Arabization of social work in Israel’s native Arab minority: potential and obstacles

ABSTRACT

In 2006, the Israeli Ministry of Welfare recognized the BSW degrees of two Palestinian and one Jordanian institutions, which enables their Israeli-Arab graduates to work in Israel’s social services and thus potentially assist in indigenizing social work in the country’s minority Arab society. Based on 38 interviews with some of these graduates, their supervisors and colleagues, this research found that such indigenization is indeed beneficial to many of the people they assist but encounters substantial obstacles in gaining ground. It is suggested that introducing studies on Arab society into Israel’s schools of social work, stressing its religious base and the interventions derived thereof, and increasing the number of their Arab lecturers would help advance this indigenization process.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenization
• religion
• Arab minority
• Israel
• Arab social work training programs

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Oral teachings that complement the Koran including all the words, acts, reports, biographies and ethical or moral features of the Prophet Muhammad.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ibrahim Mahajne

Dr. Ibrahim Mahajne coordinates social policy studies in Zefat Academic College, and in the past headed the Department of Social Work in al-Quds University and lectured in The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv University. His major areas of study are the development of social policy in the Palestinian National Authority, social policy towards Israel's Arab minority, and the indidenization of social work in Arab society.

Arnon Bar-on

Prof. Arnon Bar-On established and heade Tel-Hai's College's Department of Human Services and teaches macro social practice in the college's Department of Social Work. In the past he taught in The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa, Hong Kong University and the University of Botswana. His major pulications cover child services, street children, social work in practice, indigenous social work, and pariticpatory rural appraisal (PRA).