Klaipėdos universitetas

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.

Positive orientation has become widely recognized in many scientific fields during the last decade. Possible nature of positive orientation in social work could be derived from positive psychology. However this topic is just starting to be discussed and researched in Lithuania and other European countries. In this article the authors represent complementary social work approaches that are proved as effective in a contradiction to most applied and dominant in practice nowadays problem-oriented model of social work. Therefore, the aim of the article is to overview social work practices as a ground for starting modeling Positive Social Work (PSW). Literature analysis was employed to ground different approaches of social work and set the basis for possible Positive Social Work beginning.

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.

Straipsnyje aptariami du galimi aplinkosaugos ir socialinio darbo sankirtos laukai: žaliojo socialinio darbo konceptas bei aplinkosaugos ir žmogaus teisių sąsajos. Kartu siekiama atverti šią aktualią socialinio darbo erdvę diskusijoms ir tolesniems tyrimams. Analizuojamos žaliojo socialinio darbo ištakos, socialinio darbo profesijos iššūkiai, kylantys prisitaikant prie tvaraus vystymosi siekiančio pasaulio. Konstatuojama, kad socialinio darbo moksle ir praktikoje būtina keisti paradigmą, akcentuojant bendruomenės stiprinimą, kolektyvinę atsakomybę, socialinio ir aplinkosauginio teisingumo sąsajas. Pristatomi du aplinkosauginių žmogaus teisių pagrindimo diskursai: vienas akcentuoja sveiką aplinką, kaip žmogaus teisių įgyvendinimo sąlygą, kitas dėmenis sukeičia vietomis ir žmogaus teises mato kaip aplinkosaugos problemų sprendimo priemonę. Taigi aplinkosaugos idėjų įtraukimas į socialinio darbo veikos erdvę suteiktų profesijai šiuo metu mažai išnaudojamą makrodimensiją, kartu gerokai praplėstų ir įprasmintų profesionalizacijos procesą.

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.