Social Support
Personal and Environmental Factors in the Workplace Associated with Self-reported Resilience among Social Workers
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ester Zychlinski
Workplace characteristics of social workers may harm their self-resilience and lead to symptoms of poor mental and physical health. Therefore, this study investigates the contribution of several personal factors (gender and length of work experience) and environmental factors (subjection to client violence, social support, and social and economic exchange in the employee–organization relationship) to self-reported resilience among social workers in Israel. Structured questionnaires were administered to 346 social workers. The findings suggest that previous subjection to violence by clients was associated with lower levels of self-reported resilience. Perceived social support and social exchange were positively associated with self-reported resilience. However, gender, length of professional experience, and economic exchange were not significantly associated with self-reported resilience among social workers. The current research findings can be used by policymakers and managers of welfare organizations intending to strengthen the resilience of social workers. Promoting resilience should consist of both measures to protect the physical safety of social workers in the work environment, and mechanisms to strengthen their emotional coping and thereby enhance their mental health in the workplace.
Featured Global Crossroads of Care: Transnational Circulations and Inequalities in Traditional and Complementary Medicine
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Polina Palash
This preliminary research explores the transnational circulations of practitioners and users of traditional and complementary medicine, encompassing diverse healing practices that coexist with conventional medicine. These include both ancestral and more contemporary forms of healthcare, often emerging in response to a growing search for holistic approaches to health and wellbeing. While such practices have been widely examined in local contexts, their transnational dimensions remain underexplored in an increasingly globalized and interconnected world. This contribution draws on a multi-sited ethnography conducted in Bali (Indonesia) and Koh Phangan (Thailand) between June and October 2024. These two locations represent emblematic global crossroads that attract mobile actors who engage with these forms of healing through their distinctive therapeutic landscapes (Gesler, 1992) and associated imaginaries. The research includes ethnographic interviews and participant observation with 16 practitioners and 13 users of traditional and complementary medicine, and is further complemented by digital ethnographic methods conducted between 2024 and 2025. By retracing the socio-spatial trajectories of these actors, preliminary findings reveal the porous boundaries between the categories of practitioners and users, seasonal patterns of mobility—primarily from Western countries and across similar global destinations for alternative healing practices—and their connection to digital nomadism. Social media and digital space emerge as central in shaping and sustaining these transnational circulations and networks. At the same time, the research highlights how socio-economic inequalities shape these forms of (im)mobility and the interactions with local populations.
