Understanding the consideration of strategies for coping with locality violence in Arab society in Israel

This study examined factors that were assumed to associate with consideration of two strategies in response to locality violence in ethnic minority population—intention to migrate away from the locality and readiness to participate in a fight against locality violence—through the lens of interactionist theory. Data were obtained from the Personal and Community Security Index Survey conducted among the Arab citizens of Israel in 2019 (N = 693). The data were analysed using logistic and multinomial regression models. The results showed that greater intention to migrate due to violence was associated with the perception of increase in the level of locality violence compared to the year before, greater extent of prior victimization, fear of victimization, and sense of threat in locality settings. In contrast, greater readiness to participate in a fight against violence was mainly associated with lower fear of victimization and a high trust in the police. The results mostly support the interactionist approach. They suggest that violence coping strategies in ethnic minorities are explained by almost totally different factors. Policymakers should develop long-term plans to prevent the mass migration due to violence in ethnic minority localities by increasing personal safety, mitigating the levels of violence and increasing institutional trust for cooperation with the police in fighting against locality violence.