employees’ ethical behaviors differ when using social technology as compared to traditional face-to-face communications. Using a practice lens, narrative inquiry was used to capture the lived experiences of 22 employees, including managers and senior managers, from three large, global companies (two highly regulated) that use social technologies in their everyday work situations.

The results of this study suggest that the use of social technologies in the workplace promotes ethical behavior, if guided by good leadership. While ethical leadership is always important, it is critical in environments where the audience is much broader, and leaders are more accessible. Leaders need to recognize the unique skill set required for optimized use of social technology in the workplace. They must build and invest in the management of their own reputation as an ethical leader.

Key Words: Ethical Behavior, Moral Psychology, Information and Communication Technology, ICT, Ethical Leadership, Ethical Infrastructure, Social Technology, Enterprise Social Technology, Ethics

The Relationship of Childhood Maltreatment and Adult Attachment Style to Adjustment to Chronic Pain in Adults Experiencing Chronic Pain

Leslie Blake, School of Psychology

This study investigated the relationship of childhood maltreatment, adult attachment style, and indicators of adjustment (pain catastrophizing, pain disability, and resiliency) to chronic pain in adults experiencing chronic pain. The researcher recruited 100 participants from two chronic pain rehabilitation clinics and a chronic pain online support group. Participants completed the Childhood Maltreatment Scales for Adults (CCMS-A; Higgins & McCabe, 2001), the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Short Form (ECR-S; Wei, Russell, Mallinckrodt, & Vogel, 2007), the Relationships Questionnaire (RQ; Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991), the Pain Disability Index (PDI; Chibnall & Tait, 1994), the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS; Sullivan, Bishop, & Pivik, 1995), and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC; Connor & Davidson, 2003). Initial findings using parametric statistical methods were compromised due to distributional characteristics (truncation and skew) of the data. Consequently, the researcher conducted alternative non-parametric PLS-SEM path analyses. The results of path analyses revealed significant associations between childhood maltreatment severity and insecure adult attachment style, pain catastrophizing, and pain disability. Adult attachment style partially mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and pain adjustment processes. Resiliency emerged as the pain adjustment variable most strongly predicted by childhood maltreatment severity and adult attachment style.

KEY WORDS: childhood maltreatment, childhood abuse and neglect, chronic pain, adult attachment style, pain adjustment, resilience, pain catastrophizing, pain disability