Navigating a Distant Political Conflict: US Jewish Social Work Academics' Voices after the October 7, 2023

Background and Purpose

In recent decades, amid increasing global tensions and polarization, the social work profession has devoted significant attention to practice and education in the context of political conflicts. However, scant research has examined how social workers experience geographically distant conflicts. This gap is particularly striking, given that globalization and international migration have created environments where practitioners and service users may belong to communities originating from conflict zones, develop ideological or emotional ties to these conflicts, or be externally perceived as affiliated with particular sides. This study addresses this research gap by examining the experiences of Jewish faculty members at US schools of social work in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.

Methods

Grounded in social constructivist perspective, this study is based on a purposive sample of 31 Jewish faculty members at schools of social work across the United States. Participants represented diverse academic settings, positions (tenure, tenure track, research and teaching faculty); geographic locations, racial and ethnic backgrounds and years in the social work academy. Data collection employed in-depth semi-structured interviews, complemented by demographic face sheets. The interviews elicited participants’ perceptions, experiences, and coping strategies within social work academia as they navigated the geographically distant October 7, 2023, attack and the war that followed. All interviews were transcribed verbatim, and coded thematically using ‘Taguette’, a qualitative software program, guided by the constant comparative method approach.

Results

Findings reveal that despite geographic distance, the conflict deeply shaped Jewish social work faculty’s daily experiences, generating a sense of injustice across three interconnected levels. At the individual level, the conflict permeated professional interactions with students and colleagues, while also extending into their personal lives beyond academia. At the institutional level, faculty members faced campus tensions and perceived the responses from schools of social work and universities as inadequate, particularly regarding curriculum development. At the macro level, tensions emerged among the broader social work profession, including academic publishing and professional associations. These multilevel impacts fostered feelings of insecurity, loneliness, and betrayal, leaving Jewish faculty members to navigate what many experienced as a challenging and sometimes hostile academic environment despite their physical distance from the conflict zone.

Conclusions and implications

This study highlights the profound and multifaceted impact that geographically distant conflicts can have on social work faculty, shaping professional and personal experiences in ways that challenge conventional understandings of conflict proximity. Findings illustrate how US-based Jewish social work faculty navigated tensions at individual, institutional, and macro levels in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, attack and subsequent war. These insights underscore the need for academic institutions and the social work profession to foster more inclusive and supportive environments that acknowledge and address the complexities of global conflicts and their far-reaching consequences. Future research should explore experiences of diverse faculty populations and institutional responses to ensure that the social work academy remains a space for critical engagement, dialogue, and support in times of geopolitical crisis.