(WITHDRAWN) Social Service Knowledge Development in Mixed Cities: Challenges and Principles of Action

"Every time something happens in Israel between Arabs and Jews, it is directly reflected in the office and the tension between us increases.." (quote from an interview with the manager of a social services department in a mixed city).

Background and purpose: Mixed Jewish-Arab Palestinian cities in Israel are a challenge for public social services in promoting egalitarian and culturally competent social services in the context of ongoing ethnopolitical violence. Tensions between these communities often pose significant threats in the management of social services based on social work values of social justice, self-determination, and multiculturalism. This presentation discusses a case of community-based participatory knowledge development research aimed to create a context informed conceptual framework for the management of social services in mixed cities.

Methodology: This presentation is based on data from of a long-term collaborative research initiative anchored in Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR) methodology. The research population included thirty Jewish and Arabs-Palestinian managers and social work staff members from public welfare services in six mixed cities.

Findings: Findings focus on main challenges and operating principles identified in the research process. These challenges and operating principles include the need for strategic management planning to match the complexity of these contested urban settings, supervising Jewish-Arab Palestinian professional staff, developing services in the context of structured ethnic inequality, providing services in light of national and ethnic diversity, managing violent urban crisis, framing guidelines for community work in mixed cities, and affecting welfare national policy for mixed cities. The presentation will showcase initiatives and actions taken by welfare departments in the cities involved.

Conclusion and Implications: Principles of action developed from this research aim to address the complex demographic, social, and political challenges of providing welfare services in mixed urban contexts. However, their implementation requires welfare policies that recognize the unique challenges facing welfare services in these conflicted urban settings. These policies must prioritize these cities in terms of budget, professional resources, professional leadership development and training. Public social services may play a vital role in the promotion of non-violent and egalitarian urbanism, especially in the context of highly fragmented cities.