Socialno delo, Vol. 45 (2006), Part 6
ARTICLES
Strategies of Help in Social Work with Traumatised Persons and Families - 333, (Abstract)
Abstracts
Jana Mali, Liljana Rihter
Care for Residents with Dementia in Homes for the Aged
In 2003–2004, Faculty of Social Work carried out a research of the work with people suffering from dementia in homes for the aged. Students and members of the research group gathered data in 23 homes, using observation and interviews with workers and relatives. Different degrees of dementia entail different needs, demands, types of nursing and care. Workers have pointed out problems with the organisation of work, the organisation of space, the lack of qualified staff, and the lack of regulations.
Keywords: research, relatives, normalisation
Jana Mali, BSW, MA, is an Assistant Lecturer and Junior Researcher at the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Social Work. Dr. Liljana Rihter is an Assistant Lecturer at the same Faculty. FSD, Topniška 31, SI-1000 Ljubljana [jana.mali@fsd.uni-lj.si], [liljana.rihter@fsd.uni-lj.si].
Bernard Stritih
Strategies of Help in Social Work with Traumatised Persons and Families
Social work practitioners have never been able to avoid the problem of post-traumatic stress disorder. Since people have always experienced trauma, various ways of alleviating distress have been developed, which researchers need to scrutinise. A vocabulary has evolved in which mental and physical trauma are analogous. Since science favoured the research of biological and physiological phenomena, the field of psychotraumatology has long been neglected. It was only in the last decades, with the use of system models, that the scientific research of the whole range of the effects of psychosocial trauma has become possible. The author raises the question whether the term “social injury” is tenable, and his answer is affirmative.
Keywords: post-traumatic stress disorder, psychotraumatology
Dr. Bernard Stritih is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Social Work, Topniška 31, SI-1000 Ljubljana, (+386 1) 3006234.
Lea Šugman Bohinc
Social Work with Involuntary Service Users
In the years 2005 and 2006, a pioneer study has been conducted at the Faculty of Social Work of social work with involuntary service users. Foreign research increasingly indicates that the precise assessment and acknowledgement of their involuntariness significantly contributes to the enhancement of service users’ readiness to co-create a working agreement with a social worker. The crucial factor of effective social work is a motivational congruency between the practitioners and service users. It is important to make a distinction between the viewpoints about which one can not negotiate and those about which a negotiation is possible, to reinforce the latter and to insure the ethics of participation while paying regard to legal mandates. The study has shown that social workers estimate that out of all service users, 75% are involuntary, while the managers believe that there are only 30 % such users. Social workers’ »double role« seems to be a bigger problem for the practitioners than for users. Social workers use some but not all the elements of a working relationship, and they have expressed their wish for additional qualification to work with involuntary service users. 50 % of these are satisfied with their practitioners’ work and think that they have helped them solve the problem, while a fifth of the users disagree with that opinion.
Keywords: entry conditions, motivational congruency, ethics of participation, working relationship, double role, negotiation
Dr. Lea Šugman Bohinc is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Social Work, Topniška 31, SI-1000 Ljubljana, (+386 1) 2809252 [lea.bohinc@guest.arnes.si].