Einat Peled

• Professor
• Tel Aviv University

This study examined how Israeli men who pay women for sex (MPWS) construct and sustain a moral identity within the social context that often portrays them as deviants, perpetrators, and abusers, thereby challenging their ability to maintain a respectful and dignified image. Twenty-three Israeli MPWS participated in in-depth semi-structured intervie...

Background Women in the sex trade encounter significant challenges in obtaining reproductive healthcare. Reports of reproductive healthcare for women in the sex trade center on the prevention and termination of pregnancies, yet most women in the sex trade globally experience full term pregnancies and bear children. This study aimed to explore barri...

This study is about the role of the addiction discourse in the self-identity of Israeli men who pay women for sex (MPWS). Using the theoretical framework of symbolic interaction, we identified two main contradictory themes regarding the role of the addict identity in the self-narratives of the participants: one presenting the addict identity as con...

The last two decades have seen a wave of legislative reforms in the regulation of the sex industry in many countries around the world. One particularly controversial reform is known as “End Demand” legislation: laws that criminalize clients of sex workers. This study explores what predicts public attitudes regarding the impact of end demand legisla...

Aim To systematically map the extent, range and nature of qualitative studies that explored female sex workers' own perspectives on barriers to accessing reproductive healthcare services. Design A scoping review of the literature utilizing Arksey and O'Malley's method. Data Sources/Review Methods A search of the electronic databases MEDLINE/ PubM...

This study examined how consumerism shapes the identity construction processes of Israeli men who pay women for sex (MPWS). Using the theoretical framework of symbolic interaction and the theoretical concept of extended self, we explored how Israeli MPWS extend their selves through sex-consumption. To this end, we conducted in-depth semi-structured...

Background: Women in the sex trade encounter significant challenges in obtaining reproductive healthcare. Reports of reproductive healthcare for women in the sex trade center on the prevention and termination of pregnancies, yet most women in the sex trade globally experience full term pregnancies and bear children. This study aimed to explore barr...

Background: Previous research points to the many challenges that help providers who support commercially sexually exploited youth encounter in their professional work-yet little is known about how they overcome these challenges, particularly with regard to youth of diverse social backgrounds. Objective: The present study applied the conceptual f...

Background: Studies have shown that a high percentage of individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) are involved in receiving payment for sex (RPS). The stigma associated with RPS may lead to non-disclosure of RPS in drug treatment services thus preventing fully benefitting from SUD treatment. Research on RPS in the context of SUD interventions...

This study examined the internal moral debate that takes place among Israeli men who pay for sex (MWPS) while traveling abroad. We explored how they construct their sense of moral worth and present themselves as moral subjects in light of the intensified stigmatization of their actions. Using the theoretical frameworks of pragmatic morality and bou...

This qualitative study explores how perceptions of masculinity, sexual intimate relationships and sex-for-pay (SFP) shape the experiences of men who pay women for sex (MPWS). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 Israeli MPWS. Participants were recruited through an STD community clinic, an anonymous online survey, ads posted in online f...

This interpretive qualitative meta-synthesis (QMS) aims to systematically review what we know about the help-seeking and help-related experiences of commercially sexually exploited youth (CSEY). A comprehensive search of the relevant databases was conducted to identify published qualitative peer-reviewed papers and research reports about the experi...

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had a collateral effect on marginalized populations, including individuals in the sex trade (IST). In addition, the literature of the past year has documented a significant impact of the pandemic on healthcare providers. However, there is a lack of research on the new challenges and existing hardships...

The complex intersection of migration and masculinity is a growing field of study. This research explores how married Eritrean refugee men in Israel negotiated masculinity-related challenges within the context of gender relations. A constructivist notion of masculinity informed an interpretive analysis of in-depths interviews with the Eritrean men....

This interpretive qualitative meta-synthesis (QMS) aims to systematically review what we know about identity construction of men who pay women for sex (MPWS). A corpus of 54 qualitative studies about the experiences and perceptions of MPWS was synthesized, using the theoretical framework of symbolic interaction and QMS guidelines. This synthesis yi...

In an attempt to characterize men who pay women for sex (MPWS), theory and research generally divides men into two groups: men who pay for sex and those who never paid for sex. However, this dichotomy may lack sufficient detail to understand sex payment accurately, and with regard to attitudes toward paying for sex and frequency of sex payment. The...

This article explores gendered power relations in studies of stigmatized sexual behavior, through a poststructuralist feminist theoretical perspective. Interviews conducted by a female interviewer with twenty men who pay for sex were analyzed using the interpretive constructivist method. We applied the concept defended subjects to suggest that the...

Only a few studies have measured attitudes toward men who pay for sex (MWPS), and those that did so usually based their assessment on a limited number of items. This study sets out to devise a measure of attitudes toward MWPS that is founded on a solid theoretical framework and features satisfactory psychometric properties. Based on a conceptualiza...

Research on commercial sexual exploitation (COMSE) of youth tends to focus on young females as victims, and much less is known about male and transgender commercially sexually exploited youth (COMSEY). Understanding the psychosocial background and past COMSE experiences among COMSEY is important to provide support for gender‐specific or gender‐incl...

Commercially sexually exploited youth and young adults (hereafter CSEY) are at high risk for various health adversities, but little is known about interventions that can improve their health outcomes. This study reports changes in health behaviours-positive health behaviours, drug use and risky sexual behaviour-in the first stages of treatment of 1...

Dominant social, cultural, and professional discourses view motherhood as the core of a woman's identity. Thus, the identity of women who do not meet the general expectations of motherhood might be negatively affected. Specifically, mothers who are welfare clients may violate the prevailing norms concerning the maternal role. This qualitative study...

Little is known about the unique gendered experiences of runaway and homeless girls. This feminist study approaches the body and movement of these girls as potential sites of social control. We explored whether and how social values and directives that view the home as the proper place for girls are reflected in the narratives of 17 Israeli girls w...

This scoping review offers an opportunity to examine the spread and reclaiming of feminist theoretical tenets in a central domain of youth studies. We examined critically the development of the academic literature on Israeli girls and their bodies, based on a girlhood studies perspective. Data consisted of the 255 academic works (articles, book cha...

This qualitative study explored the experiences of 15 Israeli men who paid for sex while traveling as tourists abroad, based on in-depth, semistructured interviews with them. The findings focus on three major aspects of the participants’ experiences: the meaning of sex for them and their reasons for wanting to pay for it; the problems involved in p...

Gender‐specific intervention (GSI) with at‐risk adolescent girls (ARAGs) is highly prevalent in Israel and elsewhere; professionals commonly consider GSI to be beneficial for ARAGs. However, despite the popularity of such programmes, there is little empirical support for their effectiveness and almost no critical examination of their theoretical ra...

This review, based on analysis of the abstracts of 271 academic publications, critically examines the development of girlhood studies within a specific sociocultural context – Israeli society. By examining one particular context the authors hope to contribute to the discourse on the worldwide evolution of girlhood studies. The following research qu...

This paper explores the bodily aspects of home visits, based on an institutional ethnography of home visits conducted by social workers of an Israeli municipal social services department. The analysis of fifteen in-depth, semi-structured interviews with social workers in various capacities revealed their heightened and unique corporeal experiences...

This study examined the construction of the maternal identity among Jewish Israeli women whose children are raised by their father in a sociocultural context that valorizes the maternal role in the lives of women. Interpretive interactionist analysis of in-depth interviews with 13 nonresidential mothers identified the discursive strategies that the...

This study examined perceptions of marriage and sexuality among male asylum seekers from Eritrea. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 men living in Israel. Their perceptions of marriage and sexuality were found to be influenced by their life as asylum seekers, and particularly by their encounter with a different culture, by t...

The public discourse in Israel relates to girls mainly in connection to their body and associates their body with appearance, sexuality, vulnerability and victimization. The book Girls and their Bodies calls attention to the social construction of girls' bodies in Israel which tend to disavow, disregard, objectify and expose them simultaneously. Th...

This study examined how family social workers in social services departments in Israel perceive motherhood and mothering, in particular how the various aspects of the ?good mother? myth are evident in their notions of motherhood and how these are manifested in their encounters with their female clients who are mothers. The research methodology was...

Public policy encourages women, including survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), to develop economic independence. However, a critical review of the literature in this field reveals that IPV survivors face unique obstacles in doing so: active and violent intervention by the perpetrator; damage to the survivor's health due to prolonged subjec...

This qualitative study illuminates the experience of mothers exposed to the intimate partner violence (IPV) of their daughters. In-depth interviews with 11 exposed mothers were conducted. The findings reveal four semi-chronological phases in the participants’ experiences: pre-disclosure of the daughter’s abuse, the first definitive encounter with t...

Mothers of children who suffer various problems tend to discuss their experience as a crisis in their maternal identity, regardless of whether the children are young or adults. However, the maternal identity of mothers who are aware that their adult daughters are being abused has not yet been explored. This study aims to examine the construction of...

Women with a gambling problem bear a negative social stigma. Based on the theory of symbolic interactionism, this study examined the construction of social identities by 17 Israeli women diagnosed with a gambling disorder. Interpretive interactionist analysis revealed how they construct their identity through correspondence with patterns of behavio...

The phenomenon of girls in prostitution poses great challenges to professionals who work with adolescent girls at risk and in distress. Prostitution is socially stigmatized and seen as something shameful. However, current theory and research show adolescent girls in prostitution to be victims of violence, exploitation and trauma. This naturalistic...

This qualitative study focuses on the mothering experiences of women from the former Soviet Union (FSU) who were sex-trafficked to Israel. In-depth interviews were conducted with 8 women who gave birth either in the FSU or in Israel. The women's stories reflect 3 experiential spheres, those of "the good mother," "the sacrificing mother," and "the m...

This qualitative study examines the perceptions of mothering in prostitution among Israeli female child protection officers. The authors hypothesize that their views are affected by social perceptions of motherhood and prostitution, as well as by their life experience. Data were collected through semistructured interviews. The study finds that the...

This study deals with how substance-dependent men perceive their paternal identity. Data were based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 12 Israeli fathers who were enrolled in methadone maintenance treatment. Content analysis revealed that participants had undergone a process of parental identity formation composed of four distinct stages:...

Contemporary developments in social attitudes toward prostitution and prostitutes influence both social policies and the social work profession. Understanding individuals’ attitudes toward these issues is necessary for the development of social interventions and policies aimed at reducing stigmata attached to them. This article describes a new rese...

This study examines court petitions constructed by 19 Israeli social workers in cases involving the placement of 37 maltreated children in alternative care. The petition is seen not as a systemic description of the child made by the social worker, but rather as a construction based on the social workers' understandings and interpretations with the...

This study examined how abused women perceived their mothering. Findings reveal the women's continuous struggle to function as good mothers in the face of the violence. Their main struggle--to create a buffer between "the children's world" and the "violent world"--was directed at preventing the abuse from affecting their functioning as mothers, res...

Contemporary developments in social attitudes toward prostitution and prostitutes influence both social policies and the social work profession. Understanding individuals' attitudes toward these issues is necessary for the development of social interventions and policies aimed at reducing stigmata attached to them. This article describes a new rese...

This paper explores the common but complex challenge facing many social workers of using structured group intervention models while maintaining sensitivity and responsiveness to the group process. It puts forward guidelines for the development of both structured and responsive group intervention, based on our extensive experience in developing and...

This study examined how staff members in shelters for abused women perceive the women's mothering and the challenges when working with these mothers. Data were collected through focus group interviews with 30 workers at Israeli shelters for abused women. Findings revealed that workers typically held a "deficit perspective" when describing the resid...

Findings of an outcome evaluation of a mothering group intervention with women abused by their partners are presented, based on measurements of intervention and control groups before, immediately after, and 3 months after the intervention. At Time 1, both groups reported moderate well-being, high parental self-efficacy, and low mothering-related st...

The aim of this qualitative research was to understand how runaway girls perceive the processes involved in leaving home and the meaning they attribute to it. Findings are based on in-depth interviews with 10 Israeli girls aged 13-17 with a history of running away from home. The meaning of running away as it emerged from the girls' descriptions of...

Poverty and its etiology have been major subjects of concern for the social work profession throughout its history. This study focused on four causal attributions for poverty: social- structural, motivational, psychological, and fatalistic. More specifically, it examined the differences between social workers' and service users' perceptions of the...

To promote social justice, social workers are required, among other things, to engage in policy practice. The project at the center of this article aimed to improve the ability of social workers to use the mass media as an accessible method of policy practice. The project was conducted as part of an MSW course in Tel Aviv University. During the cou...

This chapter provides a conceptual framework that has guided work presented in this book with Israeli fathers. It reflects on the practice "dualities" that force them helping professionals to balance competing goals when working on parenting skills with men who batter women. It argues that intervening with men who batter as fathers is a challenging...

The study compares child protection workers' portrayals of fathers and mothers in the court petitions that they write to obtain authorization to place a child at risk in alternative care or under state guardianship at home. Forty-six petitions in three cities in Israel were content analyzed. Consistent with previous studies at other stages of the c...

The purpose of the present study was to learn about the self-perception of women who live with alcohol-addicted partners. It was hoped that avoiding to label the women in advance as codependent would facilitate a better understanding of their lives and self-perceptions. The qualitative naturalist methodology used was based on a feminist framework....

Client satisfaction surveys give clients a voice in the planning and management of services. While their use is quite widespread, they have hardly at all been used in the evaluation of shelters for homeless youths. In this article, the authors present findings of a client satisfaction survey conducted among residents of a shelter for homeless youth...

This naturalistic qualitative study examines the concept of “home” for runaway girls. Through the “home story” of girls who run away from home, the authors hoped to understand the many facets of home, as well as broaden the existing knowledge-base about the phenomenon of adolescent runaway girls. Data consisted of in-depth interviews with 15 girls...

The study presented in this research note aims to expand our understanding of the experience of fathering for men who are violent toward their partners. The naturalistic qualitative methodology applied was shaped by phenomenological, feminist, and interpretative interactionist influences. In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 abusive men ident...

The paper presents a follow-up evaluation of Israel’s first two shelters for homeless youth. The main research questions were: (a) Did the youngsters achieve the shelters’ main goal of reaching a normative and suitable post-shelter residence? (b) How do the youngsters evaluate their stay at the shelter and its impact on them? (c) Is there a relatio...

This study followed 345 Israeli youngsters who had been residents of two shelters for runaway and homeless youths, 6-12 weeks after their departure. Telephone interviews were conducted with the youngsters, their parents, and social workers in the community. A majority of the youngsters had either returned to their family homes, or had been placed o...

A study cannot be a good study unless proper ethical standards have been maintained. This article examines ethical thinking and practice in qualitative social work research. A review of a randomly selected sample of articles published in social work journals in the past decade was conducted, centered around four main issues: (a) prevention of harm;...

Very little is currently known about patterns of shelter use by homeless and runaway youths. The goal of this study, conducted in an Israeli drop-in shelter for homeless youth, was to predict a major dimension of service "output" - namely, youngsters' destination at departure, by characteristics of service "input" (residents' background and entry v...

This chapter provides an analysis of the ethics of research on children’s exposure to domestic violence. To do justice to this complex issue, the proposed analysis is grounded in knowledge developed on the ethical dimensions of research with children and on domestic violence, child abuse, and sensitive issues. Furthermore, the analysis considers et...

The article reports the results of an exploratory study on the impact of shelter work on shelter staff. Specifically, the study examined the relationships between workers' personal variables, aspects of workers' position and workers' emotional burnout. The findings suggest that shelter workers in Israel experience low levels of emotional burnout, h...

This article examines the individual and social construction of empowerment for battered women who choose to stay with their abusers through a critical examination of the images of battered women who stay, constructed in the professional literature on various ecological levels, and a proposal of a constructivist model for empowering battered women...

Enabling children of abused women to maintain a positive relationship with the perpetrator is extremely complex in the light of the potential danger for women and children and the conflicting needs, interests and rights of different family members. Nevertheless, we can no longer ignore the role of abusive men as fathers. Holding such men accountabl...

Enabling children of abused women to maintain a positive relationship with the perpetrator is extremely complex in the light of the potential danger for women and children and the conflicting needs, interests and rights of different family members. Nevertheless, we can no longer ignore the role of abusive men as fathers. Holding such men accountabl...

Children appear to underutilize domestic violence counseling services. The aim of this qualitative study was to learn about the factors that former adult clients of a domestic violence agency identify as barriers to their child's participation in and completion of available services. Findings are based on interviews with 105 parents of 205 children...

This study was conducted at a large Midwestern domestic violence agency. It identified (a) the agency's potential child client population, (b) the agency's actual child client population, and (c) factors that enhance the likelihood of a child's participation in and completion of the agency's children's program. The study sample included 194 childre...

This article revisits a longstanding controversy regarding the place of organizational goals in evaluation. While early writers saw goals as the yardstick against which outcomes are measured, others argued for a goal free evaluation. We propose a Goal Focused Evaluation, which acknowledges the problematic relationship that may exist between a progr...

Based on in-depth interviews with preadolescents and their mothers, a detailed description is provided of the experience of children who were exposed to violence at home. Findings are organized into five semichronological phases: (a) living with ordinary fights, (b) witnessing violent events, (c) being challenged by mothers' public confrontations o...

This study was conducted at a large Midwestern domestic violence agency. It identified (a) the agency's potential child client population, (b) the agency's actual child client population, and (c) factors that enhance the likelihood of a child's participation in and completion of the agency's children's program. The study sample included 194 childre...

PIP This article presents a critical analysis of the battered women's movement (BWM) response to children of battered women in the US. Following a brief review of progress made in research from an intervention with children of battered women, 3 major issues are examined: 1) the perception of children as ¿secondary¿ victims; 2) woman battering and c...

Significant changes in societal response to the plight of children of battered women has taken place in the past 15 years. Still, many of these children are not getting the professional support they need. The focus of this paper is a review of the literature on intervention with children of battered women. The goals of the review are (a) to inform...

"Ending the Cycle of Violence" begins with a discussion on living in a violent culture, and covers the varied and complex arena of intervention with children of battered women. It provides an overview of current practice including strategies and program models. The . . . contributors present a concise and accessible look into 3 major areas: shelter...

With the belief that intervention should be available to all members of families experiencing domestic violence, the authors of this book provide practitioners with the necessary knowledge base to operate successfully a group programme for children of battered women. The programme, aimed at children aged from four to 12 years, provides a framework...

provide an overview of group processes and related outcomes in group work with children of battered women / focus on the [Children's Program] of the Domestic Abuse Project (DAP) / the Children's Program provides intake, group orientation, and closing family sessions, a 10-session program for groups of children in differing age groups, and a concurr...

The literature defining advocacy for battered women is almost nonexistent and there is no systematic research on its parameters. This article reports the results of a national survey of 379 advocacy services in the United States. Findings on organizational context, definitions of advocacy, client issues and concerns, advocate activities, and advoca...

The paper addresses major concerns and dilemmas involved in the process of constructing the phenomenon of children who witness woman battering as a social problem. Three main, interrelated aspects of this processdefinition, legislation and intervention — are discussed. We conclude with proposed implications for policymakers in this domain.

As this century ends there continues to be little public attention devoted to child witnesses of woman abuse and few social programs exist to meet their needs. This article presents the findings of a qualitative evaluation of a group program for children of battered women. Interviews were conducted with 16 mothers, 5 fathers, 9 group leaders, and 3...

This article presents a conceptual framework for analyzing societal responses to women battering in Israel. The model of policy analysis consisted of three specific dimensions namely: 1) descriptive-operational; 2) analytic interpretive; and 3) chronological. Allocation provision delivery and financing of interventions with the abused Israeli women...

As this century ends there continues to be little public attention devoted to child witnesses of woman abuse and few social programs exist to meet their needs. This article presents the findings of a qualitative evaluation of a group program for children of battered women. Interviews were conducted with 16 mothers, 5 fathers, 9 group leaders, and 3...