Minoritized Arab social workers’ attitudes and strategies concerning welfare services for Palestinians working with Israeli security services

Abstract

Summary

The research traced the attitudes of minoritized Arab social workers in Israel toward Palestinian “collaborators” with Israeli security forces and strategies that the social workers employ in interventions with them. Using a phenomenological approach, the research drew data from semi-structured in-depth interviews with 15 Arab social workers in Arab welfare bureaus in Israel.

Findings

The social workers voiced three main attitudes concerning their interventions for the collaborators, founded on seven considerations :(1) “refusal” based on religious and nationalist convictions; (2) “coerced” by binding legal stipulations, or explained by pragmatic reasoning; and (3) an “embracing” attitude based on professional, ideological, and socio-cultural principles. In line with these attitudes, those who refuse to intervene for the collaborators’ benefit are willing to pay any administrative price for their refusal; those who felt forced to intervene indirectly harmed collaborators’ chances of receiving an adequate response to their needs, neglect addressing collaborators’ problems, or selectively assisted the collaborator's family members, while those who embrace the collaborators, assisted according to the bureau's procedures or mobilized the system's assets for the collaborators’ benefit.

Applications

The findings raise questions concerning professional knowledge and training and policy-making for social work interventions in conflict areas in general and especially with “non-victims.”