Nadav Perez-Vaisvidovsky | Ashkelon Academic College (original) (raw)
Papers by Nadav Perez-Vaisvidovsky
Routledge eBooks, Dec 2, 2022
Parental Leave and Beyond
Developments in leave policy in Israel during the decade 2007-2017 followed what could best be de... more Developments in leave policy in Israel during the decade 2007-2017 followed what could best be described as an uncertain route. On the one hand, after five decades of stalemate, in this decade leave was extended several times in several ways. First, paid Maternity Leave increased from 12 to 14 weeks, followed by an extension of unpaid leave, the introduction of Paternity Leave, and finally – following a social struggle – the further extension of paid leave to 15 weeks, with the promise of further extensions. However, these incremental changes were minimal, even in the eyes of their initiators. Among policymakers and activists alike, the consensus was that leave for parents was too short to answer families' needs, and that the changes had to be seen as small steps toward a larger goal – which remained unachieved. This situation, the chapter argues, can be understood as a tension between the combined effects of Israeli familialism and international developments in leave policy, on the one hand; and the extreme neoliberalisation of the Israeli welfare state and its adherence to the 'austerity of welfare' principle, on the other.
Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 2020
The increasing scholarly interest in the absence of fathers from family-focused interventions by ... more The increasing scholarly interest in the absence of fathers from family-focused interventions by the social services tends to focus on the role of fathers, mothers, and social workers in this absence. The role of policymakers, however, has been neglected. This article examines the case study of policymakers in the Israeli social services to fill in this gap and examine the role of policy and policymakers in fathers’ absence. The findings reveal that policy is based on the ‘mother-based intervention’ assumption—the services are built around the assumption that interventions include only mothers, and therefore make engaging fathers an exception.
Journal of Family Theory & Review, 2021
Social Science Research Network, 2021
Research on the low level of engagement of fathers in family- and child-oriented social work inte... more Research on the low level of engagement of fathers in family- and child-oriented social work interventions has focused on individual factors relating to the father, to the mother, or the social worker. Much less attention has been paid to the impact of organizational aspects of the social services themselves. This article uses the methodology of organizational ethnography to examine this impact on the engagement of fathers in those services provided by municipal departments of social services in Israel. We found that service delivery was structured by the primary contact person assumption—that one person should be designated as the primary contact in the routine course of an intervention. Together with gendered, political, and cultural factors that support preference for the mother, this structuring assumption results in a full or partial exclusion of fathers from family- and child-oriented interventions.
International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 2019
This paper examines the role of policy entrepreneurs in the formation of a rehabilitation program... more This paper examines the role of policy entrepreneurs in the formation of a rehabilitation program in the field of mental health in Israel, shedding light on their role in general and specifically in mental health policy formation. Our research is based on a historical case study. The legislation process was examined through interviews with key actors in the legislative process and archival materials. While in general our findings reinforced existing literature, our research also revealed new information on several topics: organizations as policy entrepreneurs; inter-sectorial coalitions of entrepreneurs; and possible problems arising from the concept of 'leadership by example'.
Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 2013
Ideational explanations of social policy formation have gained a prominent role in the analysis o... more Ideational explanations of social policy formation have gained a prominent role in the analysis of social policy formation in recent decades. Of late, researchers have taken up the task of creating explanations that combine ideational explanations with non-ideational ones. In this work, I will try to address this task at the intra-organizational level, creating an explanation for policy formation within a welfare state institution while taking into account both ideational and organizational factors. This method will be demonstrated using the legislative debate over the parental leave for fathers in Israel as a case study. The formation process of this program was long and complex, and included a struggle about the program’s existence and its shape. This process allows us to look into the institutional interests of various participants shaping the struggle over the program. Coincidently, it offers a look into the cultural perceptions of those participants—operationalized as policy frames—and the effect these perceptions have on policy formation. This dual view provides an insight into the inter-relation and inter-dependence of both factors. This analytical framework creates a rich explanation, combining both types of analysis, showing how, at times, policy makers adopt perceptions most fitting their institutional interests, while at other times, policy frames serve as the basis for determining institutional interests.
Families, Relationships and Societies, 2020
Gender equality-oriented policy-making adopts a complex attitude toward the role of fathers. Whil... more Gender equality-oriented policy-making adopts a complex attitude toward the role of fathers. While some branches of the legislative branches see the potential in engaging fathers in the household for promoting gender equality, others see the risk in men appropriating women’s few sources of power. In this article, the subject positions given to men in the legislative process of the birth leave for fathers programme in Israel are examined. I show how, in accordance with this division, fathers are given two subject positions – that of the enemy and that of the ally. However, policy-makers fail to put fathers in the role of citizens, seeing them as entitled to rights based on their own status. This situation mirrors the citizenship of Israeli women, who are, in turn, limited to their motherhood. While the claim that fathers are not seen as citizens, and that their rights are not protected enough, might sound absurd, I claim that such a position is required in order to promote a radical ...
Families, Relationships and Societies
While it is widely accepted that social work interventions are more productive when they include ... more While it is widely accepted that social work interventions are more productive when they include fathers, fathers are largely left out of child and family social service interventions in Israel and most Western countries. Current research worldwide focuses on the role that fathers, mothers and social workers play in causing this phenomenon. In this article, we shed light on the importance of a fourth element: the policy-making process. In a case study of Israeli social services, we interviewed leading bureaucrats and policy makers regarding their position on engaging fathers and identified three main conflicts hindering policy makers’ ability and motivation to promote policy favouring father engagement: a gendered profession conflict, a political conflict, and an ethical conflict. We show how these conflicts, each emerging from a different sphere, together create a conflict-ridden environment that may explain policy makers’ lack of action. Finally, we provide our conclusion and disc...
Men and Masculinities
The criminalization of poverty, the process in which recipients of social security benefits are c... more The criminalization of poverty, the process in which recipients of social security benefits are construed as frauds, is a well-documented phenomenon. Two aspects of this process are the use of stereotypes as a tool in fraud accusations and the targeting of marginalized populations. In this article, I wish to expand the gendered discussion of this phenomenon to men by examining the process of the construction of Israeli fathers wishing to take parental leave as welfare frauds. I will claim that this process is based on gendered assumptions that deny the possibility of fathers wishing to care for their children. The program that allows fathers to share parental leave experiences a high reported rate of fraud by fathers claiming parental leave benefits. However, analysis shows that the evidence does not support these reports and that claims on fraud and abuse are the result of a tendentious interpretation of the data by bureaucrats. This tendentiousness is based, I argue, on implicit a...
PARENTAL LEAVE AND BEYOND Recent developments, current issues, future directions, 2019
Bitachon Sotzialy (Social Security) (Hebrew), 2017
המאמר בוחן את הנסיבות ואת התהליכים שהביאו לחקיקתו של חוק שיקום נכי נפש בקהילה בשנת 2000 , את הגור... more המאמר בוחן את הנסיבות ואת התהליכים שהביאו לחקיקתו של חוק שיקום נכי נפש בקהילה
בשנת 2000 , את הגורמים שביקשו לבלום את החקיקה או לקדם אותה, על רקע הניגוד החריף
שבין אופיו של חוק זה לבין מגמת המדיניות החברתית בישראל באותה עת. חוק שיקום נכי נפש
בקהילה, הנחשב חוק חברתי מתקדם גם בהשוואה בינלאומית, מגלם שינוי בתפיסת האנשים
הסובלים ממוגבלות על רקע נפשי וביחס החברה אליהם. באמצעות ניתוח המקרה ביקש
המחקר לעמוד על הגורמים המכריעים המאפשרים שינויי מדיניות, הן בתחום בריאות הנפש והן
במדיניות חברתית בכלל במצב של סביבות משתנות.
הבסיס התיאורטי שהנחה את המחקר היה גישתו של קינגדון, העוסקת בחבירת ערוצי מדיניות
המאפשרת שינוי, והגישות הנוגעות ליזמי מדיניות בבואם לחולל רפורמות ולעצב מדיניות.
בחנו את הגורמים, את הנסיבות ואת הסוגיות העיקריות שעלו לאורך העשור שקדם לחקיקה כמו
גם את בעלי העניין שהיו מעורבים במאבק שהוביל לשינוי המדיניות ולרפורמה השיקומית
בבריאות הנפש.
הממצאים מעידים על חשיבותם של ערוצים המתכנסים יחדיו והיוצרים תנאים הכרחיים לשינוי
ועל חשיבותם של יזמי מדיניות, הפועלים כדי להפוך את אפשרות השינוי למציאות. הדיון מציג את תנאי האקלים המאפשרים שינוי מדיניות ואת התכונות שיזמי מדיניות זקוקים להן כדי שיוכלו
להוציא חזון מהכוח אל הפועל.
חברה ורווחה, 2018
רקע: מעורבותם הגדלה של אבות במשק הבית זוכה לפרופיל ציבורי גבוה. בחברה הישראלית מתקיים דיון ציבורי... more רקע: מעורבותם הגדלה של אבות במשק הבית זוכה לפרופיל ציבורי גבוה. בחברה הישראלית מתקיים דיון ציבורי נרחב על שינוי זה, אך הוא אינו מקבל ביטוי בתחום המדיניות החברתית.
מטרת המאמר: המאמר מבקש לבחון את המדיניות החברתית המיועדת לאפשר לאבות לטפל בילדיהם במדינת ישראל. המאמר מתמקד בתחום המוגדר כ'איזון עבודה–משפחה', שנועד לאפשר להורים לשלב בין מעורבותם בשוק העבודה בשכר לבין מחויבותם ושאיפתם לטפל בילדיהם. המאמר עוסק בשני תחומי מדיניות הנכללים בתחום זה: חופשת הלידה והגבלת שעות העבודה.
שיטת המחקר: מחקר איכותני, שימוש בניתוח ראיונות מובנים-למחצה, חומרי ארכיון וספרות משנית.
ממצאים: המאמר מתאר את המצב החוקי בישראל בשני תחומים אלה, ובוחן את השיקולים שהובילו את עיצוב המדיניות, במטרה לזהות כיצד מעצבי המדיניות תופסים את תפקידם של אבות במשפחה. בשני התחומים שנסקרו פועל עקרון 'בשם האם': גם בתוכניות המדיניות המיועדות באופן מפורש לאבות, מעצבי המדיניות אינם פועלים כדי לאפשר לאבות לטפל בילדיהם, אלא כדי לאפשר לאימהות להשתלב באופן מיטבי בשוק העבודה.
מסקנות והמלצות למדיניות: ההתמקדות בצרכיה של האם מובילה ליצירת חוקים שאינם ממלאים את מטרתם. כדי לגרום לאבות להעמיק את מעורבותם במשק הבית, ולשנות את חלוקת העבודה המגדרית במשק הבית ובשוק העבודה, יש להתמקד במאפייניהם הקונקרטיים של אבות אלו, ולהתאים את החקיקה לצורכיהם.
Background
The increase in the part of fathers in household and child care has been in the spotlight recently. Israeli society experiences an extensive public discussion on these changes. However, this discussion has yet to reach the field of social policy.
Aims
In this paper, I examine policy aimed at allowing fathers to care for their children in Israel. The paper focuses on the field defined as ‘work-family balance’, meant to enable parents to balance labor market participation with caring for their children. Specifically, the paper focuses on two policy areas in this field: parental leave and work hour regulation.
Methods
The paper is based on the analysis of semi-structured interviews, archival data and secondary sources.
Main Findings
The paper describes the legal situation in the aforementioned areas, the options presented to fathers, and the considerations that lead to the formation of the policy, trying to identify how policymakers perceive the role of fathers in the family. Both areas obey to the ‘in the name of the mother’ policy principle: even in programs aimed specifically at fathers, policymakers’ target is not to enable fathers to care for their children, but to improve mothers’ workforce integration.
Conclusions and Implications to practice
The focus on the needs of mothers leads to the creation of programs that do not cater to the fathers’ needs. To encourage fathers’ engagement in childcare and housework, thereby changing the division of labor in the household, policymakers should focus on the concrete characteristics of these fathers and tailor the programs to their needs.
המאמר בוחן את הנסיבות ואת התהליכים שהביאו לחקיקתו של חוק שיקום נכי נפש בקהילה בשנת 2000, את הגורמ... more המאמר בוחן את הנסיבות ואת התהליכים שהביאו לחקיקתו של חוק שיקום נכי נפש בקהילה בשנת 2000, את הגורמים שביקשו לבלום את החקיקה או לקדם אותה, על רקע הניגוד החריף שבין אופיו של חוק זה לבין מגמת המדיניות החברתית בישראל באותה עת. חוק שיקום נכי נפש בקהילה, הנחשב חוק חברתי מתקדם גם בהשוואה בינלאומית, מהווהשינוי בתפיסת האנשים הסובלים ממוגבלות על רקע נפשי[[[למרות הפוליטיקלי קורקט, למה בעצם לא מחלת נפש?]]] וביחס החברה אליהם. באמצעות ניתוח המקרה ביקש המחקר לעמוד על הגורמים המכריעים המאפשרים שינויי מדיניות, הן בתחום בריאות הנפש והן במדיניות חברתית בכלל במצב של סביבות משתנות.
הבסיס התיאורטי שהנחה את המחקר היה גישתו של קינגדון, העוסקת בחבירת ערוצי מדיניות המאפשרת שינוי, והגישות הנוגעות ליזמי מדיניות בבואם לחולל רפורמות ולעצב מדיניות.
בחנו את הגורמים, את הנסיבות ואת הסוגיות העיקריות שעלו לאורך העשור שקדם לחקיקה כמו גם את בעלי העניין שהיו מעורבים במאבק שהוביל לשינוי המדיניות ולרפורמה השיקומית בבריאות הנפש.
הממצאים מעידים על חשיבותם של ערוצים המתכנסים יחדיו והיוצרים תנאים הכרחיים לשינוי ועל חשיבותם של יזמי מדיניות, הפועלים כדי להפוך את אפשרות השינוי למציאות. הדיון מציג את תנאי האקלים המאפשרים שינוי מדיניות ואת התכונות שיזמי מדיניות זקוקים להן כדי שיוכלו להוציא חזון מהכוח אל הפועל.
The criminalization of poverty, the process in which recipients of social security benefits are c... more The criminalization of poverty, the process in which recipients of social security benefits are construed as frauds, is a well-documented phenomenon. Two aspects of this process are the use of stereotypes as a tool in fraud accusations and the targeting of marginalized populations. In this article, I wish to expand the gendered discussion of this phenomenon to men by examining the process of the construction of Israeli fathers wishing to take parental leave as welfare frauds. I will claim that this process is based on gendered assumptions that deny the possibility of fathers wishing to care for their children. The program that allows fathers to share parental leave experiences a high reported rate of fraud by fathers claiming parental leave benefits. However, analysis shows that the evidence does not support these reports and that claims on fraud and abuse are the result of a tendentious interpretation of the data by bureaucrats. This tendentiousness is based, I argue, on implicit assumptions about the nature of men. As this case shows, criminalization of benefit recipients can be targeted at nonmarginalized or even privileged groups. This sheds new light both on the criminalization process and on the workings of the gendered power structure.
"Ideational explanations of soical policy formation have gained a prominent role in the analysis ... more "Ideational explanations of soical policy formation have gained a prominent role in the analysis of social policy formation in recent decades.. Of late, authors have taken up the task of creating explanations that combine ideational explanations with non-ideational ones.
In this work, I will try to address this task at the intra-organizational level, creating an explanation of policy formation within a welfare state institution while taking into account both ideational and organizational factors.
This method will be demonstrated using the legislative debate over parental leave for fathers in Israel as a case study. The formation process of this program was long and complex, and included a struggle about the program's existence and its shape.
This process allows us to look into the institutional interests of various participants shaping the struggle over the program. Coincidently, it offers a look into the cultural perceptions of those participants – operationalized as policy frames – and the effect these perceptions have on policy formation. This dual view provides an insight to the inter-relation and inter-dependence of both factors.
This analytical framework creates a rich explanation, combining both types of analysis, showing how, at times, policy makers adopt perceptions most fitting their institutional interests, while at other times, policy frames serve as the basis for determining institutional interests."
Routledge eBooks, Dec 2, 2022
Parental Leave and Beyond
Developments in leave policy in Israel during the decade 2007-2017 followed what could best be de... more Developments in leave policy in Israel during the decade 2007-2017 followed what could best be described as an uncertain route. On the one hand, after five decades of stalemate, in this decade leave was extended several times in several ways. First, paid Maternity Leave increased from 12 to 14 weeks, followed by an extension of unpaid leave, the introduction of Paternity Leave, and finally – following a social struggle – the further extension of paid leave to 15 weeks, with the promise of further extensions. However, these incremental changes were minimal, even in the eyes of their initiators. Among policymakers and activists alike, the consensus was that leave for parents was too short to answer families' needs, and that the changes had to be seen as small steps toward a larger goal – which remained unachieved. This situation, the chapter argues, can be understood as a tension between the combined effects of Israeli familialism and international developments in leave policy, on the one hand; and the extreme neoliberalisation of the Israeli welfare state and its adherence to the 'austerity of welfare' principle, on the other.
Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 2020
The increasing scholarly interest in the absence of fathers from family-focused interventions by ... more The increasing scholarly interest in the absence of fathers from family-focused interventions by the social services tends to focus on the role of fathers, mothers, and social workers in this absence. The role of policymakers, however, has been neglected. This article examines the case study of policymakers in the Israeli social services to fill in this gap and examine the role of policy and policymakers in fathers’ absence. The findings reveal that policy is based on the ‘mother-based intervention’ assumption—the services are built around the assumption that interventions include only mothers, and therefore make engaging fathers an exception.
Journal of Family Theory & Review, 2021
Social Science Research Network, 2021
Research on the low level of engagement of fathers in family- and child-oriented social work inte... more Research on the low level of engagement of fathers in family- and child-oriented social work interventions has focused on individual factors relating to the father, to the mother, or the social worker. Much less attention has been paid to the impact of organizational aspects of the social services themselves. This article uses the methodology of organizational ethnography to examine this impact on the engagement of fathers in those services provided by municipal departments of social services in Israel. We found that service delivery was structured by the primary contact person assumption—that one person should be designated as the primary contact in the routine course of an intervention. Together with gendered, political, and cultural factors that support preference for the mother, this structuring assumption results in a full or partial exclusion of fathers from family- and child-oriented interventions.
International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 2019
This paper examines the role of policy entrepreneurs in the formation of a rehabilitation program... more This paper examines the role of policy entrepreneurs in the formation of a rehabilitation program in the field of mental health in Israel, shedding light on their role in general and specifically in mental health policy formation. Our research is based on a historical case study. The legislation process was examined through interviews with key actors in the legislative process and archival materials. While in general our findings reinforced existing literature, our research also revealed new information on several topics: organizations as policy entrepreneurs; inter-sectorial coalitions of entrepreneurs; and possible problems arising from the concept of 'leadership by example'.
Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 2013
Ideational explanations of social policy formation have gained a prominent role in the analysis o... more Ideational explanations of social policy formation have gained a prominent role in the analysis of social policy formation in recent decades. Of late, researchers have taken up the task of creating explanations that combine ideational explanations with non-ideational ones. In this work, I will try to address this task at the intra-organizational level, creating an explanation for policy formation within a welfare state institution while taking into account both ideational and organizational factors. This method will be demonstrated using the legislative debate over the parental leave for fathers in Israel as a case study. The formation process of this program was long and complex, and included a struggle about the program’s existence and its shape. This process allows us to look into the institutional interests of various participants shaping the struggle over the program. Coincidently, it offers a look into the cultural perceptions of those participants—operationalized as policy frames—and the effect these perceptions have on policy formation. This dual view provides an insight into the inter-relation and inter-dependence of both factors. This analytical framework creates a rich explanation, combining both types of analysis, showing how, at times, policy makers adopt perceptions most fitting their institutional interests, while at other times, policy frames serve as the basis for determining institutional interests.
Families, Relationships and Societies, 2020
Gender equality-oriented policy-making adopts a complex attitude toward the role of fathers. Whil... more Gender equality-oriented policy-making adopts a complex attitude toward the role of fathers. While some branches of the legislative branches see the potential in engaging fathers in the household for promoting gender equality, others see the risk in men appropriating women’s few sources of power. In this article, the subject positions given to men in the legislative process of the birth leave for fathers programme in Israel are examined. I show how, in accordance with this division, fathers are given two subject positions – that of the enemy and that of the ally. However, policy-makers fail to put fathers in the role of citizens, seeing them as entitled to rights based on their own status. This situation mirrors the citizenship of Israeli women, who are, in turn, limited to their motherhood. While the claim that fathers are not seen as citizens, and that their rights are not protected enough, might sound absurd, I claim that such a position is required in order to promote a radical ...
Families, Relationships and Societies
While it is widely accepted that social work interventions are more productive when they include ... more While it is widely accepted that social work interventions are more productive when they include fathers, fathers are largely left out of child and family social service interventions in Israel and most Western countries. Current research worldwide focuses on the role that fathers, mothers and social workers play in causing this phenomenon. In this article, we shed light on the importance of a fourth element: the policy-making process. In a case study of Israeli social services, we interviewed leading bureaucrats and policy makers regarding their position on engaging fathers and identified three main conflicts hindering policy makers’ ability and motivation to promote policy favouring father engagement: a gendered profession conflict, a political conflict, and an ethical conflict. We show how these conflicts, each emerging from a different sphere, together create a conflict-ridden environment that may explain policy makers’ lack of action. Finally, we provide our conclusion and disc...
Men and Masculinities
The criminalization of poverty, the process in which recipients of social security benefits are c... more The criminalization of poverty, the process in which recipients of social security benefits are construed as frauds, is a well-documented phenomenon. Two aspects of this process are the use of stereotypes as a tool in fraud accusations and the targeting of marginalized populations. In this article, I wish to expand the gendered discussion of this phenomenon to men by examining the process of the construction of Israeli fathers wishing to take parental leave as welfare frauds. I will claim that this process is based on gendered assumptions that deny the possibility of fathers wishing to care for their children. The program that allows fathers to share parental leave experiences a high reported rate of fraud by fathers claiming parental leave benefits. However, analysis shows that the evidence does not support these reports and that claims on fraud and abuse are the result of a tendentious interpretation of the data by bureaucrats. This tendentiousness is based, I argue, on implicit a...
PARENTAL LEAVE AND BEYOND Recent developments, current issues, future directions, 2019
Bitachon Sotzialy (Social Security) (Hebrew), 2017
המאמר בוחן את הנסיבות ואת התהליכים שהביאו לחקיקתו של חוק שיקום נכי נפש בקהילה בשנת 2000 , את הגור... more המאמר בוחן את הנסיבות ואת התהליכים שהביאו לחקיקתו של חוק שיקום נכי נפש בקהילה
בשנת 2000 , את הגורמים שביקשו לבלום את החקיקה או לקדם אותה, על רקע הניגוד החריף
שבין אופיו של חוק זה לבין מגמת המדיניות החברתית בישראל באותה עת. חוק שיקום נכי נפש
בקהילה, הנחשב חוק חברתי מתקדם גם בהשוואה בינלאומית, מגלם שינוי בתפיסת האנשים
הסובלים ממוגבלות על רקע נפשי וביחס החברה אליהם. באמצעות ניתוח המקרה ביקש
המחקר לעמוד על הגורמים המכריעים המאפשרים שינויי מדיניות, הן בתחום בריאות הנפש והן
במדיניות חברתית בכלל במצב של סביבות משתנות.
הבסיס התיאורטי שהנחה את המחקר היה גישתו של קינגדון, העוסקת בחבירת ערוצי מדיניות
המאפשרת שינוי, והגישות הנוגעות ליזמי מדיניות בבואם לחולל רפורמות ולעצב מדיניות.
בחנו את הגורמים, את הנסיבות ואת הסוגיות העיקריות שעלו לאורך העשור שקדם לחקיקה כמו
גם את בעלי העניין שהיו מעורבים במאבק שהוביל לשינוי המדיניות ולרפורמה השיקומית
בבריאות הנפש.
הממצאים מעידים על חשיבותם של ערוצים המתכנסים יחדיו והיוצרים תנאים הכרחיים לשינוי
ועל חשיבותם של יזמי מדיניות, הפועלים כדי להפוך את אפשרות השינוי למציאות. הדיון מציג את תנאי האקלים המאפשרים שינוי מדיניות ואת התכונות שיזמי מדיניות זקוקים להן כדי שיוכלו
להוציא חזון מהכוח אל הפועל.
חברה ורווחה, 2018
רקע: מעורבותם הגדלה של אבות במשק הבית זוכה לפרופיל ציבורי גבוה. בחברה הישראלית מתקיים דיון ציבורי... more רקע: מעורבותם הגדלה של אבות במשק הבית זוכה לפרופיל ציבורי גבוה. בחברה הישראלית מתקיים דיון ציבורי נרחב על שינוי זה, אך הוא אינו מקבל ביטוי בתחום המדיניות החברתית.
מטרת המאמר: המאמר מבקש לבחון את המדיניות החברתית המיועדת לאפשר לאבות לטפל בילדיהם במדינת ישראל. המאמר מתמקד בתחום המוגדר כ'איזון עבודה–משפחה', שנועד לאפשר להורים לשלב בין מעורבותם בשוק העבודה בשכר לבין מחויבותם ושאיפתם לטפל בילדיהם. המאמר עוסק בשני תחומי מדיניות הנכללים בתחום זה: חופשת הלידה והגבלת שעות העבודה.
שיטת המחקר: מחקר איכותני, שימוש בניתוח ראיונות מובנים-למחצה, חומרי ארכיון וספרות משנית.
ממצאים: המאמר מתאר את המצב החוקי בישראל בשני תחומים אלה, ובוחן את השיקולים שהובילו את עיצוב המדיניות, במטרה לזהות כיצד מעצבי המדיניות תופסים את תפקידם של אבות במשפחה. בשני התחומים שנסקרו פועל עקרון 'בשם האם': גם בתוכניות המדיניות המיועדות באופן מפורש לאבות, מעצבי המדיניות אינם פועלים כדי לאפשר לאבות לטפל בילדיהם, אלא כדי לאפשר לאימהות להשתלב באופן מיטבי בשוק העבודה.
מסקנות והמלצות למדיניות: ההתמקדות בצרכיה של האם מובילה ליצירת חוקים שאינם ממלאים את מטרתם. כדי לגרום לאבות להעמיק את מעורבותם במשק הבית, ולשנות את חלוקת העבודה המגדרית במשק הבית ובשוק העבודה, יש להתמקד במאפייניהם הקונקרטיים של אבות אלו, ולהתאים את החקיקה לצורכיהם.
Background
The increase in the part of fathers in household and child care has been in the spotlight recently. Israeli society experiences an extensive public discussion on these changes. However, this discussion has yet to reach the field of social policy.
Aims
In this paper, I examine policy aimed at allowing fathers to care for their children in Israel. The paper focuses on the field defined as ‘work-family balance’, meant to enable parents to balance labor market participation with caring for their children. Specifically, the paper focuses on two policy areas in this field: parental leave and work hour regulation.
Methods
The paper is based on the analysis of semi-structured interviews, archival data and secondary sources.
Main Findings
The paper describes the legal situation in the aforementioned areas, the options presented to fathers, and the considerations that lead to the formation of the policy, trying to identify how policymakers perceive the role of fathers in the family. Both areas obey to the ‘in the name of the mother’ policy principle: even in programs aimed specifically at fathers, policymakers’ target is not to enable fathers to care for their children, but to improve mothers’ workforce integration.
Conclusions and Implications to practice
The focus on the needs of mothers leads to the creation of programs that do not cater to the fathers’ needs. To encourage fathers’ engagement in childcare and housework, thereby changing the division of labor in the household, policymakers should focus on the concrete characteristics of these fathers and tailor the programs to their needs.
המאמר בוחן את הנסיבות ואת התהליכים שהביאו לחקיקתו של חוק שיקום נכי נפש בקהילה בשנת 2000, את הגורמ... more המאמר בוחן את הנסיבות ואת התהליכים שהביאו לחקיקתו של חוק שיקום נכי נפש בקהילה בשנת 2000, את הגורמים שביקשו לבלום את החקיקה או לקדם אותה, על רקע הניגוד החריף שבין אופיו של חוק זה לבין מגמת המדיניות החברתית בישראל באותה עת. חוק שיקום נכי נפש בקהילה, הנחשב חוק חברתי מתקדם גם בהשוואה בינלאומית, מהווהשינוי בתפיסת האנשים הסובלים ממוגבלות על רקע נפשי[[[למרות הפוליטיקלי קורקט, למה בעצם לא מחלת נפש?]]] וביחס החברה אליהם. באמצעות ניתוח המקרה ביקש המחקר לעמוד על הגורמים המכריעים המאפשרים שינויי מדיניות, הן בתחום בריאות הנפש והן במדיניות חברתית בכלל במצב של סביבות משתנות.
הבסיס התיאורטי שהנחה את המחקר היה גישתו של קינגדון, העוסקת בחבירת ערוצי מדיניות המאפשרת שינוי, והגישות הנוגעות ליזמי מדיניות בבואם לחולל רפורמות ולעצב מדיניות.
בחנו את הגורמים, את הנסיבות ואת הסוגיות העיקריות שעלו לאורך העשור שקדם לחקיקה כמו גם את בעלי העניין שהיו מעורבים במאבק שהוביל לשינוי המדיניות ולרפורמה השיקומית בבריאות הנפש.
הממצאים מעידים על חשיבותם של ערוצים המתכנסים יחדיו והיוצרים תנאים הכרחיים לשינוי ועל חשיבותם של יזמי מדיניות, הפועלים כדי להפוך את אפשרות השינוי למציאות. הדיון מציג את תנאי האקלים המאפשרים שינוי מדיניות ואת התכונות שיזמי מדיניות זקוקים להן כדי שיוכלו להוציא חזון מהכוח אל הפועל.
The criminalization of poverty, the process in which recipients of social security benefits are c... more The criminalization of poverty, the process in which recipients of social security benefits are construed as frauds, is a well-documented phenomenon. Two aspects of this process are the use of stereotypes as a tool in fraud accusations and the targeting of marginalized populations. In this article, I wish to expand the gendered discussion of this phenomenon to men by examining the process of the construction of Israeli fathers wishing to take parental leave as welfare frauds. I will claim that this process is based on gendered assumptions that deny the possibility of fathers wishing to care for their children. The program that allows fathers to share parental leave experiences a high reported rate of fraud by fathers claiming parental leave benefits. However, analysis shows that the evidence does not support these reports and that claims on fraud and abuse are the result of a tendentious interpretation of the data by bureaucrats. This tendentiousness is based, I argue, on implicit assumptions about the nature of men. As this case shows, criminalization of benefit recipients can be targeted at nonmarginalized or even privileged groups. This sheds new light both on the criminalization process and on the workings of the gendered power structure.
"Ideational explanations of soical policy formation have gained a prominent role in the analysis ... more "Ideational explanations of soical policy formation have gained a prominent role in the analysis of social policy formation in recent decades.. Of late, authors have taken up the task of creating explanations that combine ideational explanations with non-ideational ones.
In this work, I will try to address this task at the intra-organizational level, creating an explanation of policy formation within a welfare state institution while taking into account both ideational and organizational factors.
This method will be demonstrated using the legislative debate over parental leave for fathers in Israel as a case study. The formation process of this program was long and complex, and included a struggle about the program's existence and its shape.
This process allows us to look into the institutional interests of various participants shaping the struggle over the program. Coincidently, it offers a look into the cultural perceptions of those participants – operationalized as policy frames – and the effect these perceptions have on policy formation. This dual view provides an insight to the inter-relation and inter-dependence of both factors.
This analytical framework creates a rich explanation, combining both types of analysis, showing how, at times, policy makers adopt perceptions most fitting their institutional interests, while at other times, policy frames serve as the basis for determining institutional interests."
The role of policy entrepreneurs in the shaping of policy has been receiving growing attention in... more The role of policy entrepreneurs in the shaping of policy has been receiving growing attention in recent years. However, research on how they function and their specific characteristics is far from comprehensive. This paper examines the role of policy entrepreneurs in the legislation process of the Rehabilitation of the Mentally Disabled in the Community Act in Israel, aiming to shed light on additional aspects of the work of entrepreneurs and to examine their role in the field of mental health policy. To achieve this goal, our research is based on a historical case study. The legislation process was examined through interviews with key participants from parliament, various government agencies and civil society advocacy groups. Also, archival materials were analyzed. While in general, our findings reinforced existing literature, our research also revealed new information. While it was commonly accepted that only human actors could be considered entrepreneurs, we claim that under certain circumstances, an organization can merit this title; we analyze the importance of inter-sectorial coalition of entrepreneurs; and we supply evidence to the possible problems arising from 'leadership by example', which had been considered as exclusively advantageous for policy entrepreneurs.