Socialno delo, Vol. 53 (2014), Issue 2
ARTICLES
Some aspects of employability and employment of older workers - 97, (Abstract) (Full text)
REPORTS
Abstracts
Srečo Dragoš
The mosque: catalyst of moral panic
(Full text)
After 44 years of efforts for building the first and the only mosque in Slovenia made by Muslim part of Slovene inhabitants, in this year construction works began for building a religious-cultural centre (including a mosque). We have also got the first Slovene translation of the Koran. It is an extraordinary achievement for Slovenia and the Muslims but with a bad aftertaste – it lasted too long. Opposition and protests against cultural and civil rights were too extensive, to make us believe that they will not be repeated at the first opportunity. That is why the analysis is needed in terms of how and why the obstacles lasted for so long and were so persistent. The main theses of the article is that intolerance was provoked form the above – from political elites – and the common denominator that blocked the realisation of basic rights of Muslims in Slovenia was moral panic (concept developed in social sciences). Moral panic glued together key elements of this unpleasant story – from chronological history of “urban planning” and location problems, latent xenophobia to manifest islamophobia and typical Slovene problems with multiculturalism.
Keywords: social work, culture, religion, Muslims, panic, intolerance
Srečo Dragoš is a sociologist at the Faculty of social work, University of Ljubljana. His main interests are general sociology, sociology of religion, social policy and welfare state. Contact: sreco.dragos@fsd.uni-lj.si.
Uršula Bizant
Factors affecting teh identity of an adopted child
(Full text)
The main object of the thesis was to evaluate the factors affecting the identity of an adopted child. Firstly, the perspective of an adopted child, of adoptive persons, the professional worker/social workers working in the field of adoption, the representative of the Family Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities in Slovenia, and the perspective of the environment. Those who are involved in the adoption are crucial for the adoption process and, consequently, for the child’s identity. The thesis also includes the role of family and relationships, the period before the adoption, and finally the meaning of the ancestry and the importance of an honest discussion about the adoption among all parties. In the thesis, the impact of the culture, environment and social workers on the identity is also discussed. The thesis deals also with the problems of adopted adolescents. In the conclusion, the necessary modifications which would also indirectly influence the identity of an adopted child are stated
Keywords: adoptions, family, relationships, social work
Uršula Bizant has Bachelor\'s degree in social work. In 2013, she participated in the international project “Improving foster care in the Republic of Croatia”. Currently, she participates in a project at Youth Information Centre and the Deteljica association. Her fields of research include adoption, foster care and institutional care. Contact: ursula.bizant@gmail.com.
Nadja Djuričič, Janez Stare
Some aspects of employability and employment of older workers
(Full text)
The article explores employment issue of the elderly, including discrimination against them. The authors state findings of the comparative analysis of the situation in selected countries (Slovenia, Germany, UK, France and Sweden). The analysis shows the diversity of approaches and effects of selected approaches. With the help of a comparative view of the situation, the evaluation of the adequacy of measures has been made to promote employment of older workers in Slovenia. Furthermore, the paper presents the results of a study which examined how Slovene older workers and their employers assess certain actions in this study field and possibilities for improvement. On one hand, some underline the importance of contribution of the state because that improvement is largely associated with the active employment policy measures for the elderly. Others highlight the importance of employers through the introduction of management for elderly.
Keywords: discrimination against older workers, older people, employment policy.
Nadja Djuričič is a Master of Science in Administration Management. She is researching the field of employment. Her research has been limited to the study of employment risks groups, including older workers. Contact: nadja.djuricic@guest.arnes.si. Janez Stare, PhD, is employed as an assistant professor of public sector organizations at the Faculty of Administration, University of Ljubljana. His research work is related to the content of human resource management, management of people and organizations in the public sector. This includes the employment of older workers, both in terms of employment as well as in terms of their contribution in the workplace. Contact: janez.stare@fu.uni-lj.si.
Sanja Sitar Surić
Co-custody: foster care for postmodern social work
(Full text)
Modern social work has developed, alongside systemic and postmodern concepts, a framework for understanding foster care that differs from the traditional one. From the traditional concept, that understands foster care only as the full caretaking of basic children's needs, that the parents alone can not or will not provide, foster care has evolved into a co-creational joint planning of individual project groups or, in other words, a joint caretaking of children's needs by their parents, foster parents and professional social workers. Therefore there is also an evident need to find/invent a new verbal expression, which will, beside the basic caretaking, conceptually include all the new features of the new co-creational approach to taking care of children's needs during the period when their parents are unable to do so. “Co-custody” is the author's proposal for the appropriate naming of foster care for the postmodern time.
Keywords: co-creation, language of social work, care, postmodernism, parentless children.
Sanja Sitar Surić has a Master degree in sociological sciences – “Social Work in the Community”. She\'s a PhD student at the Faculty of social work in Ljubljana. In her doctoral dissertation, she\'s researching the development and practical use of different theoretical social work concepts in everyday casework of centres of social work in Slovenia. She has been a professional social worker for eleven years at the Centre of social work Maribor. In recent years her interests had been focused in the field of social work with families, preventive measures and children foster care. Contact: sanja.sitar@amis.net.