Tiltai

Scientific journal Tiltai / Bridges / Brücken published by Klaipėda University (established in 1991) is devoted to the issues of social sciences, and seeking academic dialogue, also to other human and society functioning-related humanities and biomedical sciences, with expand and interpret different social phenomena and current issues from an interdisciplinary perspective. The publications attempts at analysing and solving actual problems of economy, management, demography, social geography, geopolitics, political sciences, history, education, religious, regional planning and land use, other social problems. Science has no borders. Therefore scientific cooperation is one of the most important elements in the progress of world’s community. Scientists from different countries of the world are kindly invited to write for and contribute to the journal.

This paper presents a subjective evaluation of the attitudes and experiences in the Lithuanian labour market of currently unemployed youths (aged 18 to 35) registered at the public employment service (PES). The main focus is on identifying the main issues related to the successful transition of youths from education to the labour market. Research questions: How do currently unemployed young people evaluate their prospects on the labour market? What is the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on youth transitions? What are the obstacles in the search for a (first) job? The study is based on survey research that was carried out in Lithuania from February to April 2021. A total of 453 young people who are currently unemployed and registered at the PES participated in the study. The results reveal that the Covid-19 pandemic has affected more vulnerable young people with a lower educational level and less work experience living in rural areas. Respondents with lower levels of education indicated greater difficulties in the search for a first job and in obtaining a stable working position. The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the transition from education to the labour market for young women more than for men.

The article analyses the development of employee financial participation in Lithuania, describes the legal environment of financial participation, and supports this participation. Two methods were used to analyse employee financial participation: 1) the method of logical analysis in examining the internal documents of companies; 2) the qualitative research methods of focus group and semi-structured individual interviews. Theories of the agency and stakeholders were used to analyse the data collected. These theories are usually applied in research in an integrated way, analysing employee financial participation to elucidate the phenomenon of employee ownership, and examining the agent’s performance. It has been established that in Lithuania four employee share ownership programmes and plans usually apply: extensive employee share option programmes (granted to public limited companies whose shares are traded on stock exchanges); granting employee stock options to executives (so-called executive stock option programmes and one-time decisions); stock option programmes in start-ups; and shares granted by shareholders to employees.

The article analyses the satisfaction of employee needs in Lithuanian organisations, according to

The aim of this article is to identify and analyse welfare state models and their features in East and Southeast Asia. With this in mind, the article examines welfare state models in East and Southeast Asia and their characteristics. Different attempts to define the welfare state systems of East and Southeast Asia are provided, as well as a comparison with G. Esping-Andersen’s typology of three models. The characteristics of the welfare states of East and Southeast Asia are distinguished, such as the influence of Confucianism, productivity, the role of the family in the field of social welfare, and the influence of politics and the economy on the development of the welfare state. The article uses methods of analysis of scientific literature, expert evaluation, synthesis, descriptive analysis and comparative analysis.

Regarded as part of the cultural heritage, Confucianism and its principles play a major role in shaping the welfare state and the development of social welfare in the East Asia region. This article aims to analyse the expression and influence of Confucianism on the formation of the welfare state in the East Asia region. The Confucian welfare state has been shown to be characterised by low state intervention and investment in social welfare, relatively strong family ties, an emphasis on family responsibilities and duties in solving social problems, familialism, patriarchal hierarchy, etc. The principles of Confucianism promote a three-tier system of social assistance that includes family, community and governmental layers, in descending order of priority. In the article, the author provides an analysis of scientific literature and foreign research material, and uses synthesis and descriptive analytical methods.

Social entrepreneurship serves as one of the social techniques for the social cohesion of disadvantaged and marginalised groups in society, and therefore can be used as a practical method in the field of social work. Social entrepreneurship provides an operational platform for the renewal of people’s self-dependence skills, by learning to do things together, which is a relevant motivational aspect for socially marginalised people in solving their social and personal problems. Thus, the social cohesion of disadvantaged and marginalised groups of society by being involved in social entrepreneurial activities, and thus being placed in the sphere of the productive economy at the level of the community, contributes to the development of the local community, giving citizens the socially active status of being active protagonists in their destiny and their local community. However, the renewal of a person’s social functioning, achieved by involvement in social entrepreneurial activities, covers a person’s life holistically, starting with the person’s inner processes that lead to forming external social relationships. Therefore, the analysis of this process in the article involves taking an anthropological perspective on activating people’s inner resources and human potential in the activities of social enterprises, which also shows the dimension of social entrepreneurship as a tool for personal development. The aim of the article is to explore the phenomenon and practice of social entrepreneurship in the context of social work, where social entrepreneurship can be used as an innovative approach as a tool for the development of the community, and for the transformation on a personal level of practitioners and people involved in entrepreneurial activities.

The article analyses the most relevant anthropological and transformative tasks of social work supervision in the context of today’s risk society, promoted by the process of globalisation with its instrumental rationality, which devalues the significance of the personality in the social system. The article provides the ontological grounds of the transformative function of supervision based on synergic patristic anthropology, and describes the simultaneous vectors of the transformative function in the supervision process: 1) experiential (experience-based) transformative learning, or acquisition of ‘practical wisdom’; and 2) anthropological transformation as a process of recreation of true self-identity. The article conceptually emphasises the decisive influence of the intrinsic quality of the supervisor’s personality in the performance of the transformative tasks of supervision, as well as the supervisor’s ability to form reciprocity relations with supervisees in the supervision process.

meeting their needs is the social services. Individuals with psycho-social disabilities still experience social exclusion and a lack of services. The prevailing system of social services in Lithuania is more general, and less focused on the individual needs of a person with a disability. In order to ensure the functioning of a person with a psycho-social disability in public life, changes in the provision of social services are necessary. An important aspect is inter-institutional cooperation at all levels. In Lithuania, local government is responsible for the provision of social services. In this article, we analyse the accessibility of social services for people with psycho-social disabilities based on a case study. The results of the research reveal the availability and functioning of help for people with psycho-social disabilities in community life. The practical significance of the study is useful for improving the accessibility of services for people with psycho-social disabilities in the context of social inclusion in the community.

Social work theory and practice today follow a concept born in mid-19th century industrialised society; however, it is not the sole concept. Even since the fourth century, an alternative concept of caritative social work (CSW) has been known, and it is currently embedded in the European Social work model. The article shows the therapeutic potential of the concept of CSW based on the Judaeo-Christian model, which is based on the revelation of Biblical and patristic anthropology elaborated since the first decades of the Christian era (mainly in Alexandria and Antioch, ancient centres of learning). Today, with the Covid-19 crisis, and with European society undergoing traumatic experiences, described as alienation, unemployment, depression, etc, the therapeutic potential of CSW should be recalled by social work professionals. The therapeutic potential of CSW is revealed through an interdisciplinary approach. Patristic anthropology is an interdisciplinary approach showing ways to encourage human social activity, encompassing both personal and societal perspectives. The concept of deification provided by Judeo-Christian anthropology touches the ontological structure of man, and is described as a method for the proper conceptualisation of the complexity of the client’s problem, without ignoring its spiritual aspects. The potential of CSW is helpful for people in a society who are at risk to recover from setbacks.