Self-Censorship in Contexts of Conflict: Theory and Research

This groundbreaking volume explores the concept of self-censorship as it relates to individuals and societies and functions as a barrier to peace. Defining  self-censorship as the act of intentionally and voluntarily withholding information from others in the absence of formal obstacles, the volumes introduces self-censorship as one of the socio-psychological mechanisms that prevent the free flow of information and thus obstruct proper functioning of democratic societies.  Moreover it analyzes this socio-psychological phenomenon specifically in the context of intractable conflict, providing much evidence from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Moving from the micro to the macro level, the collected chapters put the individual as the focal unit of psychological analysis while embedding the individual in multiple levels of context including families, organizations, and societies. Following a firm conceptual explanation of self-censorship, a selection of both emerging and prominent scholars describe the ways in which self-censorship factors into families, organizations, education, academia, and other settings. Further chapters discuss self-censorship in military contexts, narratives of political violence, and the media.  Finally, the volume concludes by looking at the ways in which harmful self-censorship in societies can be overcome, and explores the future of self-censorship research. In doing so, this volume solidifies self-censorship as an important phenomenon of social behavior with major individual and collective consequences,  while stimulating exciting and significant new research possibilities in the social and behavioral sciences.  Conceptually carving out a new area in peace psychology, Self Censorship in Contexts of Peace and Conflict will appeal to psychologists, sociologists, peace researchers, political scientists,  practitioners, and all those with a wish to understand the personal and societal functioning of individuals in the real world. .

 Forward– Daniel Bar-Tal -- Chapter 0 - Preface– Daniel Bar-Tal, Rafi Nets-Zehngut and Keren Sharvit -- Chapter 1 --  Self-censorship: The Conceptual Framework –Daniel Bar-Tal -- Chapter 2--  Self-censorship in the Family: The Double-edged Sword of Family Secrets — Alona Roded and Amiram Raviv -- Chapter 3-- Self-censorships in Organizations—Krystyna Adamska -- Chapter 4 -- Self-censorship as a Socio-psychological Barrier to Peacemaking — Boaz Hameiri, Daniel Bar-Tal and Eran Halperin -- Chapter 5 --  Self-Censorship of Narratives of Political Violence: Four International Case Studies (France-Algeria, Spain, Turkey-Armenians, Japan-Korea) ---Rafi Nets-Zehngut and Sagi Elbaz -- Chapter 6 --Self-censorship of Narratives of Political Violence in the Media-- Sagi Elbaz, Tamir Magal, Rafi Nets-Zehngut and Guy Abutbul -- Chapter 7--Self-censorship in Military Institutions -- Tamir Magal -- Chapter 8--- Between Solidarity and Openness: Self-censorship in Education—Soli Vered, Efrat Ambar, Shai Fuxman, Eman Nahhas Abu Hanna and Daniel Bar-Tal -- Chapter 9 -- Self-censorship of Narratives of Political Violence in the Academia -- Rafi Nets-Zehngut and Shai Fuxman -- Chapter 10 --The Difficulty of Determining Self-censorship in Fiction Texts – Yuval Benziman -- Chapter 11-- Self-censorship in Emerging Democracies: A Legal Perspective - Ofer Shinar Levanon -- Chapter 12 --Speaking Out and Breaking the Silence -- Ruthi Pliskin, Amit Goldenberg and Daniel Bar-Tal -- Chapter 13---Self-Censorship: Emerging Themes and Remaining Questions -- Keren Sharvit. .