Arie Rimmerman

University of Haifa | haifa · School of Social Work

Persons with disabilities have been disproportionally affected by the COVID-19 virus, experiencing difficulties in accessing health and social services during the pandemic. Lockdowns enforced public health restrictions to prevent spreading of the pandemic, a step needed to protect life. However, these restrictions have had devastating impacts with...

Persons with disabilities have been disproportionally affected by the COVID-19 virus, experiencing difficulties in accessing health and social services during the pandemic. Lockdowns enforced public health restrictions to prevent spreading of the pandemic, a step needed to protect life. However, these restrictions have had devastating impacts with...

Persons with disabilities have been disproportionally affected by the COVID-19 virus, experiencing difficulties in accessing health and social services during the pandemic. Lockdowns enforced public health restrictions to prevent spreading of the pandemic, a step needed to protect life. However, these restrictions have had devastating impacts with...

Persons with disabilities have been disproportionally affected by the COVID-19 virus, experiencing difficulties in accessing health and social services during the pandemic. Lockdowns enforced public health restrictions to prevent spreading of the pandemic, a step needed to protect life. However, these restrictions have had devastating impacts with...

Persons with disabilities have been disproportionally affected by the COVID-19 virus, experiencing difficulties in accessing health and social services during the pandemic. Lockdowns enforced public health restrictions to prevent spreading of the pandemic, a step needed to protect life. However, these restrictions have had devastating impacts with...

Persons with disabilities have been disproportionally affected by the COVID-19 virus, experiencing difficulties in accessing health and social services during the pandemic. Lockdowns enforced public health restrictions to prevent spreading of the pandemic, a step needed to protect life. However, these restrictions have had devastating impacts with...

Persons with disabilities have been disproportionally affected by the COVID-19 virus, experiencing difficulties in accessing health and social services during the pandemic. Lockdowns enforced public health restrictions to prevent spreading of the pandemic, a step needed to protect life. However, these restrictions have had devastating impacts with...

Introduction This study aims to examine the quality of life (QOL) for people with psychiatric disabilities who are engaged in extended employment programs (homogeneous versus heterogeneous) in the Arab-populated Triangle Area of Israel. The homogeneous program participants are exclusively Arab while the heterogeneous program includes both Arabs and...

This study is among the first pre–post examinations to explore differences in subjective well-being, adaptive and maladaptive behavior, close relationships, community integration, family members’ satisfaction with residential and community living settings, and family contact before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. Participants demonstrated better l...

Religion plays a central role in clients’ identities, their behaviors, and their contacts with professionals. Such influence on professionals' practice is evident in cases of clients with intellectual disability and mental health illnesses in Israel. The article examines the tendency of Muslim social worker to prefer religious recommendations (foll...

This article examines Muslim social workers' recommendations regarding child custody of parents with intellectual developmental disabilities and mental illness in Israel. Aside from the professional challenges of determining whether the parents are capable of being custodians, the article portrays and discusses the role of traditional norms in Musl...

This article examines Muslim social workers' recommendations regarding child custody of parents with intellectual developmental disabilities and mental illness in Israel. Aside from the professional challenges of determining whether the parents are capable of being custodians, the article discusses, in depth, the role of traditional norms in Muslim...

The chapter discusses Israeli social policy toward individuals with intellectual developmental disabilities (IDD) in parallel with selected western countries. The first section provides a comprehensive historical review of the development of social policy toward individuals with IDD over a period of 80 years. Particular attention is given to the re...

The study explores whether households’ socioeconomic status and social involvement can moderate the association between stress and subjective well-being (SWB) among parents of offspring with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD). Method: The random national sample is comprised of 301 parents caring for offspring with IDD. Measurements c...

The number of older war veterans receiving disability benefits is steadily growing and is predicted to rise in the next decade. This book provides comprehensive knowledge about health and psychosocial concerns of veterans aging with disabilities and unmet needs and compares policy in three countries that have been involved in massive warfare in the...

Background In general, there is extensive research on parents of young children with ID, particularly studies on stress and coping, social support as associated with quality of life. Unfortunately, there is scarce evidence –based knowledge on parental coping resources and well-being during the transition of their offspring from childhood to adultho...

This longitudinal population cohort study tracks the transition of 1,405 adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) into adulthood, and highlights functional and social skills as core predictors of social outcomes (tertiary education, civic volunteering and employment). Applying regression methods with sample selectivity to administrative dat...

Background: This research responds to the lack of evidence-based knowledge regarding the psychosocial and financial gaps among caregivers of children with intellectual disabilities living in Jewish and Arab households. It examines the financial gaps and explores whether caregivers’ social economic status and households’ affiliation (Jewish vs. Arab) ca...

BACKGROUND: The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) assumes that persons with disabilities have similar rights, motivations to work and personal values as those without a disability. OBJECTIVE: The article examines the corroboration between this assumption and real-life facts to better understand the importance of labo...

This chapter examines Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). ‘Living independently and being included in the community’, is one of the most important rights in the CRPD, since choice, freedom, and inclusion are considered as prerequisites for exercising all other rights. To facilitate such aut...

The present research study examined factors affecting participation in leisure activities of Arab adults with intellectual disabilities living in the community, via the conceptual frame of the ICF (International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health). The research was based on a secondary analysis of data taken from a nationwide surve...

Nowadays, the Web constitutes an integral part of higher education and offers an unprecedented level of access to information and services. The increasing number of students with disabilities in higher education emphasizes the need of universities and colleges to make the necessary adjustments to ensure their Web content accessibility. Despite the...

The Internet has the power to enrich the lives of persons with and without disabilities, and increase independence and subjective well-being. Using path analysis, the study examines the role of Internet use, offline social participation, and connectedness in explaining life satisfaction among people with and without disabilities. Two mediating mode...

Deinstitutionalization is a core policy for the development of services for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) in western countries. Nonetheless, although a western country, deinstitutionalization is not well advanced in Israel. In order to shed light on this phenomenon, we explore the hegemony of ID as reflected in Israeli legislation. The...

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the roots of institutionalization, deinstitutionalization legislation and policies of the twentieth century, and twenty-first-century efforts to promote community living policies domestically and internationally, particularly through the role of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons wi...

This study explores whether aging mothers living in two-parent families whose offspring with intellectual disabilities do better in respect to their undesired daily life events, level of social support and well-being scores than mothers of one-parent families and whether there is difference related to their living arrangement (living with their off...

Introduction Ad hoc advisory expert panels are widely used by governments in the United States and Europe to analyse current policy or propose alternative ones (Egeberg et al, 2003; Figura, 2011; Gehring, 1999; Ginsberg, 2009). Unlike a standing or permanent committee, ad hoc committees are generally tentative and therefore their impact is limited...

Israel is considered a developed country yet both security issues and its frequently changing demographic makeup set Israel apart and imply that Israeli policy analysts must operate in a unique environment and grapple with exceptional challenges. This volume, part of the successful International Library of Policy Analysis series, brings together fo...

Objectives: Challenging behavior (CB) is used as a diagnostic label among service providers. For persons with intellectual disability (ID) this label holds important implications such as placement in segregated housing and extreme stigmatization. Therefore, the ways through which service providers define and measure CB holds great importance. This...

The book explores the status and scope of family policies related to households of children with disabilities, providing an in-depth, evidence-based review of legal, programmatic issues. It includes a discussion of the gaps between family needs and contemporary family policies in the United States and European countries, as demonstrated in these ho...

In this study we systematically map and analyze all disability-related laws and regulations in Israel from 1948 – the year the State of Israel was established – to the present. All 55 laws and 124 regulations (and their amendments) that addressed disability were analyzed via qualitative content analysis; we categorized the legislation into either b...

Ad-hoc advisory expert panels are widely used by governments in the United States and Europe to analyze current policy or propose alternative ones (Egeberg, Schaefer, & Trondal, 2003; Figura, 2011; Gehring, 1999; Ginsberg, 2009). Unlike a standing or permanent committee, ad-hoc committees are generally tentative and therefore their impact is limite...

This article provides a comparison between the mission and development processes of the disability movement in Israel and the United States. It examines whether the organizations that were supposed to construct the movement have succeeded in their mission through the adoption of the disability rights legislations or have been able to introduce a ne...

A sample of 160 ageing mothers to adult offspring with moderate intellectual disability living at home or out-of-home was studied in regard to the mothers’ undesired life events, life satisfaction and well-being within a stress and coping research model. Overall, all significant differences occurred in the group of mothers who were 68 years and old...

The study tested the effect of controlled contact with children with developmental disabilities on attitudes of Israeli volunteer students toward persons with disabilities. The main finding was that the association between contact and attitudes was related to the time of exposure to a person with disability.

Social inclusion is often used interchangeably with the terms social cohesion, social integration and social participation, positioning social exclusion as the opposite. The latter is a contested term that refers to a wide range of phenomena and processes related to poverty and deprivation, but it is also used in relation to marginalised people and...

In sum, the current central policy in Israel that addresses families with children with disabilities is rooted in the biomedical model and engages in practices that are alien to contemporary definitions of disability as a structural wrong. The CRPD is the epitome of these definitions. The Families of Persons with Disabilities Bill of 2014, although...

Focus groups were used to study differences between Israeli and U.S. nonprofit and for-profit employers' hiring intentions of potential employees with disabilities. Major differences were found between for-profit and nonprofit employers' hiring intentions rather than according to their national affiliation. However, U.S. for-profit employers would...

The article examines a proposed model for assessing Sub Minimum Wage (SMW) for persons with disabilities in Israel, with reference to the committee of experts of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor. The article uses a “quasi benchmarking approach”, comparing SMW the year mentioned in the abstract is not a note or reference, it is the year tha...

This study examines the cognitive-behavioral and emotional involvement among 81 Israeli Arab mothers after placement of their offspring with severe intellectual disabilities in institutional care, with respect to mothers' and offspring's background data and measures of divisional roles in the Arab family. Core findings indicate that the most import...

The study examined factors affecting participation in leisure activities of Jewish and Arab adults with intellectual disabilities living in the community, via the conceptual framework of the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF). The secondary analysis of national sample of 520 Jews and 153 Arab adults with intelle...

This research examines the applicability of the Theory of Planned Behavior in predicting supportive behaviors by parents and adult siblings of immediate relatives with intellectual disability. Participants were 67 parents and 63 siblings whose immediate relatives with intellectual disability resided in two institutional care facilities. Three aspec...

This feasibility study examines whether the theory of planned behavior can predict supportive behavior provided by either parents to their offspring--or adult siblings to their brothers and sisters--with an intellectual disability living in 2 Israeli institutional care facilities. Participants were 67 parents and 63 siblings who were interviewed at...

This feasibility study examines the coverage of employment-related issues related to people with disabilities in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The study is a first in a series of future studies focusing on disability issues in the international economic media. A survey of 39 newspaper articles published in the Wall Street Journal, a...

Using the Theory of Planned Behavior as a conceptual framework, focus groups were held with nonprofit and for-profit employers in order to examine behavioral intentions to hire workers with disabilities. Content analysis revealed the following main themes: (1) For-profit hiring strategies were driven by a mission to sell a product or service; (2) N...

The policy toward Israeli veterans with disabilities is based on the Invalids Law (Benefits and Rehabilitation) of 194916. Invalids Law . ( 1949 ). Benefits and Rehabilitation, 5719–1959 (Consolidated version). View all references. This legislation has served as the foundation for an intricate disability policy, providing benefits and psychosocial...

This article examines the extent to which the sub minimum wage (SMW) is an effective labor market policy for people with severe disabilities to address their under-employment and lack of opportunity to be gainfully employed. We assess SMW policies in the United States, Australia and Israel, along four conceptual dimensions delineating participants,...

This article reviews and analyzes disability rights conceptualization and policy as reflected in the Israeli media after the enactment of the Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law of 1998. Media coverage is examined through review of studies conducted on the subject in Israel. A comprehensive review of the research literature reveals a dis...

Government policy toward victims of hostile acts in Israel is anchored in dedicated legislation and endeavor by voluntary organizations representing the victims and their families to address their complex needs. In the aftermath of 9/11, the United States federal government secured compensation for the victims and the families of those who died as...

The authors analyzed data from the 2001 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to determine the extent of a disability-based net worth and income gap among U.S. households. The sample included 4,154 households with an adult with disabilities and 12,365 households without an adult with disabilities. Households with an adult with disabilit...

The article provides a review of the legal position prior and 10 years after the passage of the Israeli Equal Rights Law and discusses the updated status of the legislation. In addition, it examines the impact of the law in three core areas, accessibility, employment and the role of the commission in promoting equal rights. It concludes that like t...

Azaiza F, Rimmerman A, Croitoru T, Naon D. Participation in leisure activities by Arab adults with intellectual disabilities living in the community Int J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: 97–103 © 2009 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. The present research study examined factors...

Thirty-two married Israeli couples, parents of young children with developmental disabilities, were studied with respect to differences in the perception of their children's development, child-related stress, and dyadic adjustment. Major findings showed that there were no differences between husbands and wives or men and women regarding the percept...

The research examined factors relating to the attitudes of 120 Israeli corporate executives toward the employability of persons with intellectual disability. The study identified three key variables that are associated with favourable attitudes: previous contact, hiring a person with disability, and organisational size (large). Persons with mild in...

This exploratory research studied middle-class mother's primary reason for registering their young children, mean age 6.9 years, in adapted motor and sports programs and their perceptions of their children upon entering the program and upon completion. Analyses also examined the possible relationship between mothers' age, education or children's ag...

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between employment and social participation among a random, national sample of 597 Israelis with disabilities of working age. Overall findings indicated that employed people with disabilities were significantly more integrated in social and civic activities than the unemployed. Whereas most...

Advances in health care for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) that have resulted in increased longevity also force health care providers, researchers, and policymakers to question the adequacy of chronic disease management for the growing number of middle aged and elderly persons in this population. We report on sociodemographic and clinic...

This Israeli national study examined a research model predicting parental behavioral involvement with their adult children several years after their placement in institutional care. The sample studied consisted of 278 parents of children with intellectual disabilities in Israel between January 1993 and December 2001. Predictors of behavioral involv...

The quality of life of 127 Israeli young adults diagnosed as having borderline intelligence quotient and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and living in community residences, was studied with respect to personal, disability and social ecology data. Overall, quality of life was associated with studying in inclusive education, total attention...

The present study examined the health status and outpatient health care utilization among 52 adults with severe or profound intellectual disabilities (IDs) living with their families or in group homes in New York City. Bivariate and regression analyses among demographic variables, medical conditions, health care utilization, and type of living situ...

Ninety adults with severe physical disabilities were tested with respect to their adjustment to severe disabilities in their adapted computerized work environment 1 year following occupational therapy consultation. The research goal was to examine a model that incorporates variables from the cognitive coping model (self-esteem, appraisal and social...

This article is based on a secondary analysis of a random sample of 512 Israeli parents of children with disabilities (ages 3-17) regarding their consideration of out-of-home placement. Major findings showed that Arab parents reported greater levels of personal and family burden compared to Jewish parents. Despite that fact, Arab parents rarely con...

The research studies the quality of life (QOL) of 127 men and women diagnosed as having a borderline IQ and ADHD living in two major residential programs of the Sharon region in central Israel in respect to their personal, disability, and social ecological variables. Core findings indicate that men and women differ significantly according to their...

Since the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act in the United States (1990), many countries have passed similar disability laws, shifting the focus from a social welfare approach to a human rights approach. Similarly, in 1998 the Israeli Knesset passed the first three sections of the new Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law (Em...