People with Disabilities and Labour Market Barriers: The Perspectives of Israeli Social Workers

Social workers play a key role in supporting the labour market inclusion of disabled people. Nevertheless, we know little about how they perceive the barriers that disabled people face and their role in addressing them. In particular, we need to know more about the extent to which they adopt an individualised versus a social model of disability. To address this gap, semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-three Israeli social workers providing employment-related services via public and non-profit organisations. A thematic analysis revealed that the participants tended to view their clients' barriers as related to individual characteristics, including their impairment, level of functioning and soft skills. Whereas social barriers were acknowledged as well, these were usually framed as related to employers' attitudes, including ignorance, stigma, fear and distrust. In addition, recognition of these social barriers was usually detached from the social workers' daily, individualised practices. Whilst there is consensus that disabled people face substantial barriers to securing and maintaining paid employment, the nature of those barriers is debated between two key models: the individualised and social. We examine how Israeli social workers providing employment-related services are positioned in this debate. According to our findings, social workers tend to view disability as an individual matter, and accordingly address individual barriers to employment. Social barriers are usually discussed in terms of employers' attitudes. Furthermore, social workers rarely apply legal tools such as antidiscrimination legislation. In discussing these findings, we emphasise the importance of social work education and social workers' organisational context.