Between Us and Them: Deaf Bedouin Women’s Perception of the Role of Social Workers

Abstract

Abstract Israel’s Bedouin minority, with unique socio-demographic and cultural characteristics, has a higher incidence of deafness than that reported worldwide. Because they lack suitable social services, local access to information and public transportation, deaf Bedouins live in a challenging social context. Most social workers are hearing people untrained regarding this population and lacking proficiency in sign language. This complicates the therapeutic encounter. Most of the Bedouin service users are women, who contend with triple discrimination deriving from their gender, disability and socio-ethnic affiliation. Therefore, this qualitative study using semi-structured interviews of twenty-three deaf Bedouin women focuses on how they perceive the social workers in the local social services bureaus. We found that they view the social worker as a person to whom one can complain, who is supposed to look out for one’s rights, whom it is unpleasant to meet and who abandons them in a struggle. They also expressed ambivalent feelings towards their social workers: anger and frustration but also compassion and pity. The discussion focuses on the role of the social worker, the influence of acculturation and the three-way therapeutic encounter. Recommendations include equipping social workers with communication skills, knowledge about the population and skills for changing oppressive policy.

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