Social Workers' Value Preferences and their Opinions on the Immigration Policy for Asylum Seekers in Israel

In the present study, we investigate social workers’ opinions towards different aspects of the immigration policy for asylum seekers in Israel and their connections with the social workers’ personal values preferences. Social workers are at the forefront of working with asylum seekers; thus, it is crucial to understand their attitudes towards this population. Anonymous questionnaires were completed by a representative sample of 285 social workers. Opinions on the immigration policy were conceptualized as distributed across two dimensions: one related to defending the rights of asylum seekers, and the other – defending the receiving society. The socio-demographic characteristics of the social workers explained only a small proportion of the variance in their opinions on the immigration policy, while personal value preferences explained a substantial part of the variance in the social workers’ opinions on the immigration policy. Specifically, a stronger preference for the values of self-direction, humility, benevolence, and universalism was related to a policy aimed at defending asylum seekers’ rights. Values of power, face, social security, and tradition were related to support of a policy directed toward defending the state. Results supported a conceptual model in which personal opinions on the immigration policy were affected by individual general motivational goals. Findings suggest that values-based interventions could be useful for reducing negative attitudes towards immigrants among the receiving society.