LONG-RANGE EFFECTS OF CONCENTRATION CAMP INTERNMENT ON NAZI VICTIMS - 25 YEARS LATER

Investigated long-range effects of concentration camp internment on survivors. It was hypothesized that the extreme and prolonged stress suffered by victims could be expected to have resulted in impoverishment of personality and dedifferentiation in both personality and perceptual-cognitive functioning. Ss consisted of 42 survivors--26 males and 16 females, ranging in age from 42 to 67 yrs--and 20 controls--9 men and 11 women of similar age, background, and education but who had escaped incarceration. The study was conducted in Israel, using a double-blind paradigm. All Ss were tested with 3 measures of psychological differentiation--the Embedded Figures Test, Human Figure Drawings, and the Block Design subtest of the WAIS. They were also given the Rorschach test, the Bender Gestalt Test, and the 16 PF. Findings tend to support the hypothesis. Survivors manifested evidence of impoverishment and constriction of personality and appeared to be less accessible, less connected, and more labile than controls. In perceptual-cognitive functioning, survivors tended to be more global, less complex, and less differentiated, and there were indications of breakdown of ego boundaries. Some evidence suggests that earlier incarceration led to more severe impairment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1978 American Psychological Association.