The diploma thesis named "Dilemmas of social workers during assessing of educational methods in families with lower elementary school age children". The goal of the thesis is find to the answer: "Which dilemmas deal social workers during assessing of educational methods in families with lower elementary school age children? ". The theoretical part of this thesis describes the social work with families, its development and dilemmas that each can bring social work. It also deals with the family and its development. It also focuses on inadequate educational styles in the family that may affect child development. The practical part is focused on the process of assessing families. Thanks to the semi- structured interviews with social workers are trying to map this difficult process and dilemmas that social workers in this work can be experienced.

This study focuses on the development, implementation and evaluation of a research-based legally defensible forensic interview protocol for social workers in South Africa in order to improve the social worker's knowledge, understanding and skills regarding forensic assessment interviews in the field of child sexual abuse. The motivation for the study has its origin in the fact that current legislation in South Africa requires that all cases of alleged sexual abuse have to be reported to either social workers or the South African Police Service. Social workers often find themselves having to deal with allegations of sexual abuse, and are faced with the challenging task of conducting assessment interviews, where the result of such interview will be a determining factor in the final outcome of the legal proceedings. The research problem is that there is currently no national research-based forensic interview protocol for social workers in South Africa. A quantitative research approach was followed. Applied research was used to address immediate problems that are encountered by professionals in practice. Intervention research was used as research methodology. The quasi-experimental design was applied where a comparison of two groups were done. The hypothesis formulated for this study is: If this interview protocol will be applied in cases of alleged sexual abuse against children of the middle childhood, it would facilitate the disclosure in a more legally acceptable and defensible manner. An interview protocol with seven definite phases was developed. A self-developed checklist consisting of 119 fundamentals compiled from comprehensive literature study, consultations with experts and extensive experience of the researcher, was used as a measuring instrument. The researcher applied the newly developed interview protocol with ten girls (experimental group) in the middle childhood who have allegedly been sexually abused. The interviews were audio-recorded and evaluated by means of the self-developed checklist. An independent social worker also interviewed ten allegedly sexually abused children (comparison group) of the same age and gender as the experimental group. This social worker, however, made use of her own interview protocol. She represents the social workers in South Africa. The interviews were also audio-recorded and evaluated by means of the self-developed checklist. An independent professional person coded a sample of 50% of all interviews. All data were submitted to the Department Statistics of University of Pretoria who has done the statistical analysis. In chapter two the phenomenon of child sexual abuse is discussed and aspects that interviewers need to take in consideration were highlighted. In chapter three all aspects of child development are discussed. Developmental issues which need to be accommodated during forensic interviews are explored. Chapter four focuses on interview techniques in the forensic context, and international guidelines on forensic interviews were explored. This information was used to develop the proposed forensic interview protocol. In chapter five the proposed seven-phase forensic interview protocol was discussed. In chapter six all the data that was collected was quantified, analysed and interpreted with the assistance of the Department of Statistics of the University of Pretoria. The statistical analysis showed that in five of the seven phases a statistically significant difference was found between the experimental and comparison groups. The results suggest that the seven-phase forensic interview protocol was successfully implemented, and could be considered a new development and thus a contribution to the social work profession. However further research with a larger sample of children is needed. Conclusions and recommendations (chapter 7) of this study are put forward in accordance with the process that was followed in developing and implementing the interview protocol which would assist social workers when dealing with alleged victims of child sexual abuse. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

The aim of this study was to investigate the background to the introducing of professional certification among medical health care social workers and to investigate how social workers and union representatives discusses about the meaning of the certificate. As for today hospital social workers are the only profession in the health care context who are not authorized which sometimes affects them and their profession in a negative way in their daily work. Lawmakers finds lack of authorization a risk factor for the patient safety. Three social workers and two union representatives have been interviewed and the result has been analyzed with professional theory and related concepts. The informants believes that the authorization will increase the power of the social workers in the medical context including having stronger autonomy and higher status. But the study have also discovered some eventual negative consequences such as hierarchization among social workers and challenges attracting enough students to study another year if higher salary will not be guaranteed. / Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka bakgrunden till beslutet att införa yrkeslegitimation för kuratorer inom hälso- och sjukvård samt att undersöka hur kuratorer och fackliga representanter resonerar kring innebörden av denna yrkeslegitimation. Kuratorerna är idag den enda yrkesgruppen inom hälso- och sjukvård som saknar legitimation vilket emellanåt påverkar kuratorerna i sin profession negativt i deras dagliga arbete. Beslutsfattare menar att avsaknad av legitimation utgör en patientsäkerhetsrisk. Tre kuratorer och två fackföreningsrepresentanter har intervjuats och resultatet har analyserats utifrån professionsteori och tillhörande begreppsapparat. Informanterna tror att legitimation kommer att ge gruppen ökade befogenheter, högre autonomi och status men studiens resultat har även visat att yrkeslegitimation kan innebära eventuella negativa konsekvenser som hierarkisering inom socionomgruppen och kompetensförsörjningsproblem i form av att få studenter att studera ett extra år om detta inte lönar sig ekonomiskt.

This thesis explores the phenomenon of Indigenous/non-Indigenous allyship. In this thesis, Indigenous child welfare leaders were interviewed regarding their perspectives on allyship and were asked to identify non-Indigenous leaders whom they consider allies. Through a storytelling methodology, these non-Indigenous leaders were interviewed regarding their journeys to allyship. As the researcher I employed thematic analysis of the interviews conducted to determine if there are patterns that suggest a process through which a non-Indigenous person becomes an ally. Analysis of the literature and the interviews conducted suggest critical processes that non-Indigenous leaders have undergone, and comprise a series of steps, in the journey to allyship. The research questions addressed in this thesis are: (1) Are there process patterns or themes that emerge with the phenomenon of allyship? (2) Is there a framework that can be identified that can inform a settler leader’s journey to becoming an ally? The research findings suggest that there are essential process patterns that emerge with the phenomenon of allyship. Further, the findings suggest there is danger in suggesting a sequential or linear process for this journey of head, heart and spirit. / Graduate / 2020-12-19

(in English): The diploma thesis deals with the burnout syndrome in social workers who work with people with a mental illness. The theoretical part presents knowledge about burnout syndrome, its symptoms, risk factors, treatment, general prevention, and supervision as a specific prevention of burnout syndrome. It also discusses the burnout syndrome in social workers and the stressors of working with people with a mental illness. The practical part is focused on quantitative research, in which the respondents use the Shirom-Melamed burnout measure to determine the incidence of burnout and the necessary data on the respondents using supplementary questions. The practical part also contains an additional qualitative part of the research. The main goal of this work is to determine whether the burnout syndrome occurs in this group of social workers to a greater extent than in people who work in other fields. The sub- objectives are to show whether there is a statistically significant correlation between burnout syndrome and age, gender, absence of supervision, number of clients, satisfaction in the workforce and length of stay in the current employment of respondents. The qualitative part of the research aims to identify the biggest source of stress in the employment of social workers.

(in English): The diploma thesis deals with the differences in the provision of social activation services from the personnel point of view in homes for the elderly. Its aim is to focus on the difference in the personnel implementation of the social activation service of the staff of the retirement home, due to their qualifications and the nature of work in this facility. In my work, I am looking for an answer to the question: "Who should perform social activation services in a retirement home?". In the theoretical part I present the concepts of aging, the theory of aging, old age and related changes in old age, adaptation and preparation. Description of the retirement home, social work in it and then the nature of the work and qualifications of the social worker, the worker in social services and the activating worker in the home for the elderly. The last chapter is activation, in which I deal with the activation program and communication within the activation. I process the practical part with the help of qualitative research in the form of a semi- structured interview. I am looking for an answer to who should perform a social activation service in the retirement home. My respondents are activation workers or social workers and social care assistant, who carry out activation in the facility....

Sjukhuskuratorer samtalar med patienter på vårdsalar där möjlighet till avskildhet eller lugn ibland är liten. Denna uppsats har som ambition att undersöka vilka metoder för att skapa relation och en hållande miljö som sjukhuskuratorn använder sig av i sådana situationer, för att öka förståelsen för hur arbetet går till i praktiken. Denna kvalitativa intervjustudie visar att det finns ett flertal metoder som är användbara för att visa närvaro och skapa relationer tillpatienter i vårdmiljö – både fysiska och verbala. För att skapa en hållande miljö använder kuratorerna metoder för att stänga ute störningsmoment och upprätthålla tydliga ramar i samtalen. Metoderna används ofta i kombination med varandra och anpassas efter situationen. Studien visar också att de fyra intervjuade kuratorerna är samstämmiga i mycket trots att de ofta jobbar ensamma, samt att de lärt sig metoderna genom utbildning och genom att iaktta andra kuratorer. / On the ward, healthcare social workers often speak to patients in rooms without the possibility of privacy or quiet. The aim of this paper is to examine which methods healthcare social workers (HSW's) use to build relationships and create a holding environment in these settings, and how they are used in practice. Findings from this qualitative interview study show that there are several methods that HSW’s can use – both physical and verbal. They also employ several methods to block out disturbances from other patients and personnel, as well as methods to create safety and predictability in order to establish a holding environment for patients. These methods are often used together and adapted to each situation. The group of HSW's interviewed in this study draw knowledge from both education and practice, and are concordant in their views even though they often work alone.

Spets, A. To share or not to share. A study on social workers’ attitudes towards social media. Degree project in Social work 15/30 credits. Malmö University: Faculty of Health and Society, Department of Social work, 2022. There is an increased use of social media for both private and professional purposes, where mixing private content with professional connections has become a commonality. This has led me to question what effect this bears on social workers’ ability to use social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. The aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of social workers’ attitudes towards social media by studying their experiences in using social media platforms. To gain this knowledge this study is carried out by using a qualitative method while conducting six interviews with social workers who are frequent users of social media. The result of this study reflects the impact the professional role has on the informants’ private use of said platforms and thus shows the complexity of maintaining boundaries between privacy and the professional life of a social worker. The result is presented in the following themes: social media, contacts, posts and content, experiences and miscellaneous. All of which leads to the conclusion that social workers are affected by the demands of the profession regardless of to which extent (due to individuality).

Sekundär traumatisk stress är ett problem inom socialt arbete. Begränsad forskning finnsangående hur det skulle kunna förebyggas samt behandlas. Syftet med litteraturöversikten vardärför att sammanställa kunskapsläget av befintlig litteratur angående faktorer som förebyggersamt behandlar sekundär traumatisk stress hos socialarbetare. Studien avsåg även att undersökavilken effekt faktorerna hade. Litteraturöversikten utgick från metodiken av en scoping review.Datamaterialet bestod av 15 vetenskapliga artiklar. Samtliga artiklar analyserades medinnehållsanalys, ytterligare gjordes en narrativ sammanställning av de kvantitativa artiklarna.Resultatet visar att individuella faktorer som att kunna hantera sina känslor i olika situationeroch sammanhang samt att utföra egenvård, är exempel på betydelsefulla förebyggande ochbehandlande faktorer. Regelbunden handledning samt stöd från chefer och medarbetare, ärexempel på organisatoriska faktorer som hade en betydande roll i det förebyggande ochbehandlande arbetet mot sekundär traumatisk stress. / The purpose of this study was to compile the state of knowledge in the existing literature aboutfactors that prevent and treat secondary traumatic stress in social workers. The study also aimedto investigate the effect of the factors. This literature review was based on the methodology ofa scoping review. The data was contained by 15 different scientific articles. All these articleswere analyzed by content analysis, and further there were a narrative compilation of thequantitative articles. The results of the study show individual factors like to be able to deal withtheir emotions in different kind of situations and contexts, and to perform selfcare, are someexamples of meaningful factors. Regular guidance and support from managers and other coworkersare some examples of important organizational factors in the prevention and treatingwork against secondary traumatic stress.

The topic of the diploma thesis is the issue of foster care performed by the relatives of the child from the point of view of social and legal protection workers of children (OSPOD) and foster parents on the basis of the theory of line workers. The work deals with the confrontation of kinship and professional (mediated by the state) foster care, their positives and negatives, both from the perspective of OSPOD professionals who perform this activity directly and from the perspective of foster parents who are related to children and professional foster parents. The aim of the diploma thesis is to find out whether there is a different approach to kinship and professional foster care both in terms of legal grounding and in terms of the practical side of this institute. The work focuses on finding out the needs of foster parents in the performance of foster care and also the needs of workers involved in the implementation of foster care, both in terms of assessing foster care tools, entrusting the child to foster care, implementation of foster care and eventual termination of this care and their possible differences in professional and family care. At the same time, I focus on the reserves in foster care, both related and professional, but also on barriers to the performance of foster care and its...