Job Stressors and Solutions: Perspectives of Social Workers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

ABSTRACT

Social work professionals experience job-related stressors often associated with compromised mental health. In low-resource, conflict settings, such as the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), structural and environmental obstacles pose additional challenges. This qualitative study identified stressors faced by 237 Palestinian social workers, current organizational strategies to reduce worker stress, and recommendations for new strategies. Content analysis identified 12 categories of stressors within five domains: role-related, interpersonal, organizational, societal, and miscellaneous. Current stress reduction efforts are perceived as ineffective, but numerous suggestions were offered for new initiatives. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.

Practice Points

• Palestinian public sector social workers face a litany of stressors at multiple levels, including role-related, interpersonal, organizational, and societal.

• In addition to the types of workplace stressors typically associated with social worker burnout and secondary traumatic stress, Palestinian social workers must also contend with stressors related to operating in a low-resource setting and under Israeli military occupation.

• While the Palestinian Ministry of Social Development is limited in its capacity to address many of the structural factors that contribute to worker stress, opportunities exist to promote worker well-being at an organizational level.

KEYWORDS:

• Social workers
• occupational stress
• burnout
• Occupied Palestinian Territories
• West Bank

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the leadership at the Ministry of Social Development (MOSD) within the Palestinian National Authority for support of this project. The authors are grateful to the dedicated social workers within MOSD who participated in the study and daily strengthen the social fabric of Palestinian civil society. Essential translation services were led by Ms. Ikram Estefan Easton, MS, and supported by Ms. Ghazlan Aldeweesh, MSW, Dr. Mohammad Thawabteh, Ph.D., and Dr. Omar Najjar, Ph.D. Ms. Jenna Canavan provided valuable support with manuscript preparation.

Disclosure statement

The lead translator (Ms. Ikram Easton) is the spouse of the first author (Dr. Scott Easton) and received payment for translation efforts.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Boston College through the Office of the Provost and the School of Social Work.