The Mother-Based Intervention: Policy, Social Work, and the Absence of Fathers in the Social Services in Israel

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.

Automated summary

Scholars have shown increasing interest in the absence of fathers from family-focused interventions by social services, focusing on the roles of fathers, mothers, and social workers in this absence. However, the role of policymakers has been neglected. A case study of policymakers in Israeli social services reveals that policy is often based on the 'mother-based intervention' assumption.