The Meaning of Power for Female Arab Social Workers under the Youth Law

Israel's Youth Law (Care and Supervision), 1960 grants social workers power, authority and responsibility to intervene to protect minors at risk. But female social workers in Israel's Arab population function in a traditional society in which women's power is often labelled as negative and unfeminine, and power is primarily seen as indicating masculinity. Moreover, the law is perceived as symbolising the Israeli establishment, which the Arab population has experienced as ignoring its substantive problems, such as violence and crime.In this context, a qualitative study using a semi-structured interview was conducted among twenty female Arab social workers employed in Israeli welfare bureaus under the above-mentioned Youth Law, in an attempt to understand the meaning of power for them.The analysis of the findings revealed that some participants used different terminology from the others in describing the power granted them by the law and that this terminology affected how they fulfilled their role, the relation between them and the population they served and their relations with the service users. The article describes the meaning for female Arab social workers in Israel of the power that the country's Youth Law (Care and Supervision), 1960 grants them. The social workers' situation-between the Arab population, a traditional, patriarchal society and the position that grants power-is complex. The article describes how the meaning that these social workers give to that power influences their perception of their job and their relation with the population. Those who view their mandate as responsibility succeed in obtaining the Arab population's esteem and cooperation. However, social workers who view the power of the law as strength and influence have fraught relations with the population and some do not stay in the job.