שירותי רווחה ציבוריים בערים מעורבות: תפיסות העובדים

Background: Mixed cities are a subject of growing academic interest in Israel and internationally. However, there is still a lack of research on the role of public social welfare services in the management of diversity and inequality.Aims: This pioneer study examined the role of social welfare services in Israeli mixed cities, with emphasis on three main issues: perceptions of a mixed city; the experience of working in a mixed city; and provision of social services in a mixed city.Methodology: Based on a qualitative-constructivist approach, the research was conducted in three mixed cities (Acre, Haifa, and Jerusalem). It included in-depth personal interviews with 80 employees, and three focus groups with 24 participants. Findings: The findings reveal that the participants had three main perceptions of mixed cities: cities of coexistence, segregation, or division. Similarly, the participants’ professional experience varied by the city, the organizational deployment of services, and the participants’ national identity. The findings highlight the challenges involved in provision of social services, such as: language barriers, the degree of compatibility between the social worker's ethnic-national identity and that of the client, and the lack of services for the Arab minority.Implications: The findings highlight the need to develop professional training programs, social services, and policies that are able to respond to the cities' challenges. Social services in these cities are an important tool for managing the tense, unequal relations between Jews and Arabs that characterize these cities in the context of ongoing national violent conflict.