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Short Bio:

Dr. Inna Levy is an applied criminologist. She holds a senior lecturer position in the Department of Criminology at Ariel University. Additionally, Dr. Levy is the Head of the Criminology and Law Enforcement track in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies at Zefat Academic College.

Academic Education

2003-2007   Criminology, Ph.D., Bar-Ilan University, Israel

2001-2003   Applied criminology, M.A., Bar-Ilan University, Israel

1998-2001  Criminology (major) and Sociology B.A., Bar-Ilan University, Israel

Research:

The two key directions in my research include the effects of victimization and the patterns of social reactions toward offenders, victims, and bystanders. My research on the effects of victimization addresses both mass and individual traumas. Regarding mass trauma, I conducted two extensive surveys on COVID-19's psychological effects on the general population and coined a new term: viruism. This new term emphasizes the multidimensional nature of pandemic-related victimization and allows us to examine COVID-19 effects in the historical context of prior pandemics. The surveys' findings underlined the mediating role of depression and fear of COVID-19 in predicting individual function, predicting happiness during the viral pandemic, and identifying the inter-relationship between gender, substance consumption, and psychological distress during COVID-19 lockdowns. Following the October 7th attacks on Israel, I have conducted two extensive surveys on psychological well-being among Israeli citizens. 


As for individual trauma, my research of rape victims' narratives contributes to a deeper understanding of the self-labeling process among victims and has practical implications for the therapeutic process and victims' recovery. Currently, I study narratives of bereaved families. I also explore parental alienation. Studies on parental alienation tend to focus on children and their parents' perspectives, ignoring the victimization of grandparents. My study addresses this research lacuna by focusing on grandparents estranged from their grandchildren due to parental alienation. The qualitative analysis of interviews with such grandparents unveiled an additional circle in parental alienation fallout and facilitated the identification of unique issues in grandparents' experiences. 


The second key theme in my research deals with social reactions toward bystanders, victims, criminals, and crimes. These studies expanded the knowledge of the psychological mechanism behind blaming bystanders in the context of rape, identified the relationship between ethnicity, offender-blaming, and victim-blaming, and underpinned the significance of traditional perceptions of gender roles to understanding attitudes toward a victim of female-on-male rape. Additionally, my studies determined the factors predicting public support of capital punishment and community correction and characterized the patterns of social reaction toward environmental damage. 

Publications:

REFEREED ARTICLES  

  1. Levy, I., Cohen-Louck, K., & Herzog, S. (2023). Public attitudes toward COVID-19 misbehaviors: Perceived seriousness of the misbehavior and perceived severity of the appropriate punishment. Frontiers in Psychology, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1177696

  2. Cohen-Louck, K., Levy, I., & Rozmann, N. (2023). A model for predicting fear of terrorism through fear of crime, gender, locus of control and coping strategies. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-023-09540-2

  3. Levy, I., Ben-David, S., & Levin-Gonen, R. (2023) Therapists’ experiences of aggressive behaviors among youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A qualitative analysis. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 45(2), 131-148, doi: 10.1080/07317107.2023.2167058

  4. Cohen-Louck, K., & Levy, I. (2023). Happiness during a mass trauma: Predicting happiness during the COVID-19 pandemic through function, stress, anxiety, and coping. Psychological Trauma-Theory, Research, Practice, & Policy, 15(3), 493-501. doi: 10.1037/tra0001314

  5. Avieli, H., & Levy, I. (2023). “I feel erased:” A qualitative analysis of grandparent experiences of parental alienation. Family Relations, 72(3), 976–992. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12704

  6. Levy, I., & Rozmann, N. (2023). Differences in attitudes toward terrorists: Type of terrorist act, terrorist ethnicity and observer gender and cultural background. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 26(2), 478-492. https://doi.org/10.1177/13684302211040112

  7. Rozmann, N., & Levy, I. (2023). Perceived suspect credibility: A brief report on association between suspect and observer gender. Journal of Gender Studies, 32(1), 48-58. DOI: 10.1080/09589236.2021.1930524

  8. Levy, I. (2022). Stress, anxiety, and depression in times of COVID-19: Gender, individual quarantine, pandemic duration and employment. Frontiers in Public Health. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.999795

  9. Levy, I., & Kerschke-Risch, P. (2022). Attitudes toward food fraud, food safety concerns, national culture, and self-labeling as a victim. Israel Affairs, 28(3), 501-522. https://doi.org/10.1080/13537121.2022.2066868

  10. Levy, I., & Berenson, A. (2022). Green criminology and rhetoric of public opinion: Online commenting on gas rigs near Israel's coast. Environmental Communication, 16(5), 630-644. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2022.2026799 

  11. Levy, I., Cohen-Louck, K., & Herzog, S. (2022). Predicting support of community corrections: Crime type and severity, and offender, observer, and victim characteristics. Punishment & Society-International Journal of Penology, 24(3), 346-366.

  12. Rozmann, N., & Levy, I. (2021). Attribution of blame toward offenders: Victim and offender ethnicity, and observer ethnic and religious background. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 30, 21-22, 10638-10659. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519885914

  13. Levy, I., & Rozmann, N. (2021). Modes of victim blaming in a case of stabbing: Victim and offender ethnicity and observer ethnicity and religious affiliation. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 85, 82-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2021.09.005

  14. Bony-Noah, H., Cohen-Louck, K., & Levy, I. (2021). Substances use between early and later stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel. Israel Journal of Health Policy Research, 10, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13584-021-00484-8

  15. Cohen-Louck, K., Levy, I., & Herzog, S. (2021). Predicting Israeli public support for capital punishment: Crime type and severity, offender, observer, and victim characteristics. Crime and Delinquency. 10.1177/00111287211029859

  16. Cohen-Louck, K., &  Levy, I. (2021). Viruism: The need for a new term describing COVID-19 impact in context of viral victimization. Psychological Trauma - Theory, Research, Practice, & Policy, 13(1), 1-8. doi: 10.1037/tra0000945

  17. Levy, I., Cohen-Louck, K., & Bonny-Noah, H. (2021). Gender, employment, and continuous pandemic as predictors of alcohol and drug consumption during the COVID-19. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 228, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.109029

  18. Levy, I., & Cohen-Louck, K. (2021). Predicting individual function during COVID-19 lockdown: Depression, fear of COVID-19, age, and employment. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 2439. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.682122

  19. Levy, I., & Kerschke-Risch, P. (2020). Attitudes toward food fraud in Israel and Germany. British Food Journal, 122(7), 2219-2232. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-10-2019-0785.

  20. Levy, I., & Eckhaus, E. (2020). Rape narratives analysis through natural language processing: Survivor self-label, narrative time span, faith, and rape terminology. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, & Policy, 12(6), 635-642. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000587

  21. Cohen-Louck, K., & Levy, I. (2020). Risk perception of a chronic threat of terrorism:  Differences based on coping types, gender, and exposure. International Journal of Psychology, 55(1), 115-122. doi: 10.1002/ijop.12552

  22. Levy, I., & Adam, K. M. (2018). Online commenting about a victim of female-on-male rape: The case of Shia LaBeouf's sexual victimization. Sex Roles, 79(9-10), 578-593. doi: 10.1007/s11199-018-0893-9

  23. Levy, I., & Reuven, J. (2017). Predicting punitive disciplinary techniques among juvenile care workers based on ethnicity, nationality, religiosity and belief in a just world. Child and Youth Care Forum, 46 (4), 519-537. doi:  10.1007/s10566-017-9393-2

  24. Aviad, Y., Levy, I., & Ben-David S. (2017).  Readiness to use psychoactive substances among second generation adolescent immigrants and their parents' migration-related trauma. Substance Use and Misuse, 52 (12), 1646-1655. doi: 10.1080/10826084.2017.1298618

  25. Aviely, H., Ben-David S., & *Levy, I. (2016). Predicting professional quality of life among professional and volunteer caregivers. Psychological Trauma-Theory, Research, Practice, & Policy, 8(1), 80-87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/tra0000066

  26. Levy, I., & Reuven, J. (2016). Educational instructors' attitudes toward juvenile inmates: The effect of inmate's role in criminal event and instructors' belief in a just world. International Journal of Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology, 62 (4), 1000-1017. doi: 10.1177/0306624X16660556.

  27. Levy, I., & Ben-David S. (2015). Mechanism of bystander-blaming: Defensive attribution, counterfactual thinking and gender. International Journal of Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology, 59 (1), 96-113.  doi: 10.1177/0306624X13503297  

 

Hebrew Refereed Articles

 

  1. Levy, I. (2021). Thematic analysis of online discussion on female-on-male rape: Characteristic of negative social reaction. Crimes and Penalties in Israel: Glimpse into Prison, 21, 166-181.

  2. Herzog, S., Levy, I., & Rozmann, N. (2019). Israeli public opinion regarding the death penalty: Crime type and respondents' gender and political affiliations. Crimes and Penalties in Israel: Glimpse into Prison, 20, 155-168.

  3. Levy, I., & Rothschild, T. (2015). Criminal activity among aliens from Africa. Crimes and Penalties in Israel: Glimpse into Prison, 17, 106-120.

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Books and Book Chapters

  1. Wilchek-Aviad, Y., Mazeh, Y., Ben-David, S., Levy, I., & Bonny-Noah, H. (Eds.). (2014). Silenced violence – men as victims. Ariel: Ariel University Publishing. (Associate Editor). [Hebrew]. 

  2. Ben-David, S., Levy, I., & Ben-David, B. (2012). Sexual harassment in the university and in the army in Israel. In H. Morosawa, J. J. P. Dussich, & G. F. Kirchhoff  (Eds.), Victimology and human security: New horizons (pp. 383-394). Nijmegen (NL): Wolf Legal Publishers. (Invited paper).

  3. Levy, I., & Ben-David, S. (2008). Blaming victims and bystanders in the context of rape. In N. Ronel, K. Jaishankar, & M. Bensimon, (Eds.). Trends and issues in victimology (pp. 175-191). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 

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