27. Gender Policy in Family and Society among Palestinian Citizens of Israel: Outside and Inside Influences

Attitudes of Palestinians Toward Social Work Interventions in Cases of Wife Assault

“…In other words, even though participants were mostly in support of interventions of social workers aimed at helping the couple solve their problems, their support was lower in cases of repeated HWA as well as in cases of severe HWA. The lower levels of support for social work interventions aimed at protecting the safety of battered women are consistent with other studies showing discomfort with seeking social work interventions (Morse, Paldi, Egbarya, & Clark, 2012), particularly the strong negative views against divorce as a solution for battered wives (Abu Baker, 2007; Haj-Yahia, 2011). The findings are consistent with another study among Arab women showing that acceptance of seeking help from social work resources is more acceptable in cases of severe physical abuse (Haj-Yahia, 2002a).…”

“…Battered women in Arab societies who ask for divorce are usually ostracized and accused of being rebellious, selfish, and not caring about their families and children (Btoush & Haj-Yahia, 2008; Haj-Yahia, 2000, 2002a). Notably, divorce and separation are perceived as disrupting the cohesiveness of the family and as threatening the collectivist and patriarchal foundation of Arab society (Abu Baker, 2007; Haj-Yahia, 2011). In these societies, resorting to divorce, social services, and police are least acceptable help-seeking behaviors and recommended only in extreme cases of wife assault.…”

Does It All Stay in the (Normative) Family? Attitudes About Family Among Female Jewish and Muslim Health-Profession Students in Israel

“…When the mother dies, the family does not exist anymore. ” Moreover, some interviewees also emphasized the fact that the family they were referring to is the nuclear family— “ Family means mother and father, brothers and sisters ”—which is surprising, considering that many Israeli Arabs live in extended families, nearby or in the same household (Abu-Baker, 2012, 2016).…”

“…Consequently, our interviewees think that both women and men should marry in their mid-twenties and have three children, without preference for the child’s gender. This neutral approach concerning the child’s gender may be an example of what we have described as the decline in the impact of tradition, because in Muslim society, sons have more value than daughters (Abu-Baker, 2012, 2016).…”

“…With regard to attitudes, we adopted Eagly and Chaiken’s (1993) and Ajzen’s (2001) classical approach, according to which, attitude is generally understood as a psychological tendency that is expressed through evaluation of a particular entity as good or bad, likable or dislikable, or through a view of it with some degree of favor or disfavor. To explore the extent to which students’ attitudes were individualized or traditional regarding (some) family issues, we asked them to express their level of agreement with statements about various topics about family that, based on the existing literature, we consider pivotal in capturing the students’ attitudes about the family: marital choices, sexuality and childbearing, place of residence, and domestic violence (Abu-Baker, 2012, 2016; Fogiel-Bijaoui, 2002, 2016a; Fogiel-Bijaoui & Bechar, 2003; Haj-Yahia & Lavee, 2017; Halperin, 2013, 2015; Lavee & Katz, 2003; Meler, 2016, 2017; Zaatut & Haj-Yahia, 2016). The statements referring to marital choices, sexuality and childbearing, and place of residence were already used in a previous study conducted among (Jewish and Muslim) education students (Fogiel-Bijaoui & Bechar, 2003).…”