Klaipėdos universitetas

In this article, we analyse the process of case management in the context of inter-institutional cooperation while providing aid to families at social risk in Lithuania. According to the theoretical framework, effective inter-institutional cooperation depends directly on the communication practice, and is oriented towards certain strategic goals, building a more effective system of social services, and improving opportunities for aid for families. In order to argue for the importance of inter-institutional cooperation as a significant aid tool for families at social risk, it is appropriate to examine the experiences and expectations of the participants in the process related to the management of interdependency between organisations and involvement in the exchange of necessary resources. With the help of analyses of the practice of inter-institutional cooperation in the case management process, we attempt to emphasise the essential factors in and obstacles to effective inter-institutional cooperation, assembling aid providers, planning, providing aid to the child and (or) family, and cooperating with government and local authority institutions, and other organisations.

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.

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.