The Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
Harvard Law School Project on Disability, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Disabil Rehabil. 2020 Jun;42(13):1803-1813. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2018.1537382. Epub 2019 Jan 7.
United Nations human rights treaties and domestic law require social workers to support the parenting rights of persons with intellectual disabilities. Social workers are also required to protect the health and well-being of those clients' children. This study explores the experiences, challenges, and complex attitudes of Israeli social workers regarding parenthood by their clients with intellectual disabilities. A qualitative method employed semi-structured interviews with twenty-one social workers. A thematic analysis identified major themes. Social workers recognized the parental desires of clients with intellectual disabilities and acknowledged their role in supporting those individuals. Nevertheless, most of the social workers expressed negative perceptions regarding the right or capability of clients with intellectual disabilities to parent. Social workers thus felt the tension between their personal reservations and their professional duty to support these clients. Regardless of individual attitudes, social workers uniformly asserted that greater state and community support was needed to enable the parental capacity of their clients. In addition to increasing state and community support for parents with intellectual disabilities, additional training is needed for empowering social workers to act on behalf of these clients in Israel.Implications for RehabilitationSocial workers hold critical roles for parents with intellectual disabilities and are required to support their clients' parenting while ensuring the health and well-being of their children.Israeli social workers balance negative or ambivalent attitudes regarding the capability of parents with intellectual disabilities against a desire to honor their duty to support these clients.State and community support for parents with intellectual disabilities must be increased.Additional training is needed for empowering social workers to act on behalf of these clients in Israel.
联合国人权条约和国内法要求社会工作者支持智障人士的父母权利。社会工作者还必须保护这些客户的孩子的健康和福祉。本研究探讨了以色列社会工作者对智障客户的父母身份的经验、挑战和复杂态度。采用半结构化访谈的定性方法，对 21 名社会工作者进行了访谈。主题分析确定了主要主题。社会工作者认识到智障客户的父母愿望，并承认他们在支持这些人方面的作用。然而，大多数社会工作者对智障客户拥有父母权利或能力表示负面看法。因此，社会工作者感到他们个人保留意见与支持这些客户的专业责任之间存在紧张关系。无论个人态度如何，社会工作者一致认为，需要增加国家和社区对客户的支持，以使他们有能力成为父母。除了增加对智障父母的国家和社区支持外，还需要为以色列的社会工作者提供授权培训，以使他们能够代表这些客户采取行动。
康复的意义
社会工作者在智障父母中扮演着关键角色，他们需要在确保孩子健康和福祉的同时，支持客户的育儿工作。
以色列社会工作者在对待智障父母能力的消极或矛盾态度与尊重支持这些客户的责任之间保持平衡。
必须增加对智障父母的国家和社区支持。
需要为以色列的社会工作者提供授权培训，以使他们能够代表这些客户采取行动。
