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.

he article examines the process of youth transition from the education system to the labor market in Lithuania. It discusses the context of social policy and the regulation of legal and strategic documents. The main focus is on the European Union’s Youth Guarantee program, aimed at reducing youth unemployment, particularly among NEET (youth not in employment, education, or training). The article addresses the theoretical assumptions of the transition process and analyzes various theoretical perspectives, such as status change and human capital theory, which are used to assess youth integration into the labor market. In the Lithuanian context, the transition from the education system to the labor market is not a linear process. Youth transition is often accompanied by periods of unemployment and inactivity. The article distinguishes three youth segments: labor market-active youth, inactive individuals (studying but not working), and NEET youth. Special attention is given to the NEET indicator, which has increased over the long term in Lithuania, although it has fluctuated in different periods. The study also highlights the connections between youth employment and unemployment indicators with the NEET group, as well as correlational relationships showing that fluctuations in youth unemployment rates are closely related to changes in the NEET indicator. Additionally, the impact of educational attainment on youth employment is analyzed, noting that higher education does not always ensure successful employment. The article provides conclusions and recommendations on how to improve youth opportunities for successful integration into the labor market.

The practical use of drawing in the work of psychologists, both in foreign countries and in Lithuania, far outstrips the number of publications about it. The development and peculiarities of the drawing of typically developing (TD) children, i.e. children without developmental disorders, whose aim is to represent an object in a way that makes it recognisable, have long been of interest to researchers. However, there has been less research on expressive drawing, which aims to express emotion or mood. Even fewer have scientifically studied the drawings of children with disorders, and this study aimed to assess intergroup differences between expressive and representational drawings of typically and atypically developing younger school-age children. The study involved 53 children, including 24 typically developing children (TD), 12 children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and 17 children with hearing impairment (HI). Their average age was 8.5 years. The children drew two expressive drawings (happy and sad), and two representational drawings (a house and a person running). The evaluation of the drawings focused on: 1) the quality of the match between mood and task; 2) the representativeness of the house and the running man drawings, and 3) the correlation between the representativeness and the expressiveness of the drawings. The results showed that the expressiveness of happy drawings did not differ significantly between the groups, while the expressiveness of sad drawings was significantly higher in the TD group. The most representative were the drawings of children in the TD group. In all groups, as representativeness increased, so did the level of expressiveness. A statistically significant relationship between representativeness and expressiveness was found only in the ASD group.

There is a wide range of rehabilitation programmes for the blind and visually impaired in Western countries, but these vary greatly in content and application, and no single ‘gold standard’ has been established, despite attempts to set such standards. In Lithuania, the policy for rehabilitation services for the blind and visually impaired began to be implemented in 2017. A qualitative research approach was chosen to determine the need for services and project activities for the blind and visually impaired, and to identify implementation shortcomings. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five blind or visually impaired people and four of their family members. The results of the research revealed that the blind and visually impaired faced complex psychological and social problems before participating in the social rehabilitation programme for the blind. It was found that there is a lack of coordination in the transmission of information between health-care institutions, municipal social institutions and NGOs. Patients are forced to seek information on their own, which reduces accessibility, acceptability, and the effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions. Many of the research participants received services quite late, and, according to the informants, the social rehabilitation programme for the blind had quality shortcomings.

In this interdisciplinary article, the authors analyse the historical development of the Dutch state, the specificities of its governance, and its key features in the context of the 21st century. The theoretical analysis identifies the most important political, social, economic and cultural features, and their historical evolution. The situation of the current political-public governance is assessed. The paper analyses various scientific sources, statistical information and different historical phases in governance, which help to reveal not only the key strengths of the Dutch state, but also the challenges inherent to the Netherlands. The article expresses the opinion that an analysis of the good practice of the case of the Netherlands could be significant for the improvement of democratic and public governance processes in Lithuania.

The changes in migration flows in Europe have challenged not only those countries which have received a large influx of new residents, but also countries which had less experience of this in practice. One of the reasons is related to the fact that welcoming is followed by an integration process into different spheres of social life. Therefore, this research focuses on migrants’ integration into the host countries’ legal environment, particularly with respect to acquiring legal information. The study aims to answer what are the internal and external factors that contribute to new residents’ experience in acquiring knowledge in the host country’s legal environment. The results are based on analyses of the experiences of Ukrainian immigrants living in Lithuania and in Spain, focusing on the research subtopics: a) What are the conceptual challenges faced by new residents while integrating into the linguistic space of legal relations? (b) What are Ukrainians’ experiences in obtaining legal information in Lithuania and Spain? and c) What are the observed patterns for the dissemination of legal information? The analysis reveals that new residents face systemic and personal obstacles in accessing and applying information about the legal framework of the host country. Ukrainian citizens residing in both Lithuania and Spain face difficulties in obtaining information on legalities, although the challenges they face are not identical, due to the different institutional characteristics of the countries. The study shows that it is not the institutions, but rather an inner circle of informal contacts, that help obtain, verify and share knowledge about legal regulations.

The article focuses on problems of the integration of migrants in Lithuania from the perspective of social workers working in NGOs. The research highlights various difficulties that migrants face during their transition from migration to integration, such as mental, physical, socioeconomic, spiritual and other challenges. Also, language, housing, health care, education, socio-economic integration and self-identity were identified as common challenges faced by all groups of migrants during integration, with those from Third World countries facing more complex issues. These difficulties include issues related to financing, resettlement, access to hospitals and state institutions, nutrition, communication, identification, and more. The research emphasises the importance of a third party to ensure that the needs of migrants are met, and that they are treated normally and without discrimination. It also emphasises the need for migrants to be able to participate in decision-making, to prevent situations like mass demonstrations or attempts to create a state within a state. Social workers in NGO settings play a crucial role in helping migrants integrate into Lithuanian society, and policymakers must develop policies and programmes that address the unique challenges faced by Third World migrants.

The study aimed to better understand elementary students’ mental health and well-being before and after the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as whether there are differences in elementary students’ self-reported mental health between racial groups. Minnesota Student Survey results were analysed, and the results of Bonferroni post-hoc tests found significant differences in worrying a lot and feeling sad between racial groups. Hispanic or Latino/Latina students are significantly more likely to worry a lot than all other racial/ethnic groups. Black, African or African American students are significantly less likely to feel sad than all other racial/ethnic groups, except White students. Hispanic or Latino/Latina students reported the largest increases in worrying and feeling sad between 2019 and 2022. The study findings hold implications for practice, including building educators’ cultural responsiveness, increasing mental health support in the schools, and implementing social-emotional learning in elementary schools.

A social worker’s individual work with the client, empowerment and leadership as the professionalisation of social work are analysed in the research article. This area of social work activity has become especially relevant in recent years, due to the new functions that have been taken over: the empowerment of clients who come out of prison. The article emphasises the change in the relationship between the social worker and the client, as well as the need for diverse methods of social work and the search for innovative solutions. The social worker’s activity in the community, and the change of attitudes while presenting a positive image of the client to achieve greater social participation, are reviewed in the article. The results of the qualitative study are presented with the content analysis method. The aim of the study was to bring to light the most essential competencies for social workers which allow them to achieve the greatest social participation results for people coming out of prison. In total, nine social workers who work directly with clients after prison took part in the qualitative study. The findings of the research revealed that social workers are in need of broadening their competencies. The most important qualities mentioned by social workers in competencies were: empathy, communication, and motivation. They tend to be the most essential factors determining social workers’ possibilities to construct the social support and better integration of clients into society. The study also revealed that social workers need continuous improvement, participation in training, and the use of various methods and programmes, in order to implement their new functions effectively.

This article presents the results of a study on the levels of knowledge, skill, management and attitudes of physiotherapists working in Lithuania, regarding the application of electrical stimulation (ES) in clinical practice. The study was conducted as part of the Erasmus+ European Union-funded vocational training project ‘The Importance of Clinical Electrical Stimulation in Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation’ (CK4Stim). A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out with 31 physiotherapists, who completed a questionnaire developed by the project partners to assess their levels of knowledge, skill, management and attitude towards ES. The surveys were conducted using the Google Forms platform. Statistical data analysis of the study was performed using the SPSS 21.0 program. Although the results varied depending on the question, most participants indicated that their level of knowledge regarding the application of ES for various conditions was average. Less than 50% of the participants rated their skill and management level of ES as average. The types of current chosen by participants for the treatment of different conditions varied greatly, and in many cases, the selected sequences of ES currents were inappropriate. In conclusion: the participants generally considered their knowledge and attitude levels to be average, but their skill and management levels were below average. We found that the level of knowledge, skill, management and attitude of physiotherapists working in Lithuania is below average, so it is necessary to change these aspects in the clinical, evidence-based practice of physiotherapists.