Male Bedouin Social Workers in Israel

The purpose of this study was to examine gender perceptions within the Bedouin community in Israel, particularly the perception of masculinity among male social workers of the community. These men work in a field in which most of the employees are women, and their professional values conflict with the values of Bedouin culture and society. The research employed a qualitative methodology in the phenomenological tradition. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from 20 male Bedouin social workers aged 40-54, all married and fathers. The interviews revealed their struggle to accommodate both their personal and professional masculinity and their society's traditional view of masculinity. This complex dichotomy is manifested in the different behaviour of the social workers within their society and in their personal and professional spaces.