Involvement of Minority Social Workers in Policy Practice: Frontline Managers' Discretion.

This article examines how institutional rules within local government, state, and cultural contexts influence frontline managers' discretion and organizational culture regarding the involvement of minority social workers in policy arenas in Arab localities in Israel. Through interviews with 35 Arab social work managers, the study identifies three management styles—transformational, transactional, and flexible—that reflect varying degrees of support for social workers' policy engagement amid tensions with political leadership and cultural norms. It highlights that managers' professional and managerial identities interact with institutional opportunities and constraints, shaping their ability to legitimize minority social workers' participation in social policy processes. The findings underscore the importance of organizational culture and managerial strategies in enabling minority social workers to address social inequalities within multicultural societies.