Research Interests:
Social policy and social protection in Israel; Comparative analysis of welfare states; Social work and policy practice.
Research Projects:
Mediterranean Welfare States
Social and Economic Rights in Israel (FP7)
Social Work and Policy Practice (with Prof. Idit Weiss-Gal)
Religion and Social Policy
Policy Transfers in Israeli Social Welfare
Abstracts of Current Research :
Mediterranean Welfare States: This study seeks to identify commonalities and differences between welfare states in the Mediterranean region. The goal of the study is to ascertain whether the "olive oil welfare states" have specific features that distinguish between them and other welfare states and if these features can contribute to our understanding of social policy formulation and impacts in these nations.
Social and Economic Rights in Israel (FP7): As part of a greater study on issues of citizenship in the European Union, this study will seek to examine the social and economic rights of labor migrants in Israel and to examine issues of gender and ethnicity in Israeli society.
Social Work and Policy Practice: While involvement in social change is a professed goal of social work, relatively little is known on the ways in which social workers actually engage in policy-practice intended to change social policy on different levels. The goal of this cross-national project is to investigate the various forms of engagement of social workers in policy practice and to formulate an explanatory model for this type of practice.
Religion and Social Policy: Is Israel a Jewish welfare state? This project will seek to examine the impact of religion and religious belief on the Israeli welfare state in an historical perspective. It will seek to establish the degree to which religion and nationalism have played a role in the formulation of the Israeli welfare state.
Policy Transfers in Israeli Social Welfare: The goal of this study is to examine the impact of policy transfers in various fields of social welfare, social policy and social work in Israel. The study will include an analysis of the role of German social workers on the establishment of social work in Israel and a number of other cases in which policy transfers apparently occurred.
Recent Publications:
Books:
Aviram, U., Gal, J. and Katan, Y. (eds.), (2007). Formulating social policy in Israel: Trends and issues. Jerusalem: Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel. (Hebrew). 359 pgs.
Gal, J. and Ajzenstadt, M. (eds.) (2009). Access to social justice in Israel. Jerusalem: Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel. (Hebrew)
Ajzenstadt, M. and Gal, J. [eds.] [2010]. Children, families and gender in Mediterranean welfare states. Dordrecht: Springer.
Weiss-Gal, I. & Gal, J. (2011). Policy-practice in social work. Jerusalem: Magnes. (Hebrew)
Gal, J. and Weiss-Gal, I. (eds.). (2013). Social workers affecting social policy: Policy practice in an international perspective. Bristol: Policy Press.
Articles in Peer Reviewed Journals:
Ben-Arieh, A., Gal J., Nepomnyaschy, L., & Garfinkel, I. (2007). Child and family outcomes in New York and Tel Aviv: Using social indicators in a city level comparative analysis. Social Indicators Research, 80: 223-248.
Gal, J. (2007). The puzzling warfare-welfare nexus. War and Society, 26:99-117.
Weiss, I, & Gal, J. (2007). Social workers' attitudes towards social welfare policy. International Journal of Social Welfare, 16:349-357.
Weiss, I, & Gal, J. (2007). Poverty in the eyes of the beholder: Social workers compared to other middle class professionals. British Journal of Social Work, 37:893-908.
Koreh, M., Gal, J. & Cohen, R. (2007). A cross-national comparative perspective on social assistance in Israel. Social Security, 74: 43-69. (Hebrew)
Ajzenstadt, M., Gal, J. & Shapira, A. (2007) Towards evidence-based policy: A systematic review of programs dealing with unemployment. Israeli Sociology, 9(1): 41-70. (Hebrew).
Weiss, I, & Gal, J. (2008). Social welfare policy: Preferences of Arab and Jewish social workers in Israel. Families in Society, 89: 129-138.
Weiss-Gal, I., & Gal, J. (2008). Social workers and policy practice: The role of social and professional values. Journal of Social Service Research, 34:4, 15-29.
Avrami, S., Gal, J., & Weiss-Gal, I. (2008). Knesset committees as a venue for social worker' policy practice activity. Welfare and Society, 25:1, 103-122. (Hebrew).
Gal, J. (2008). Immigration and the categorical welfare state in Israel. Social Service Review, 82:4, 639-661.
Weiss-Gal, I and Gal, J. (2009). Realizing rights in social work. Social Service Review, 83:2,267-292.
Gal, J. & Bargal, D. (2009). Labor welfare in Israel. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 24, 185-204 (Also published in P.A. Kurzman & R. Paul Maiden (eds), Union Contributions to Labor Welfare Policy and Practice. London: Routledge).
Malul, M., Gal, J. & Greenstein, M. (2009). A Universal Basic Income: Income and practice in the Israeli case. Basic Income Studies, 4:1 article 4.
Katan, Y., Gal, J. & Weiss-Gal, I. (2009). The role of the local in dealing with poverty. Welfare and Society, 29:2-3, 283-310.(Hebrew)
Weiss-Gal, I., Gal, J. & Avrami, S. (2009).Policy-practice in action: Social workers and parliamentary committees. Social Security, 81. (Hebrew)
Gal, J. & Weiss-Gal, I. (2011). Social policy formulation and the role of professionals: The involvement of social workers in parliamentary committees in Israel. Health and Social Care in the Community, 19:2, 158-167. (Also published as Weiss-Gal, I., Gal, J. & Avrami, S. (2009).Policy-practice in action: Social workers and parliamentary committees. Social Security, 81, 39-74. (Hebrew)
Gal, J. (2010). Is there an extended family of Mediterranean welfare states? Journal of European Social Policy, 20:4, 283-300.
Bar-Nir, D. & Gal, J. (2011). Who has the power? The role of NPOs in local authorities. Voluntas, 22:1.
Holler, R. & Gal, J. (2011). Subsidizing early childhood: Israel in a cross-national comparative perspective. Social Security, 87, 37-64. (Hebrew)
Gal, J. & Ajzenstadt, M. (2013). The long path from a soup kitchen to a welfare state in Israel. Journal of Policy History, 25, 240-263.
Gal, J. & Holler, R. (In Press). The development of social policy research in Israel. Israel Affairs.
Weiss-Gal, I. & Gal, J. (In Press). Social workers as policy actors. Journal of Social Policy.