Social Work in the Middle East
Countries across the Middle East face a number of social problems such as poverty, unemployment, housing, internal immigration and caring for vulnerable groups such as children, women, the disabled and the elderly. Providing an overview of the wide range of social issues addressed by social work practitioners, this book reveals the impact of the region's distinct historical and cultural factors, traditions, and customs and applications on social welfare and social work practice.
Examining social work education and practice across a number of countries including Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Oman and Sudan this book examines and assesses the diverse nature of social work in these countries and the role of the profession in providing essential services to different client groups. This in turn illustrates how social work as a profession contributes to the welfare system in the Middle East, and the relationship and interaction between social work professionals and governments. Further, the contributors demonstrate the religious, historical, ideological, cultural and geographical factors that influence social work practice and delivery in the region, with particular attention paid to the role of Islam in guiding and shaping social welfare institutions and the practice of social services.
Bringing together the work of scholars from across the Middle East, this book will be welcomed by students, scholars and practitioners interested in the sociology, politics and culture of the Middle East, international social work and social welfare.
Hussein Hassan Soliman is Alber Humanitarian Umm AlQura Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Southern Illinois, Carbondale, USA.
Routledge studies in social welfare in Asia
Series editor: Christian Aspalter
The University of Hong Kong
This series focuses on social welfare problems and solutions, practices and theories in all of Asia, relying on a strong and wide network of academic organizations and experts in social work and social policy. Including books on healthcare, old-age security, family and child welfare, gender and social welfare, social policy in general, social work in general, as well as more specialized topics like international disaster relief and long-term care services.
Health Care Systems in Europe and Asia
Edited by Christian Aspalter, Yasou Uchida and Robin Gauld
Social Work in the Middle East
Edited by Hussein Hassan Soliman
Social Work in the Middle East
Edited by Hussein Hassan Soliman
First published 2013
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2013 Hussein Hassan Soliman
The right of the editor to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Social work in the Middle East / edited by Hussein Hassan Soliman.
pages cm. (Routledge studies in social welfare in Asia; 2)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Social serviceMiddle East. I. Soliman, Hussein Hassan.
HV376.5.S66 2013
361.956dc23
2012047348
ISBN: 978-0-415-81135-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-07042-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk
Contents
HUSSEIN SOLIMAN
HUSSEIN SOLIMAN AND ALI ZIDAN
AHMED AWAD
WAHIBA ABU-RAS AND MOHAMMED (ZIAD) FARAJ
SALAH AL-LOUZI AND HMOUD OLIMAT
ABDULAZIZ ALBRITHEN
HOUDA NASSIM SLEEM
MAGDY MOHAMAD MOSTAFA ABDRABOU
BADAWI ALSAFI
Wahiba Abu-Ras is an Assistant Professor at the School of Social Work, Adelphi University, New York.
Abdulaziz Albrithen is an Associate Professor at the Department of Social Studies, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia.
Badawi Alsafi is a Professor at Om Durman Islamic University, Sudan.
Salah Al Louzi is a Professor at the Institute of Social Work, Jordan University.
Ahmed Awad is an Assistant Professor at the College of Social Sciences, Um Alqura University, Saudi Arabia.
Mohammed (Ziad) Faraj MSW is a Freelance Consultant based in Bethlehem, Palestine.
Magdy Mohamad Mostafa Abdrabou is a Professor at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
Hamoud S. Olimat is a Professor at the College of Arts and Vice President of Hashemite University, Jordan.
Houda Nassim Sleem is a Professor-Dean at the Faculty of Education and Social Work, Moder University for Business and Science, Lebanon.
Hussein Soliman is a Professor and Alber Humanitarian Umm AlQura Professor at the School of Social Work, Southern Illinois University, USA.
Ali Zedan is a Professor at the Faculty of Social Work, Helwan University, Egypt.
Social Work in the Middle East has its challenges that are reflecting the struggle of the people to live in and govern these lands at the crossroads of three major continents. While depicting the emergence of the social work profession throughout the Middle East, this book marks a new facet of this important world region, of its ongoing quest for development, power and peace, beleaguered by the adversity of conflicting interests and in most cases limited resources (water, etc.). Hardly any other region in the world today is marked by, and suffering from, its global geopolitical importance. This book sheds a different light on the overall development dilemma, progresses, and setbacks, in this part of the world made in the last decades and in most recent times.
Social work, as a profession, has a strategic advantage in the many Muslim-dominated societies of the Middle East, as the duty to contribute to social welfare, to give donations, and to support the vulnerable and the poor is mandated in the holy scripts of Islam. Yet, the development prospects of social work in the Middle East are far from homogeneous or linear. This book highlights the importance of Islam in promoting and safeguarding the development of social work, as well as the overall key question of how to safeguard social work education, quantitative and qualitative aspects thereof.
The story of development, peace, and power in the Middle East is not complete without the question of peaceful religious co-existence and cooperation. Social work operates at the heart and the frontiers of societies and religious communities. Therefore, social work has to achieve two very different objectives, first, to summon support from the centre of religious and state powers, as well as the people at large and, second, to mediate, to build trust, love, and understanding between different political, religious, and ethnic groups in the region. This mission, however, is an extremely difficult one, and exposes social work to the realities of long-term geopolitical and short-term day-to-day political events and developments.
