The Impact of Political Conflict on Social Work: Experiences from Northern Ireland, Israel and Palestine

This paper investigates the impact of violent political conflicton social workers and service users in three countries: NorthernIreland, Israel and Palestine. Despite its significance forsocial work (and other helping professions), there is a dearthof research on the subject. The authors construct a researchframework which encapsulates the complexity and ambiguity ofthe issues at stake and three parallel empirical studies, whichfollow this framework, are presented. The findings highlightthe burden of working and living in a violent political conflict,not just for service users but also for social workers. Emotionalstress, fear, competing national and religious identities, yetsome indication of resilience, are key findings from these studies.A number of moral and professional dilemmas emerged across allthree studies, often testing loyalty to universal social workvalues. Thus, some respondents at times found it difficult todeal with colleagues and service users who were perceived tobe ‘the enemy’. These studies highlight the needto raise the consciousness of social workers, agencies and policiesabout such issues in a world which is increasingly afflictedby violent political conflict. Support, education and trainingfor social workers which transcend national contexts and furtherinternational research in this important area are recommended.