Socialno delo, Vol. 49 (2010), Part 1
ARTICLES
Paths of hybridization through the invention of new cultural forms: Practices of participation to host social processes by immigrant adolescents attending high schools in Modena - 11, (Abstract)
Programmes of maternity homes and women's shelters - 17 years after their establishment - 21, (Abstract)
ABSTRACTS
Abstracts
Nina Mešl
Social work with family: Use and co-creation of knowledge in practice
The use of theoretical knowledge in social work that can mean a support for action in complex practical situations is not consistent enough. The premise that competent practitioners usually know more than they can tell, can also be transferred to social work; yet in social work one further step needs to be taken. We need knowledge, words to name our work; this is the only way in which co-participation in work process can be provided which leads to good outcomes. Different directions should be researched in order for us to be able to move closer to the explicitness of our actions. The presented research on the use of theoretical knowledge in practice of social work with family means a contribution to this aim. The results show the gap between theories of actions that social workers defined as the espoused theories and their theories-in-use. Possible step to more explicit use of theoretical concepts, to more competent action in practice, is the use of presented model of social work with family. The model is opened, offering social workers a choice of different theoretical concepts which they would reflexively use in concrete practical cases – in a way that would for families, their members and the social worker mean a co-creation of good results in a unique working project of help, and at the same time contributing to the development of a useful theory for the practice of social work with family.
Keywords: espoused theories, theories-in-use, reflexive approach working relationship, family
Nina Mešl, PhD., is an assistant lecturer at the University in Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Work, Topniška 31, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. She worked as a social worker in fields of youth and family social work (from 1998 to 2003). Her field of research is family social work and social work theories of help. Contact: (01) 3006232, nina.mesl@fsd.uni-lj.si.
Federico Farini
Paths of hybridization through the invention of new cultural forms: Practices of participation to host social processes by immigrant adolescents attending high schools in Modena
The paper is based on data collected during spring 2006, through qualitative group interviews addressed to 48 immigrant adolescents attending technical and business oriented high schools in Modena, Italy, previously involved in the European project COMICS (Children Of Migrants Inclusion Creative Systems). The paper highlights that participation in relevant social processes of the host society doesn't require neither non-critical engagement in its cultural forms nor fully sharing of the meanings of cultural symbols. Social participation is connected to non-stop processes of negotiation and mixing of symbols' meanings and cultural forms, through intercultural communication. As categories like “integration” and “adaptation” seem to oversimplify the shades of social participation, the paper aims to report the variety in meanings, expectations and problems of the integration paths followed by young immigrants, accordingly to their autonomous self-expression.
Keywords: marginalization, identity negotiation, social evolution, integration, immigrants
Federico Farini is a contract researcher in sociology of communication and cultural processes at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. He teaches at the same University “Intercultural mediation and intercultural conflict management”. He supervises undergraduate and graduate students in their research activity in the intercultural communication field. Contact: Federico Farini, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Scienze del Linguaggio e della Cultura, Largo Sant'Eufemia, 19, I – 41100 Modena, Tel. (0039) 3288836086, federico.farini@unimore.it.
Borut Grabrijan
Programmes of maternity homes and women's shelters - 17 years after their establishment
The re-establishment of maternity homes in Slovenia began after 1990. After more than 17 years of maternity homes’ activities and women’s shelters programmes, after the completion of the first National Social Protection Strategy Programme, and on the basis of the "Resolution on National Social Assistance Programme and Social Services 2006–2010", the network, in this domain, is practically developed on the entire Slovenian territory. With the adopted Resolution, the maternity homes and women’s shelters became – after the verification of the programme – public social-protection programmes. In 2009, these programmes included 373 beds in total, while the plan of the Resolution states altogether 350 beds in the network of maternity homes and women’s shelters. The quantity indicators of these programmes are the number of beds and implementation of the stated programmes in regions. Because of a number of cases of violence against women and of domestic violence, one may hear that the stated number of beds may be insufficient. However, the 2007 data, collected by people who implement the programmes of women’s shelters and maternity homes, show different structural changes. In 2007, women’s shelters were in average only 90% occupied and the number for maternity homes is even lower, about 80%. In contrast, certain features (age, single status, number of children) of the users show important changes in comparison with the users from the time these programmes started.
Keywords: public social protection programmes, violence, family, non-governmental organizations
Borut Grabrijan, M.Sc., works at the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs of Slovenia. He monitors non-governmental organizations in the field of social security, public programmes in the field of mental health, development and experimental programmes, but also programmes in the field of maternity homes and shelters for women and children, who are victims of violence.