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This study was conducted in Israel. It shows that women, religious people and those with prior experience of receiving professional help from social workers have a higher likelihood of seeking help from social workers than men, non-religious people and those who have never received professional help from social workers (respectively). The conclusion of the research is that social workers must be aware of population groups who have a lower likelihood of seeking their help, and must act to promote education among these groups concerning the roles of social workers and the significance of seeking professional help.

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The current study assessed the association between demographic factors (age, relationship status, and education), psychosocial factors (self-rated health and self-reported loneliness), and factors related to attitudes and behaviors associated with seeking help (prior experience with social workers, attitudes towards social workers, and the stigma attached to seeking help from social workers, and the self-reported likelihood of seeking social workers’ help among older men in Israel. The data were collected through structured questionnaires, administered to a sample of 256 older men. The findings indicated several avoidance factors which might discourage older men from seeking social worker help. Older men who are more educated, experience less loneliness, report lower self-rated health, have no prior experience with social workers, have less positive attitudes towards social workers and higher stigma attached to seeking social workers’ help, are less likely to seek social workers’ help. The research conclusion is that it is important to develop tools and interventions aimed at helping older men deal with such avoidance factors affecting their tendency to refrain from seeking social worker help, as well as to develop practices adapted to their unique needs.

This study analyses verbal aggression in cyberbullying against social workers in Israel. Given the particular nature of this type of aggressive behaviour, namely its repeated and public dimensions, the study focuses on the content of offensive messages. Drawing on examples from multiple antisocial workers' weblogs and Facebook pages, the study employs constructionist social problems methodology in order to extract the logical structure of antisocial workers' discourse as claims-making activity. The analysis demonstrates that, far from constituting isolated or momentary outbursts of anger or frustration, cyberbullying against social workers contains messages which share similarities in content and style, comprise a persistent set of claims against social workers and employ rhetorical means in order to enhance public support. The article holds that understanding the specificity and content of offensive messages against social workers in new-media saturated societies is crucial for understanding current shifts in social workers' conflict environment and the formation of public opinion concerning social workers and social services.