Social workers make decisions about client’s treatment. Problems arise when these assessments are not based on different needs, but rather a result of different biases towards gender. The purpose of this thesis is to study social workers in the addiction treatment field’s reasoning behind their justification concerning gender differences in their work. We used a vignette as a common reference for two group interviews and one individual interview, which were carried out on a social service office and an outpatient clinic. The interviews resulted in three forms of legitimacy: organizational requirements, professionalism and the will to do right. Organizational requirements refer to social workers relying on guidelines and research to justify their actions. Professionalism means that social workers reinforce their reasoning through previous experiences or other profession’s knowledge. The will to do right refers to the determination to live up to the ideals of society. Participants struggle with a complex and sometimes conflicting task, and to act justifiable they use reasoning based on different premises. The social workers are motivated and educated on the subject, and their goal is to make assessments based on individual needs. But it appears to be difficult to fully utilize these skills in practice

Thesis (M.A. (Social Work)) --University of Limpopo, 2015 / Please refer to the document / University of Limpopo

The aim of my diploma thesis was to find out what extent there is to the awareness of emergency care service in the Prachatice territorial administrative district. The thesis is divided into two parts, a theoretical and a practical part. The theoretical part deals with the emergency care service itself, with the issue of aging, with the needs and life quality of aging people. The qualitative part of the research used the method of a semi-structured interview. Data was analysed via the grounded theory methodology. Ten informants were interviewed. The research file consisted of municipality mayors or responsible workers of municipal offices. Quantitative research has shown that respondents were aware of social services, however, only 25 % were aware of the emergency care service. The interviews also proved that most informants were aware of available social services within Prachatice, however, only a minimum of informants were aware of the specific emergency care service. Acquired information may be useful not only for students of the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, but they may as well improve wider population´s awareness, perhaps they may be used within community planning in the individual municipalities of Prachatice.

The thesis is dedicated to the history of the Czechoslovak Red Cross (CSRC) organization, especially to the period 1945 - 1952. The CSRC carried out valuable activities between 1945 and 1948 not only in the medical field, but also in social services. Training of caregivers and voluntary nurses, establishing and operating medical facilities or searching for missing individuals due to WWII can be listed among others. A particular phase of CSRC history started after February 1948 Coup, when it slowly transformed into voluntary organization of the National Front. The thesis is mainly based on archives of CSRC stored in the National archive. Key words Czechoslovak Red Cross - social services - modern history - Czechoslovakia after war - National Front

<p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The purpose of this essay is to examine trust, or lack of trust, in the social services. Previous research considering this topic is limited, which, in our point of view, implies the need of further studies. A quantative method was used, consisting of an online questionnaire containing statements about the social services. The statements were designed using a five level Likert-scale which required the respondent to rate their level of agreement. The questionnaire was published on five webcommunities directed to parents. We found, as previous research has shown, that the majority of the public, who lack personal experience of the social services, find it difficult to respond to statements about institutions such as the social services. Our results also indicates that the social services fail to gain the trust of a majority of the respondents and more then half of the respondents are of the opinion that the social services is in absence of the knowledge that they need to carry out their work. Despite these results half of the respondents would initiate a contact with the social services if they felt the need to do so.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p>

<p>The papers purpose is to examine how the Botkyrka and Huddinge municipalities implement their juvenile law offenders' programs. The paper briefly and concisely outlines the history of juvenile offenders and the social services programs dealing with them. We focus on how two municipalities’, Huddinge and Botkyrka, implement these programs. The municipalities belong to the same judicial district,”Södertörns tingsrätt”. The paper has a qualitative approach with interviews with those responsible for the programs. Recent year’s criticism has been directed towards the lack of control and structure of the application of the program within the municipalities. This paper's conclusion is that implementations of the program vary a great deal between Huddinge and Botkyrka. However, it also shows that Huddinge and Botkyrka are making an effort to remove these differences between their respective programs. On the basis of the analysis of the material, this paper concludes that the programs can be seen as a creation of a mesosystem that include the young and partly its microsystem. Participation in the program will hopefully have a positive influence on the other systems that the young offenders are a part of. The control of that the young is managing its punishment is done by supervision. Trough this supervision the behavioural pattern of the young is influenced. The power and force to change the young offenders, and give them possibilities to change, to deploy and evolve lie within in the use of words and conversation.</p>

<p>This dissertation is a case study of how two agencies in Umeå, Sweden and Barrie, Canada protect children found in need of child welfare services. The project's purposes are to describe how children are protected from harm in these two contexts, to illuminate the similarities and differences in the child welfare systems reflected at the local level, and explicate the significance of uncovered similarities and differences. The research project is grounded in three complementary theoretical approaches: i) social constructionism, ii) critical program evaluation theory, and iii) institutional ethnography. Using a model I developed to guide cross-national comaprisons, the research project explores three dimensions in the organization and delivery of services: i)Structure (service contexts and features), ii) Intervention (intervention process, and documentation and gatekeeping as two central aspects of intervention), and iii) the interplay between structure and intervention. The project combines methods including focus groups, qualitative application of the vignette technique, and analyses of assessment summaries extracted from case files at each agency. Finding from this investgation are reported in four papers. We identified differences in gatekeeping, use of social work skills, identification of clients, decision-making, and use of compulsory measures and the availability of other measures for clients. The documentation study showed that in Canada documentation is increasingly structured whereas in Sweden documentation is systematically varied but with narrative forms dominating. The different documentation trajectories in these nations are coupled to the paths they have taken with regard to the care and protection of children. We then focus on the "best interests of the child" principle. In Canada, the best interests principle is paramount but intimately connected to "need of protection" and risk assessment. In Sweden, the best interests principle is contibutory to the Social Service Act's emphasis on a solidaristic response to need. When data from this study are taken in context with other research in the field, it appears to give meaning to description of two models of state service for children in need because of abuse or neglect. Umeå is representative of some of the key elements in Swedish child welfare whereas Barrie is representative of some of the key elements in Canadian child protection.</p>

<p>This essay deals with the social services cooperation with the private sector relating to foster care. The aim was to examine whether and what the causes may be that the social service transfer tasks of authority to private actors. Furthermore, we have examined and discussed if such a working procedure can lead to consequences for the individual child and how / if the children's legal security is affected. Survey methodology is qualitative in nature where we conducted semi-structured interviews with three persons who work in different ways to be involved in work with a foster family. We have also made use of questionnaires sent to social workers around the country.</p><p>The result has been interpreted on the basis inter alia, legal texts, legislative history, and two theories which have their origin in organization theory. Our results show that some municipalities do not feel that they have the resources to investigate the family. Furthermore, it appears that the cooperation of the social services have with the private sectors has declined, perhaps because of clearer legislation of 2008, or because of the sharp criticism that they received from the provincial government. Our study also shows that some municipalities still leaves management tasks to the private sector, without legal basis. Since there is no control over who is inquiring the family a result of this can be that a child is growing up in unsuitable environments, which in itself can affect the rule of law.</p>

<p>The purpose of this degree project is to obtain a greater understanding of how the support for abused immigrant women is designed and if these measures respond to the women’s own wishes and needs. I also want to investigate the possible advantages and disadvantages, there are under the social ser­vi­ces and voluntary organizations (NGOs) and women themselves when it comes to spe­cific sup­port measures for immigrant women. On which basis have these support measures been designed and what experience or research starting points are based on? To what extent do they answer to women’s needs according to the staff, and to the women's own view?</p><p>The study is based on qualitative data consisting of five interviews and one case report of an abused woman. The participants I interviewed were three social workers from two different de­partments in Kristianstad administrations, one coordinator from the women’s support centre in Kristianstad and one pre-school teacher from the Family house Näsby in Kristianstad and one abused woman. To contextualize the information gathered, the normalization process by Eva Lundgren and stigma theory by Goffman have been used. The empirical material from my five semi-structured interviews and the case report has been analyzed on the basis of the normalization process and stigma theory, as well as literature and expert knowledge on abused immigrant women. Through this study I have come to the conclusion that the support measures to an abused immigrant women was based on her own needs. I have also noticed in my results that the professionals have different work procedures and different ways to refute abused immigrant women depending on their knowledge of other countries’ culture.</p><p> </p>

Die Autoren untersuchten mit Hilfe einer Fragebogenstudie das Sexualverhalten von StudentenInnen und KrankenpflegeschülernInnen unter der Bedrohung durch AIDS(n = 593). Als Ergebnis lässt sich festhalten, dass unterschiedliche Personengruppen mit unterschiedlichen Einstellungen, mit unterschiedlichem Wissen über HIV und AIDS, mit unterschiedlichem Sexualverhalten sowie einem unterschiedlichen Grad von persönlicher Betroffenheit auf differenzierte Weise angesprochen und zur Prävention angeleitet werden müssen. Die berufliche Nähe zu HIV und AIDS hat keinen Einfluss auf die sexuellen Einstellungen und Verhaltensweisen. Nur durch eine Selbststeuerung kann einer Gefahrensituation, wie sie eine mögliche HIV-Infektion darstellt, begegnet werden. Von daher muss neben der persönlichen Betroffenheit auch die Einsicht gegeben sein, dass ich mich als Individuum eigenständig vor dieser Gefahr schützen kann. Ferner muss dieses Verhalten in die eigene Lebenswelt eingepasst und von der eigenen sozialen Umgebung getragen werden. Präventionsbemühungen müssen auf kompetenzsteigernde, ressourcenorientierte und differenzierte Maßnahmen setzen. Ansätze von Furchtappellen und Lustfeindlichkeit wirken kontraproduktiv. Eine Beschränkung der Prävention auf individuumzentrierte Maßnahmen ist wenig effektiv, sofern gesellschaftliche und strukturelle Bedingungen ausgeblendet werden. Ziel von Sexualpädagogik und AIDS-Präventionsarbeit muss es daher sein, eine von allen geteilte Kommunikationsstruktur für Intimität zu entwickeln. / The authors examined by means of a study basing on a questionnaire the sexual behaviour of female and male students and nurses and male nurses under the threat of AIDS (n = 593). As a result can be noticed that different groups of persons with different attitudes towards and different knowledge about HIV and AIDS and different sexual behaviour and a different level of personal affection as well have to be addressed in different ways and to be instructed about preventive measures regarding AIDS. The nearness on profession to HIV and AIDS has no influence to sexual views and behaviours. Only by the means of self - determination you can face a dangerous situation like the possible infection by AIDS. Beneath the personal affection from that point of view there has to be reason that I myself as an individual can protect myself from this danger. Further the behaviour has to be fitted into one's own way of life and to be supported of one's own social environment. Struggles of prevention have to back on increase of competence orientated by oneself capabilities and distinguished steps. Approaches of appeals to fear and to make someone lose all interest in lust are contra-productive. A restriction of prevention on individual centring steps is little effective as far as social and structural conditions are out of focus. Target of sexual pedagogy and work on prevention of AIDS therefore has to be to develop a shared by all structure of communication for intimacy.