The Rise and Fall of Unemployment Insurance in Israel

The Israeli unemployment insurance (UI) programme was adopted in 1972 but, in the three decades since, it has undergone major changes. As a result of these changes, the programme is currently far less accessible and less generous than it was in its original form. This article documents the policy process that led to retrenchment of UI in Israel. This process was justified by a professed desire on the part of decision-makers to deal with the problem of the unemployment trap caused by UI and was facilitated by a legislative manoeuvre that enabled the State to overcome institutional obstacles to change within the Parliament.     

Decentralizing Social Services in Israel

This paper describes an attempt by the Israeli government to decentralize social services. Special attention is focused on the initiation of this planned effort of a highly centralized state. First, the Israeli culture is analyzed in terms of the delegation of authority and empowerment of citizens. Second, the principles of this planned change are summarized and results of two evaluation studies are presented. Several possible causes for the lack of success in decentralizing social services are suggested, followed by comments on the future of decentralization of social services in Israel.     

不确定性防范与城市务工人员主观幸福感：基于反事实框架的研究

本文基于2007年中国家庭收入调查数据,评估了不确定性防范对城市务工人员的影响,并获得了一些重要发现：(1)不同类型的不确定性防范措施对影响居民主观幸福感存在着显著差异,参与养老保险、失业保险和工伤保险能够显著提高城市务工人员主观幸福感,但参与医疗保险对城市务工人员主观幸福感没有显著影响;(2)四种不确定性防范手段对城市务工人员之间主观幸福感差异的总贡献率接近10%,其中参与失业保险的贡献率最大。进一步研究发现,城市务工人员主观幸福感变化符合享乐适应理论,即随着不确定性防范措施的逐步实施推广,城市务工人员的主观幸福感可能会返回到未采取不确定性防范措施前的水平。     

Social Work Practice in Gerontology in Israel

No abstract available for this article.     

Help-seeking among Muslim Arab Divorcees in Israel

The study investigated the help-seeking of Muslim Arab divorceesliving in Israel. Analysis of responses to Veroff et al.’sPatterns of Helpseeking Scale shows low rates of help-seekingby divorcees of both genders, yet higher rates among the femalethan among the male divorcees. They also show that the propensityto seek help increased with the experience of more stressfulevents around the divorce. The help-seeking patterns of themen and women were found to be quite similar. Both were moreinclined to seek emotional help and advice than instrumentalhelp. Both were more likely to seek help from informal thanformal sources. Both were more likely to seek help from theirfamily of origin than from any other source. Relatively fewdivorcees of either gender sought help from either their extendedfamily or from community or religious figures. The few who soughtformal help were more likely to turn to social workers thanpsychologists. These findings point to the continuing centralityof the family in the support system of Muslim Arabs in Israel,to the decline in the relevance of the community and religiousfigures who were once an integral part of the Arab support network,and to the fact that professional help has not yet filled inthe gaps left in the traditional support system.     

Probabilistic Insurance

Probabilistic insurance is an insurance policy involving a small probability that the consumer will not be reimbursed. Survey data suggest that people dislike probabilistic insurance and demand more than a 20% reduction in the premium to compensate for a 1% default risk. While these preferences are intuitively appealing they are difficult to reconcile with expected utility theory. Under highly plausible assumptions about the utility function, willingness to pay for probabilistic insurance should be very close to willingness to pay for standard insurance less the default risk. However, the reluctance to buy probabilistic insurance is predicted by the weighting function of prospect theory. This finding highlights the potential role of the weighting function to explain insurance.     

Assessment of Task-Centered Interventions with Families in Israel

The study describes and evaluates the effectiveness of task-centered interventions performed with families in two new neighborhoods in Jerusalem, Israel. Thirty-five low-income nondelinquent families experiencing financial, personal and family problems were treated by 11 social work trainees. Each worker performed a single-case time-series design to evaluate 2 to 4 families, using the Clinical Rating Scale and a Goal Attainment Scale. The families were interviewed at termination of treatment. Both practitioners' and families' assessments indicated improvements in the majority of clients. Improvements were associated with young age of spouses and with the application of the techniques of task assignment, focusing and guidance. The validity, generalizability, and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Child involvement in treatment planning and assessment in Israel

What can facilitate at‐risk children's involvement in treatment planning and assessment? We examine this question by investigating the perceptions, attitudes, and characteristics of Israeli social workers. We examine whether their seniority, views on the importance of children's participation, and their attitudes toward parents are related to their report of at‐risk children's involvement in treatment planning and placement decisions. At‐risk children's involvement includes preparing them to appear before the committees that handle placement decisions for youth and the social workers' willingness to consider children's opinions. Eighty coordinators of these committees in social services departments in Israel participated. Our findings indicate that, based on the coordinators' answers, at‐risk children are more likely to be involved in treatment planning and assessment committees when the child protection officers prepare parents prior to participating in the committee meetings, and when the coordinators assigned the case are more senior. The influence of children's opinions on the decisions of the committees was predicted by the weight their parents' opinions carried and whether their parents received any relevant materials prior to the committee meetings. Our findings highlight the importance of involving parents in treatment planning and assessment committees' decision making.     

Insurance buying gamblers

The puzzling coincidence of gambling and insurance has often been analysed by taking recourse to utility functions with convex and concave regions. In this paper we show that it may be optimal for utility maximizing risk seekers to engage in insurance and gambling activities simultaneously. A possible reason for this behavior is that these individuals try to take advantage of a moral hazard situation.     

车险“霸王条款”四面楚歌

汽车保险合同中的按责任赔付条款,车主们都非常熟悉。这一条款在执行中一直成了保险公司无理拒赔的护身符。在车辆损失保险合同中,通常有一条规定:保险车辆发生道路交通事故,保险公司根据驾驶人在交通事故中所负事故责任比例相应承担赔偿责任。若保险车辆方无事故责任的,保险公司不承担赔偿责任。这样的规定导致在实际理赔中出现了无责方索赔     

The Affection Effect in Insurance Decisions

We use insurance behavior as a context to study affective influences in seemingly purely monetary decisions. We report two related findings. First, people are more willing to purchase insurance for an object at stake, the more affection they have for the object, holding the amount of compensation constant. Second, if the object is damaged, people are also more willing to go through the trouble of claiming a fixed amount of compensation, the more affection they have for the object. These effects are not predicted by standard decision theories. We explain these findings by a consolation hypothesis, according to which, people perceive insurance compensation as a token of consolation, and we discuss its implications for affective influences in other types of decisions.     

Issues in Complementary Health Insurance in Belgium

This article attempts to assess the increasing role of complementary social insurance in healthcare in Belgium. As different players attempt to fill in the lacunae of the statutory social security scheme, the demarcation of their sphere of action and of their mutual relationship is becoming problematic. It is therefore interesting to see the evolution of solidarity and selectivity. The analysis of both categories and products in complementary health insurance indicates the limitations and the bottlenecks in coming years for the social security scheme on the one hand and complementary social insurance on the other.     

Social Relationships and Internet Use among Adolescents in Israel

Objective . This study examined the relationship between youth leisure activities, peer relations, and prosocial attitudes and the frequency of Internet use among adolescents in Israel. Methods . Hypotheses were tested using data from a face-to-face survey of a representative sample of the Israeli youth population ( n = 927) conducted in February 1998. Results . It was found that the lower an individual's level of attachment to close friends and the less prosocial attitudes he/she expressed, the higher was the likelihood of his/her being a frequent Internet user. However, Internet users were more likely than nonusers to participate in social activities such as parties, singers' performances, and sports activities. Conclusions . Contrary to public perceptions it appears that among the adolescent population of Israel, Internet use is not displacing other social activities. However, adolescents who are more socially isolated are more likely to be frequent Internet users. Future research should explore whether for this group, the Internet is being used to overcome individuals' barriers to the formation of social relationships.     

阜新矿区社会保障扬爱心风帆建和谐家园

阜新矿区是一个具有百年开采历史的老矿区,阜新市是国家惟一资源型城市经济转型试点城市。阜新矿区的部分企业实施了国家政策性破产,随着这项工作的开展,阜新市矿区社会保障管理中心应运而生。“中心”担负着矿区破产企业5万多离退休、工伤残等人员的管理服务,以及上万人的养老保险续保和劳动代理工作。社保工作是一项紧连着天地人的大工程,是社会治安的“稳定器”,和谐社会的“安全阀”,更是党和政府与人民群众的“连心桥”。面对这项关系社会经济发展与和谐稳定的事业,中心班子用科学发展观创新思想、创新机制,用热情、耐心、诚意、精心地…     

Evaluating SafeCare® in Israel: Benefits for the families

SafeCare® is a home‐based intervention programme targeting parents of children up to 5 years old and is designed to reduce and even prevent child abuse and neglect. Here, we present an evaluation of a pilot trial of SafeCare® in Israel, examining family's outcomes. We examined parents' behavioural changes resulting from the three main modules of SafeCare®: the Health, Safety, and Parent‐Child/Infant Interaction. We also studied the unplanned effects of SafeCare® by examining maternal depressive symptoms. Participants were 46 mothers with children identified as being at risk of neglect by the local Department of Social Services who completed the programme. The mothers filled out questionnaires at the beginning and at the end of their participation. After completing the programme, mothers' self‐reports showed changes in how they would treat a sick child, an increase in feelings of competency, and a decline in symptoms of depression. We thus conclude that SafeCare® helped the participating mothers, enhancing their feelings of competency and changing several of their behaviours.     

Public Attitudes toward Abortion in Israel: A Research Note

Objective . For the first time since the mid-1970s, this study explored sociodemographic correlates of abortion attitudes among Israeli Jews and compared them with those reported by the General Social Survey in the United States. Methods . A survey in the representative sample of Jewish adults living in urban areas across Israel ( N = 546) that included two related items on the attitude toward abortion for nonvital reasons. Results . Using multiple regression, four statistically and socially significant correlates of antiabortion attitudes were identified: Greater religiosity (especially Ultra-Orthodox affiliation), lower than average income, greater number of children, and right-wing political preference. Gender and age did not emerge as significant correlates of abortion attitudes. Whereas American Jews form the mainstay of the prochoice camp, Jews in Israel are clearly divided along the lines of religiosity, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and political views. Conclusions . In both Israel and the United States, the sociodemographic profiles of abortion supporters and opponents have been rather similar and stable over the last 25 years. This may point to the stable patterns of religiosity in both societies, since antiabortion sentiments have mainly been fueled by religious fundamentalism, regardless of formal denomination.     

Community Social Workers and Political Leaders in Municipal Settings in Israel

Community social workers (CSWs) have, in recent years, entered a community arena which was previously seen as the domain of local politicians. This study describes certain aspects of the extent and nature of their contact with political influentials. Findings indicate that Israeli CSWs interact with local politicians frequently. During 1 year of activity in 32 communities, influence attempts or "pressure" were recorded in 75% of the episodes-primarily against City Hall politicians, or by them. Although most politician pressures were to restrain the CSWs, at least one-quarter encouraged and supported them. Politicians presure social workers primarily for personal or party gain, and workers pressure politicians for the community's benefit and their own professional enhancement. In over two-thirds of the pressure episodes, workers opposed the politicians. There appears to be a group of younger, recently graduated, university-educated CSWs who are more actively engaged with local politicians than are other workers.