This study focuses on psychological processes and mental health of Palestinian former political prisoners who have faced severe traumatic experiences in forms of torture and other ill-treatment. The main aim of the present study was to examine why other political trauma victims survive from their traumatic experience quite well while others continue to suffer extensively. Consequently, first, the role of central personality structures, i.e., self- and other representations and working models of adult attachment, was examined in relation to posttraumatic adjustment (articles I, II). Second, the use and compatibility of dispositional and situational coping strategies and their association to mental health was studied (article III). Third, the role of self- and other representations in predicting successfulness of individual and group treatment was examined (article IV). The participants were Palestinian men from the Gaza Strip who had been imprisoned during the first Intifada, the national uprising for independence in 1987-1993.

The main results suggest, that even among these of highly traumatized men, there was a group of individuals whose internal view of self and others was worthy, capable and benevolent and that these positive internal representations or secure attachment working models acted as protective factors in terms of recovering trauma, both in terms of lesser amount of PTSD symptoms and more posttraumatic growth. Furthermore, active and constructive dispositional coping style was related to better mental health. Finally, the protective importance of these personality structures was reversely true in that the men with shattered representations needed most intensive, individually tailored treatment in order to recover and heal. More dramatically, men with negative mental representations did not recover at all when they participated in less intensive group treatment. Thus, the findings of this study strongly suggest that assessing central personality structures and processes, i.e. self- and other representations, attachment styles and coping strategies, provides significant understanding in helping the victims of torture and ill-treatment.