Minority social workers permanently leaving the profession: extent, motivations and implications
The research investigated the scope, motivations and implications of Palestinian minority social workers permanently leaving the profession. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with ten former social workers. It was found that leaving their social work posts, either temporarily or permanently, was a rare occurrence in Palestinian society. The few who abandoned the profession explained that two factors hindered their proper functioning and provision of appropriate services: a severe lack of essential resources; and inappropriate intervention programmes for the unique nature of Arab culture. Those who left the profession expressed satisfaction with their new careers, working as self-employed or senior employees, explaining that their new work compensated for the deficiencies endured in social work. Their departure seems to be a direct result of the socio-political context in which Palestinian social work develops, in particular, Israeli government policies that do not adequately address the needs of Palestinian society’s welfare services.
-
Abu-Badar, S. (2000) Work satisfaction, burnout and turnover among social workers in Israel: a causal diagram, International Journal of Social Welfare, 9(3): 191–200, doi: 10.1111/1468–2397.00128.
-
Akbar, A., Amir-Rashid, M. and Farooq, O. (2018) The relationship between high performance work system and continuance commitment to change: an economic exchange perspective, Journal of Management Sciences, 5(1): 3–17, doi: 10.20547/jms.2014.1805101.
-
Allassad Alhuzail, N. and Mahajne, I. (2021) Social work in a conflict context: challenges facing social workers with indigenous inhabitants of unrecognised villages in Israel, International Journal of Social Welfare, 30(1): 97–105, doi: 10.1111/ijsw.12427.
-
Arazi, T., Moran-Gilad, L., Nimer-Furstenberg, R., Haran, D., Cohen, Y. and Yaniv, O. (2020) The Status of the Social Worker: An International Review, Jerusalem: Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute (in Hebrew).
-
Ghanem, A. and Mustafa, M. (2018) Palestinians in Israel: The Politics of Faith After Oslo, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
-
Gharrah, R. (2018) Arab Society in Israel (9): Population, Society, Economy, Jerusalem: Van Leer Institute Press (in Hebrew).
-
Hadad-Haj Yahya, N., Saif, A., Kasir, N. and Fargeon, B. (2021) Welfare in Arab Society: Poverty, Government Policy and Helplessness of Local Authorities, Jerusalem: The Israel Democracy Institute (in Hebrew).
-
Hu, H., Wang, E., Si, J., Sui, X., Zheng, Y., Zhiqi, Z. and Liu, H. (2021) Professional identity and turnover intention amongst Chinese social workers: roles of job burnout and a social work degree, British Journal of Social Work, 52(3), 1703–1723. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcab155b.
-
Hussein, S., Moriarty, J., Stevens, M., Sharpe, E. and Manthorpe, J. (2014) Organisational factors, job satisfaction and intention to leave among newly qualified social workers in England, Social Work Education, 33(3): 381–96, doi: 10.1080/02615479.2013.806467.
-
Itzick, M. and Kagan, M. (2017) Intention to leave the profession: welfare social workers compared to health care and community social workers in Israel, Journal of Social Service Research, 43(3): 346–57, doi: 10.1080/01488376.2016.1246402.
-
Kagan, M., Orkibi, E. and Zychlinski, E. (2018) ‘Wicked’, ‘deceptive’, and ‘blood sucking’: cyberbullying against social workers as claims-making activity, Qualitative Social Work, 17: 778–94, doi: 10.1177/1473325017694952.
-
Knesset (2020) Meeting of the Welfare and Health Committee on the shortage of manpower and a heavy burden on social workers, Minutes No. 551g in Tammuz 5764, 29 June, https://main.knesset.gov.il/Activity/committees/Labor/Pages/CommitteeMaterial.aspx?ItemID=2142051(in Hebrew).
-
Kuvaas, B., Shore, L., Buch, R. and Dysvik, A. (2020) Social and economic exchange relationships and performance contingency: differential effects of variable pay and base pay, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 31(3): 408–31, doi: 10.1080/09585192.2017.1350734.
-
Levenberg, M. and Glanz, D. (1979) Dropout of social workers – diagnostic methods, Society and Welfare, 2(3): 267–82.
-
Lincoln, Y. and Guba, E. (1985) Naturalistic Inquiry, Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
-
Lincoln, Y., Lynham, S. and Guba, E. (2011) Paradigmatic controversies, contradictions and emerging confluences, revisited, in N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln (eds) The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research, London: Sage Publications, pp 97–128.
-
Liu, Y., Loi, R. and Ngo, H.Y. (2020) Linking organizational social exchange to intention to leave: does normative commitment matter?, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 31(13): 1663–83, doi: 10.1080/09585192.2017.1423097.
-
Loewenberg, M.F. (1979) The causes of turnover among social workers, The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 6(5): 622–42.
-
Mahajne, I. (2018) Training Arab students for social work in Israel: where is it headed?, lecture presented at Macro Matters, 2nd National Conference: Training, Teaching and Research in Macro Areas in Social Work, Zefat Academic College, 27 February (in Hebrew).
-
Mahajne, I. and Allassad Alhuzail, N. (2022) Culturally competent social work in Arab-Palestinian locality welfare bureaus in Israel: is it possible?, The British Journal of Social Work, 52(6): 3366–84. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcab241.
-
Mahajne, I. and Bar-On, A. (2022) Coming of age? On the professionalisation of social work in Israeli–Palestinian society in the new millennium, Critical and Radical Social Work, 9(2): 237–52, doi: 10.1332/204986020X16031174884015.
-
Mahajne, I. and Bar-on, A. (forthcoming) Arabization of social work in Israel’s native Arab minority: potential and obstacles, Social Work Education, doi: 10.1080/02615479.2021.1933930.
-
Mahajne, I., Allassad Alhuzail, N. and Bar-on, A. (2021) Arab Muslim social workers between the Sharia and Western interventions and their coping mechanisms, Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, 40(4): 459–74, doi: 10.1080/15426432.2021.1924099.
-
Mahajne, I., Allassad Alhuzail, N. and Bar-On, A. (2022) Challenges facing social work in the indigenous Arab minority in Israel: voices from the field, The British Journal of Social Work, 52(2): 816–32, doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcab069.
-
McFadden, P., Moriarty, J., Schroder, H., Gillen, P., Manthorpe, G. and Mallett, J. (2020) Growing older in social work: perspective on systems of support to extend working lives – findings from a UK survey, The British Journal of Social Work, 50(2): 405–26, doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcz165.
-
Mor Barak, M., Nissly, J. and Levin, A. (2001) Antecedents to retention and turnover among child welfare, social work, and other human service employees: what can we learn from past research? A review and meta-analysis, Social Service Review, 75(4): 625–62, doi: 10.1086/323166.
-
Patton, M.Q. (2002) Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods, 3rd edn, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
-
Peled, Y. (1993) Foreigners in utopia: the civil status of Palestinians in Israel, Theory and Criticism, 3: 21–35 (in Hebrew).
-
Ravalier, J.M. (2020) UK Social Workers: Working Conditions and Wellbeing, Bath Spa University.
-
Shier, M. and Graham, J. (2015) Subjective well-being, social work, and the environment: the impact of the socio-political context of practice on social worker happiness, Journal of Social Work, 15(1): 3–23, doi: 10.1177/1468017313503449.
-
The Social Workers’ Report on Change (2020) Social Loss: The Experiences of Social Workers in Israel, Tel Aviv: Social Workers’ Association (in Hebrew).
-
Wang, Y., Jiang, N., Zhang, H. and Liu, Z. (2020) Organizational justice, burnout, and turnover intention of social workers in China, Journal of Social Work, 21(3): 456–75, doi: 10.1177/1468017320911347.
-
YouGov (2020) A Report on the Social Work Profession: For Social Work England, London: YouGov, www.socialworkengland.org.uk/media/3326/yougov-the-social-work-profession.pdf.
-
Zychlinski, E., Lavenda, O., Mahat-Shamir, M. and Kagan, M. (2021) Psychological distress and intention to leave the profession: the social and economic exchange mediating role, British Journal of Social Work, 51(3): 816–30, doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcaa223.
| May 2022 onwards | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 375 | 375 | 38 |
| Full Text Views | 1171 | 1171 | 93 |
| PDF Downloads | 576 | 576 | 72 |
We are a leading social science publisher
committed to making a difference.
Bristol University Press and
Policy Press
bristoluniversitypress.co.uk