The development of social policy research in Israel

The study of social policy in Israel has undergone major changes both since its initial steps during the 1950s and since the early 1970s, a period in which the first significant efforts to institutionalize it as an academic field took place. Based on a theoretical perspective that regards the scientific system as a social arena, this article seeks to identify the trends that have characterized this development as reflected in journal publications, both Israeli and international, over the past four decades. The findings indicate that social policy research has become a vibrant field of academic research over this period and that a number of key trends related to both the intra-institutional aspects and the intra- scientific aspects of this development, can be identified.