introduction themes comitees programme location information links archive
1. The History of Social WorkThe history and development of social work in Slovenia, Yugoslavia and the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Social movements in 19th and 20th centuries. The emergence of social institutions and their development. The history of education for social work. The history of the social work profession. The history of sociality. Biographies of social workers. Biographies of users. Research methods of history and the past. The genealogy of European social work and the influence of its development on developments in Slovenia. The influence of new social movements on the development of social work at the end of the 20th century.
2. Restructuring of the system and the transformation of institutions
The formation of policies and implementation of systemic changes. Evaluation of the National Programme of Social Care until 2005 and the platform for the new Programme. The new pillars of social security. Direct payments and individualised founding. The equal of opportunities. Towards a system of inclusion. The development of a social models and systemic integration.
Restructuring institutions and the shift towards the community care. The transformation of centres for social work – new functions, new organisation, new tasks. The significance of local communities and regionalisation. The needs assessment in the community and the co-ordination of services. Inter-sector integration of founding and services. The pitfalls and advantages of pluralisation of the services. Quality management. Evaluation systems.
Multidisciplinary teams. Community action. Advocacy. Accommodation, housing and support. Creating networks of the services. New ways of providing services.
3. New fields and the renewal of methods
Skills, knowledge, methods and procedures. Social work between assistance and support, guardianship and advocacy, state bureaucracy and serving users. Social and users’ mandate. The dilemmas of voluntary and non-voluntary users.
Catalogues of methods, needs and services. Work relationship. Investigation of the users lifeworlds and planning of resources use. Power analysis and empowerment. Risk analysis. Recording and documentation. Outreach. Teamwork. Individual planning. Social action work.
Work with the Roma. Work with the violence. Rural social work. Social work in disasters. Dementias. Refugees and asylum-seekers. Work with the disabilities.
4. Professional profiles and profiling the profession.
Social work as a science/craft or art. Philosophy, language, the values of social work. The special relationship between theory and practice.
Charity and voluntary work. Multi/inter/trans disciplinarity. Global, trans-cultural, international and humanitarian social work.
Defining the professional profile of social work. Competencies, jurisdictions, mandates. Knowledge, skills, methods. The new study programmes. The Bologna Declaration. Questions of professional certificates. Contingencies of internship and state exams.
New levels of education. Postgraduate, doctoral, post-doctoral studies. Lower levels of education for social work. International programmes. The practice teaching and learning within systems of European social work. The acquisition of practical experiences at the international level.
New profiles in social work and at its interfaces – the youth worker, community worker, organiser of services, rehabilitation councillor, social inclusion worker.
Ensuring the profession’s strength. Supervision. Strengthening autonomy. The continuous training. Stakeholders’ impact on education and training. Burnout protection . The status, stigma and success of the profession. Migration in social work at European and global levels.
5. Ethical dilemmas and visions
Professional ethics, community ethics, personal ethics. Controversies between professional and personal ethics. International ethical standards, European, national standards. The ethics of care. The history of ethics in social protection.
Changes in the status of users as an ethical dilemma. Ethics arbitration boards at national and European levels.