Tiltai

The ar­ti­cle ad­vo­cates the prin­ci­ples of So­cial Econ­omy (SE) as pos­si­bil­ity to de­velop in­no­va­tive so­cial tech­nolo­gies for the so­cial co­he­sion of so­ci­ety in situa­tion of eco­nomic break­down. The con­cept of So­cial Econ­omy can be con­sid­ered as Eu­ro­pean tra­di­tion and chal­l­enge for ap­ply­ing and find­ing sus­tain­able forms of so­cial in­clu­sion on na­tional level. The purpose and the ob­­ject of the study is to in­ves­ti­gate, which spheres and prin­ci­ples of SE are evi­dent in the ac­tivi­ties of com­mu­nity ini­tia­tives in Lat­via thus es­tab­lish­ing the rec­og­ni­tion level of con­cep­tual un­der­stand­ing and prac­tice of So­cial Econ­omy in na­tional con­text among the Third Sec­tor ac­tivi­ties in Lat­via and spe­ci­fi­cally non-profit move­ments. The overview of selected community initiatives showed there are initiatives that could be (1) placed in the sphere of productive economy on the scale of a community (2) by the very marginal people involved in initiatives, (3) administered as small businesses, (4) controlled by the people involved with democratic means of decision-making and (5) supported by social services and social workers, in order to overcome social exclusion.

The article analyses theoretical development of positive social work approach via highlighted strengths of client. The professional social work compounds analysis of problematic relationships of individuals, families and communities, seek for social change and orientation towards maintenance of quality of life. Strength – oriented model is essential for its application towards vulnerable groups in pluralistic context of social work methods. It is discussed in the article that despite critics towards strength-oriented model, positive approach is fundamental basis for effective communication. Negative expectations, questions, and problem-based attitude impacts client’s attitude towards self, the same it changes attitude of social network towards the client, and it affects behavior and relationships. In such a case the relationships of social worker and client to be not mentioned by distance, control and different possibilities is hardly expected. This understanding gap will be much more noticeable if social worker empowers his knowledge to name and solve the problem. Therefore, social worker influences passiveness of client. The article discusses that strength-oriented social work model does not mean fulfilling all the dreams and wishes of client as well as any willingness of client is best for this client. The most essential aspects discussed in the article is seen via close collaboration of social worker and client as well as tight both-sided interaction. Positive social work is approached towards analysis of concrete choices of client instead of accentuation of disorder.