Chapter 6: Three-Dimensional Representations of Social Work Students’ Identity: A Mixed-Method Analysis in a Multicultural Population

Israel is a Western, developed democracy on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, established in 1948. The population currently numbers around 7.4 million citizens, of which 76% are Jewish and the rest are made up primarily of Arab-speaking Muslims, Christians, and Druze (The Center Bureau of Statistics, 2009). Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Jewish population has been characterized by successive waves of immigration largely from Europe, North Africa, and Asia. As a country of immigrants, Israeli culture is marked by myriad languages, foods, cultural styles, and familial structures. Between 1990 and 1994, the immigration of Jews from the former Soviet Union increased Israel’s population by 12% or more than 1 million persons, approximately one third of whom are not Jewish. Along with Israeli citizens there are an estimated 200,000 illegal residents who have been drawn to Israel from all over the globe for work opportunities (Integrated Regional Information Networks, 2009). In addition, since the founding of the state, Israel has been in a series of armed conflicts with its Arab neighbors and has an ambivalent relationship with its own Arab-speaking citizens.