Klaipėdos universitetas

The paper discusses different styles of leadership of the social work that have been empirically reconstructed and conceptualized. The consequences of such leadership styles for the professional activity of the social workers are analysed not only regarding the clients but also in the context of empowerment of the workers. Considerations are made concerning the influence of social work to the identity and the distribution.

The article focuses on the issues in meeting the needs of foster parents and fostered children. Current process of deinstitutionalisation of foster care which seeks to increase the number of foster families requires a deeper understanding of their attitudes towards the process of care, needs of foster children and parents and cooperation with profesionals. The need for social work support is analysed utilising three components of educational rights and obligations model of foster parents: biological, legal and emotional. The results of the research provide social workers and organizers of trainings for foster parents with implications for identification and meeting the needs of fostered children and foster parents.

The article addresses the problem of uncertainty in social work. The problem is analyzed in the context of domination of postmodern worldviews. Three types of uncertainty are distinguished: ontological, epistemological and procedural. Resting on various literature critical thinking, human rights discourse and client strengths perspective are presented as possible alternatives for decision making in a complex world.

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.

The article presents the results of continuing research performed at Vytautas Magnus University and Lithuanian University of Health Sciences which justifies the importance of collboration between social workers and other professionals working in the field of helping professions, creating a person’s supportive social environment, which the article perceives as a unity environment. There are analyzed theoretical and empirical aspects of cooperation between social workers, health professionals and educators, emphasizing the conceptual attitude of personal empowerment and its significance in an aging, transforming society. The interpretation of the research results revealed, the interdisciplinary cooperation in practice is discussed, the changes of professional training and continuing education are highlighted, emphasizing readiness to work in an interdisciplinary team. In the first part of the article there are discussed social tensions, their expression in social work and healthcare practice, revealing the challenges for a person – a professional and a client. The second part of the article highlights the interdisciplinary communication, leading to the creation of enabling environment of unity, and the importance of social tensions in the context of supportive cooperation discussed resolution it’s practice. In the third part there are analyzed cases for the conditions and possibilities of educational interdisciplinary cooperation: the results of the analysis of medical and social work study programs are reflected; introduced changes in the organization of study programs, discussed the expression of innovations in study programs and practice. There is emphasized counseling as a key factor in educational change in the implementation of a “learner center”, a lifelong learning strategy in the process of continuing education. In formal professional training, this can ensure the position of the tutor, empowering systematic studying; in practice, supervisor encouraging reflection on professional experience, thus developing competence.

At the focus of this article, the motivation of a social worker is presented as an important aspect of effective professional functioning, which approaches the human being as a personality able to create and accumulate unique experiences. A holistic in-depth analysis of the process of motivation is employed to search for links between different motivational dimensions, such as the personality of the social worker, and the behavioural and environmental effects on professional identity. The aim to theoretically ground the motivation of a social worker as a prerequisite for an effective professional functioning requires carrying out research into the theoretical construct of motivation in order to explain it on a poly-systemic level and distinguish its components: stimulus, identification of stimulus, adaptation phase of an identified stimulus, action, and action control. The explanation and fixation of active elements of motivation take place in a vertical system of relations, where most attention is paid to causal ties and continuity of the social worker’s professional motivation.

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.

This article is the overall review of photovoice, the strategy of participatory action research hat relies on potential of photography. Therefore, the history, inspirations and application examples are discussed. The notion of the article is the argument that photovoice is a valuable method that could be applied in social work, which is focused on empowering people and supporting them in life challenges.

The article adresses the problem of social work support to domestically violent males. The causes of violence and the process of help and resocialization are discussed. The research results reveal that domestically violent males receive informational, legal, psychological and social help, however, the component of social-psychological help is underdeveloped, lack of involvement of social workers is felt. Possibilities of social work support are underutilized, social workers rarely participate in the whole of support process. Usually the role of social worker is carried out by probation officers.

The focus of this article is on the personality of a social worker as most qualified representative of the profession. The task of the article is to explore social worker’s personal agency and context beliefs as a factor to increase the motivation of social worker’s professional activity. The methodological basis of the research is the Concept of Effective Functioning (Motivational Systems Theory, Ford, 1992). The talk – interview was used to gain factual information about social worker’s capability beliefs related to the main elements of problem solving process. To explore social worker’s context beliefs, a construct embracing essential factors characteristic to social organizations was made. The research provide information about the mentioned parameters of the beliefs and reveal the dominating patterns of social workers’ professional functioning indicating the level of their motivation.