The politics of immigration policy in Israel

"This article examines the policies adopted by the former Likud government--and largely continued by the present Labour-led coalition government which took office in the second half of 1992--to absorb the 400,000 new immigrants (most from the former Soviet Union) who arrived in Israel between 1989 and 1992. As part of that examination, we will critically review the major features of current absorption policies, such as the policy of 'direct absorption', the 'basket of absorption services' provided as a right to new immigrants, and immigration-related housing policies. In addition, we will explore the effects of employment policy on the new immigrant population." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)     

Mobile Persons: Cell phones,Gender and the Self in North India

In this article I analyse the varied ways mobile phones are integrated into the daily lives of low-income people and the implications for courtship practices, marriage relations and kinship ties. Rather than offer a celebratory analysis of the mobile phone's empowering effects, my ethnographic research reveals a more complex story, one that shows how the presence of the mobile both reinforces and undermines gender roles and institutions of authority. Conceptually, I argue that mobile communication provides insights into north Indian personhood as ‘nodal’, while also stimulating new practices and ideologies that render this technology central to the struggle for (and over) power and domination.     

Social workers' attitudes to the law: an Israeli perspective

Doron I, Karpel M, Or‐Chen K. Social workers' attitudes to the law: an Israeli perspective
Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 95–103 © 2009 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. In recent years, there has been a general shift towards integration and cooperation between lawyers and social workers, both professionally and ideologically. The goal of this study was to explore the general attitudes of social workers toward the law. The hypothesis was that, due to the recent legal and professional changes in Israel, social workers would express positive attitudes towards the law. For the purpose of this study, a closed questionnaire containing 25 statements regarding the law and its relationship to social work was used. The research population consisted of 202 social workers from Haifa and the Northern region of Israel. The findings of this study support the hypothesis that there is indeed a tendency to closer ideological and professional proximity between social work and the law in Israel. However, especially regarding courts and the litigation process, their attitudes in response to the statements were relatively less favourable.     

The privatization of social services in Israel and its effects on Israeli society

The privatization of social services is gaining popularity worldwide, and it is occurring in places as diverse as the United States and central and eastern Europe. It is also a concept that is now being widely adopted in Israel, where it is having a dramatic effect on the structure and function of Israeli social services. This article critically examines the issues involved in privatizing social welfare service in Israel. First, we explore the relationship between Israel's mixed welfare economy and privatization and examine the driving forces behind it. Second, this article investigates the moral and social dimensions of privatizing social in Israel and the implications of injecting the United States model of privatization directly into the Israeli welfare state. Finally, we explore whether privatization will lead to a better and more efficient method of funding and delivering social services in Israel.