Ethnically Sensitive Social Work

In the theoretical introduction students extend their knowledge of different theoretical approaches to the understanding of ethnicity (social construction of whiteness; ethnicity as a choice and as an imposition; equality and otherness), of the protection of minorities within the nation state, of the structures of social inequality, racisms and their consequences. Students analyse media representations to understand the social construction of the Slovenian person as the norm. This will become the basis for making definitions and raising questions of the principles, methods and the role of social work (empowerment, advocacy, access to services for different user groups) and strategies for the abolition of racism at the individual, institutional and cultural levels. Understanding experience and knowledge for action in the case of immigrants of the first, second and third generations, refugees, the children of refugees without an adult guardian, and members of the Roma community. An understanding of trauma, surviving torture and/or war and cultural shock. Knowledge for intercultural communication, definition and experience of assimilation and integration; the meaning of language and dialect; the meaning of the colour of one’s skin; identification and strategies for overcoming discrimination in education and employment; poverty and access to health services; the question of social the worker's ethnicity (reflections on one's own positioning); the social worker as a member of a minority group.