Human relations are analytical process oriented to acts. The purpose of this act is to help explaining the environment of work and to do the necessary acts improving this environment. The purpose of good human relations creation is to do workers acts more productive, to stimulate workers to do work better and more effective. That’s why human relations asking from social workers to be sensitive for their customers, try to make good works condition and positive work environment. (Barsauskiene, Januleviciene, 1999:26) The main idea of social workers professional activity – to protect human as personality and worth, to cherish his right to resolve and self expression. The social worker is trying to render the help to customer. Ethical consciousness – the necessary part of social worker professional ethics. (Ethics code of Lithuania’s social workers, 1998). That’s why very important to know how people realize worth. Worth have moral colour. It is mean, that these colours reflective human understanding about what is correct, good and desirable. (Robbins, 2003: 33-34). But lives problems, troubles make people acts roughly, rudely. Conflicts are surface. Then people found themselves at conflict situation they begun to understand reality wrong. People find not typical behaviour to themselves. It is mean, that worth’s and relations system is changing. That’s why it is important for social worker to know how to act at conflict situations. (Hanžina, 2001: 86-87). Social workers must... [to full text]

Während der sowjetischen Okupation, die 50 Jahre danerte, wurden keine Sozialbeamte vorbereitet. Soziale Probleme der Einwohner wurden nach zentralisierter, kommando – administrativer Metode gelöst. Ein Teil der Funktionen der Sozialbeamtem wurden von Partei, Gewerkschafts, komsomolorganisationen erfüllt. Der sowjetische kommando – administrative Staatsapparat, auf dem sich die sowjetische Ideologie stützte, hatte die sozialen Probleme nur auf renteauszahlung, Auszahlung des Unterstützungsgeldes, Verteilung der Talors für Möbelstücke, Haushaltsgegenstände, Berechnung der Sozialunterstützte gelegt. Nach der Wiederherstellung der Unabhängigkeit 1990, wählte Litauen den Weg zum Schaffen, einer demokratischen Gesellschaft und Marktwirtschaft. Man begann eine Reform der Sozialversorgung. Im oktober 1990 wurde das Gesetz der sozialversorgung erlassen. Die Jahre 1990-1991 kann man als Anfang der Sozialarbeit annehmen, als nach Litauen die erstern Sozialarbeiter kamen, die Vorlesungen hielten und Unterricht gaben. 1991-1996 hatte unser Land schon zwei hundert Sozialbeamte, die auf verschiedenen Gebieten der Sozialversorgung arbeiteten. Die Assoziation der Sozialarbeiter (Sozialbeamten) wurde in Litauen 1994 gegründet. Die professionalisierung der Sozialarbeit begann 1991-1992, als die Vilniusser und Kaunasser Universitäten und das Utenas Kollegium begannen Sozialarbeiter vorzubereiten... [to full text]

Ten front-line maternal social workers were interviewed to determine how they are managing in terms of combining their work and family responsibilities. Supervisor support, and the effectiveness of family-friendly work place policies were explored. All agreed, that motherhood, has had a positive impact on practice including increased empathy and understanding, for both parents and children. The following workplace initiatives were determined to be helpful: flexible and predictable work hours; part-time options; and compressed-work-week. Despite half feeling unsupported by their supervisors, the majority indicated that they are managing well primarily due to flexible work hour scheduling. The attitude of supervisors, regarding the value of parenting, appears to be the key factor relating to their level of support. There was some indication of role conflict and much evidence of accommodation, including turning down supervisory/management positions, postponing education and restricting types of practice.

Stress is inherent in our daily lives and it is debilitating to our mental health. My assumption is that racism and stress are intertwined. The purpose of this research is to explore the narratives of Black social service workers who are working in mainstream social service agencies. I will explore whether, and how, they experience racism and how their experiences might result in a range of stressors in the workplace. This paper is based on the premise that the amount of stress Black social workers are subjected to is directly related to the social and structural forces within the agencies, in terms of racism, sexism and domination. / In particular, I am arguing that it is stressful for Black social workers to work in an agency that perpetuates and condones racism and this may bring about added tension to the working environment. By focusing on everyday forms of racism and its' impact on the mental health of Black social workers, the analysis will also reflect my experiences of personal and institutional racism, the effects of internalized racism and coping strategies aimed at retaining a mental stability and competency on the job. Exploratory interviews were conducted with six social workers, five of whom were front-line workers and one manager, in three social services agencies in Canada, to examine their experiences of racism, their responses and coping strategies which they have adopted to deal with the day-to-day stressors in their jobs. In addition, an examination of current policies, practices and procedures will be interpreted within the organizational structure of the agencies.

A most deafening silence is the effect created by the omission of Whiteness from racial discourses. Those within the social work profession, who seek to eradicate racism have for the most part, restricted their analyses to dissecting and defining the racial "Other". This has perhaps unwittingly implied an acceptance of "Whiteness" as an all-powerful, unnamed normality, exempted from the requirement of definition. This examination of White racial identity is an attempt to engage in a discussion of a different sort---exploring racism at its source. Those actively involved in the practice and/or study of Social Work in Montreal (Quebec) were asked to contemplate the meaning of "Whiteness" in society and in their own lives. Their interpretations were aligned with social and cultural interpretations, as well as my own interpretations. This study illustrates that, in spite of its elusive nature, Whiteness does indeed have very powerful meanings for those who have access to this racial category, those excluded, and the society in which we live.

Guided by a feminist intersectionality framework and conducted within an action research paradigm, this dissertation reports on how social workers in community health care respond to concerns of intimate partner abuse in the lives of older women. The study was undertaken in 18 publicly-funded community health and social services agencies (CLSCs) in Quebec, Canada. Interviews were carried out with 30 social workers and three focus groups were held with some of the same social workers. / In this dissertation, I argue that social workers in community health care might benefit from using certain theoretical frameworks, as they tend to see older women as a homogeneous group, view older women's agency as problematic, and lack a cohesive understanding of the problem of intimate partner abuse -- all of which leaves them less than optimally equipped for intervention. Furthermore, certain features of intimate partner abuse at the intersection of gender, age, and disability can make intervention very complex. As a result, social workers tend to view intimate partner abuse in the lives of older women as an intractable problem, rife with double-binds, contradictions, and tensions, which can leave them feeling powerless. / In the first three chapters of this dissertation I present the study's theoretical framework, its location within the empirical scholarship on intimate partner abuse, and the methods used. I also provide background information on the Quebec context of practice. Chapters 4 and 5 are empirical chapters reporting the findings as they relate to social workers' understandings and their responses. Chapter 6 is the concluding chapter and discusses the three principal findings. The first key finding was that the practice setting shapes social workers' understandings of and responses to the problem. The second key finding was that social workers could benefit from certain theoretical frameworks that would greatly enhance their practice. The third finding is that social workers view intimate partner abuse as both enduring and changing in form, frequency, and intensity over time. The implications for theory, practice, and research are offered for each key finding.

Bibliography: leaves [271]-280. / Microfiche. / vi, 280 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

This thesis critically analyses how social work practitioners construct moral-ethical decision-making in systems that are constituted as legal-rational authority and political-socioeconomic interests. Notions of moral-ethicality in practice are represented in social work literature and codified ethics in certain ways and this thesis argues that such representations do not conceive of ways in which the claimed ideals of social work might be achieved in the face of structural oppressions and power imbalance that facilitate disadvantage. A notion that there are possibilities for challenge and resistance by social work practitioners to the power of cultural pedagogy that is inherent in the discursive field of social work is articulated. This is a critical postmodern work with a postmodern approach and this thesis is premised on the works of Zygmunt Bauman, and his perspectives on morality, ethics, responsibility for the Other and power relations. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2003

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2007 / Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Social Work. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 37-38).

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.