Socialno delo, Vol. 43 (2004), Part 5-6
ARTICLES
Interactional Theory of Social Work with Individuals (According to L. Shulman) - 231, (Abstract)
Starting-points for the Evaluation of Programs of Social Welfare - 257, (Abstract)
Models of Supervision: Management and Dynamic of Supervision Groups in Centres of Social Work - 265, (Abstract)
Personal Assistance for Independent Living of Disabled People - 291, (Abstract)
Abstracts
Blaž Mesec
Interactional Theory of Social Work with Individuals (According to L. Shulman)
Lawrence Shulman's theory of social work with individuals is summarized as a case of generic empirical theory of social work, which is constructed through empirical research of practical social work. It examines its difference from the social work theories that are mere applications of psychological, psychotherapeutic, sociological or philosophical concepts. The questions of the nature of social work theory and it' s assumptions are discussed. The larger part of the paper describes the skills of social worker ('helping skills') in individual phases of work: identifying indirect communication, responding to indirect communication, tuning in, contracting, elaborating, empathic understanding, sharing one's feelings, making demands for work, pointing out obstacles, and ending/transition. The theory is found to be contradictory. It suggests that mediation between a client and his/her resources to the benefit of both is the basic function of social work with individuals, but at the same time describes social work as a 'conversational work' with the (primary) client only and as changing his or her attitudes to the resources, without involving the resources (secondary clients) into the process of mediation.
Keywords: science, skills, empirical theory.
Dr. Blaž Mesec is associate professor at the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Social Work.
Liljana Rihter, Nino Rode, Barbara Kobal
Starting-points for the Evaluation of Programs of Social Welfare
The paper resumes a project designed to set up a system of evaluating the performances and outcomes of programs of social welfare. The ministry in charge of social affairs entrusted this task to the Social Protection Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, which invited to collaboration the Faculty of Social Work. The authors present the proposals of the research team for the typology of programs, which is based on two dimensions: prevention-correction and momentary-permanent, and their proposals for the general criteria for program evaluation: the quality of life, the perspective of power, normalisation, functional capacities, therapeutic effects. Both proposals have been accepted as the basis for the preparation of an evaluation plan. As the next step, the research team intends to verify the general criteria with both users and performers of the programs, and to complement them with specific criteria.
Keywords: program typology, evaluation criteria.
Dr. Liljana Rihter and Nino Rode, M. A., are both assistants at the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Social Work. Barbara Kobal, M. A., is a senior researcher at the Social Protection Institute of the Republic of Slovenia.
Dragana Glišovič Meglič
Models of Supervision: Management and Dynamic of Supervision Groups in Centres of Social Work
The author investigated supervision at five centres of social work in Slovenia. Her typology was constructed with regard to the fulfilment of the basic conditions, the relation between the supervisor and the supervisee, the achievement of personal and group aims, the style of managing, the prevailing atmosphere, and satisfaction with supervision. Each centre had a different way, so that five types are described: permanent, competitive, developmental, correctional, and research-directed. The tentative typology is derived from individual interviews and a questionnaire applied to expert workers at the centres.
Keywords: group dynamic, supervisor, supervisee, learning.
Dragana Glišovič Meglič, M. A., is a social worker, employed at the counseling service of the elementary school Oskar Kovačič, Ljubljana.
Marko Mesec
E-Social Work
The internet has an important feature of being a socially independent medium, in which differences between races, classes, abilities ant statuses do not hinder communication as they of ten do in everyday life. Possibilities and dilemmas arising from new forms of communication are condensed in case of the internet. Discussions focus on the protection of personal data, a reduced personal contact between participants, and the inaccessibility of information technology for marginal groups. On the other hand, social services and information can be available outside office hours, supervision and self help discussion group s can take place anytime anywhere, and the written material can be archived for later analysis. Some authors believe that 'virtual relations' may replace or compensate for relations in actual surroundings, others, however, expect a wider choice of contact-making, a greater freedom for the individual, and the accessibility of an increasing number of social and emotional resources as well as resources of knowledge. The term 'virtual community care' is used for both online self-help groups and on-line social help.
Keywords: virtual community care, social services network, communication, information technology, methods of social work.
Marko Mesec is assistant lecturer of social work at the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Social Work.
Barbara Kobal, Tjaša Žakelj, Simona Smolej
Personal Assistance for Independent Living of Disabled People
Personal assistance is a key to independent living of disabled people. It enables the process of deinstitutionalisation and it decreases dependence from the family as assistance provider. Assistants help with those activities which the user would have do ne by himself or herself, if had it not been for a physical, sensory, mental or intellectual disability. 'Personal' connotes that the assistance has to be customised to individual needs. It also means that the user decides what activities are to be delegated, to whom and when and how the tasks are to be carried out. The aim of the article is to present the concept of independent living of disabled people and the implementation of personal assistance in Sweden, Great Britain, and Slovakia, and to present some reflections of implementation of personal assistance in Slovenia.
Keywords: disability, independent living, personal assistance.
Barbara Kobal, M.A., is a researcher at the Social Protection Institute of the Republic of Slovenia. Tjaša Žakelj, sociologist, is research assistant at the Social Protection Institute of the Republic of Slovenia and postgraduate student of Sociology of everyday life at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Simona Smolej is asocial worker and postgraduate student of Sociology - Social Work in Community at the Faculty of Social Sciences.
Simona Gerenčer
Social Isolation of the Deaf in Slovenia
Most of the deaf are excluded from the rest of society because of hindrances in their communication. Since their natural language (of signs) is not recognized, they are pushed to the margin of society and deprived of their basic rights. Consequently, deprivation is felt in the economical, social and psychological fields. In the psychological field it manifests as social isolation and loneliness, distrust of the rule of law, low self-esteem, stereotypes and prejudices about the public opinion. In the economic field they are isolated on account of segregated form of schooling in the 'Home of the Deaf and the Hard to Hear', limited choice of employment, illiteracy and functional illiteracy, lack of interpreters and minute takers at lectures, high unemployment rate, and the lack of information. Lastly, the difficulty in communicating, scarce feedback from the rest of society, and inaccessibility of cultural events (theatre, concerts, etc.) are evidence of their deprivation on the social field.
Keywords: social networks, training, education.
Simona Gerenčer is a social worker, a resident in training at the Centre of Social Work Lendava, and a researcher on the situation of the deaf.