Magistro darbe analizuojama Dienos centrų neįgaliesiems veikla, teikiamų paslaugų juose efektyvumas ir veiksmingumas. Iškelta hipotezė, kad neįgaliųjų Dienos centruose teikiamų paslaugų socialinis efektyvumas ir veiksmingumas priklauso nuo paties neįgaliojo požiūrio, nuo specialistų pasirengimo ir sugebėjimo profesionaliai atlikti darbą. Anketinės apklausos metodu atliktas tyrimas, kurio metu buvo siekiama identifikuoti veiksnius, lemiančius neįgaliųjų Dienos centruose teikiamų paslaugų socialinį efektyvumą. Atlikta statistinė duomenų analizė. Tyrime dalyvavo 150 trijų neįgaliųjų Dienos centrų klientų. Empirinėje dalyje nagrinėjama, kiek neįgalieji turi žinių apie Dienos centrus, kuriuose lankosi, kokiomis paslaugomis dažniausiai naudojasi, kaip vertina gaunamų paslaugų kokybę. Tyrimo rezultatai atskleidė, kad: 1. Didžioji dalis Dienos centrų klientų yra patenkinti teikiamomis paslaugomis ir jas vertina kaip kokybiškas; šiek tiek blogiau vertinama kita Dienos centrų veikla: rėmėjų paieška, lėšų pritraukimas, informacijos apie centrą pateikimas visuomenei, projektinė veikla. 2. Hipotezė, kad Dienos centruose teikiamų paslaugų socialinis efektyvumas ir veiksmingumas priklauso nuo paties neįgaliojo požiūrio, nuo specialistų pasirengimo ir sugebėjimo profesionaliai atlikti darbą, pasitvirtino tik iš dalies: Dienos centrų klientai labiau akcentuoja viso darbuotojų kolektyvo kompetencijos reikšmę teikiamų paslaugų efektyvumui ir nesureikšmina kliento motyvacijos. 3. Svarbiausi... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The efficiency and effectiveness services provided in the Disabled Day’s Centres is analysed in this master work. Hypothesis raised: • The social effectiveness of services provided in the Disabled Day’s Centres depends on the attitude of the disabled and on specialists’ preparation to fulfil their duties professionally. There was a survey carried out which objective was to identify the factors for the efficiency of services provided in the Disabled Day’s Centres and the analysis of the statistics. 150 clients from 3 Disabled Day’s Centres took part in a survey. In the empirical part it is analysed how much knowledge the disabled have about the Day’s Centres they attend, which services they use most frequently and what their attitude towards the quality of the services is. The survey results revealed that: 1. The clients of the Day’s Centres are more or less satisfied with the quality of the services provided and accept the idea that the Disabled Day’s Centres are of great importance in their lives. 2. Hypothesis, that the social effectiveness of services provided in the Disabled Day’s Centres depend on the attitude of the disabled and on the specialists’ preparation to fulfil their duties professionally, were confirmed only partially: the clients of Day’s Centres emphasize the competence of the employees for the effectiveness of the services and are not eager to give the clients’ motivation prominence. 3. The most important factors which influence the effectiveness and... [to full text]

This thesis is focused on evaluation of the education of social workers in social services who work with patients who suffer the Alzheimer's disease. It is concretely about workers who do the direct service care within the special regime homes in Plzeň Region. The thesis consists of the theoretical and empiric parts. The theoretical part includes the description, symptoms and phases of the disease. It talks about forms and availability of those services for specific needs of people with dementia in Plzeň Region. The important chapter is concentrated on education of social workers with relation to the legislative area of education, its planning and realization, the training courses for the social workers with the direct care. The empiric part evaluates the training courses for the social workers and the way which are selected. For finding of the answers was used questionnaire rating, the aim was to evaluate the training courses from the point of view of social workers. How are these courses chosen was discussed with executives in the form of a semi-structured interview. These executives coordinate the education of social workers in these special regime homes. The research took place in 10 deliberately selected special regime homes. The conclusion of this research indicates that social workers...

The thesis provides an ethnographic study of the experiences of lone asylum seekers who are provided local authority care in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The research builds on sixteen months’ ethnographic fieldwork between April 2006 and September 2007, examining how the young people adapted to their changing and adverse circumstances and how welfare institutions in the United Kingdom responded to their situations. The young refugees in this research created personal relations of patronage in bureaucratic organisations, quickly formed networks and obtained goods by non-formal routes. They created space for play and spiritual growth, and maintained a position of obliviousness towards much of the events and logistics involved in leaving the DRC and seeking asylum in Europe. It was through these activities that personal agency of the young people emerged. However, the young people were not occupying positions of power. Their ‘agency’ was restricted and confined within social and political structures imposed on them. I argue that the separation of welfare services to religious life was for research subjects an arbitrary distinction. They had come from a Christian fundamentalist (Pentecostal) interpretation of the world in Kinshasa. God and evil were seen as omnipresent and omnipotent, and a true Christian (mukristu ya solo, a Christian of the soul), must be vigilant and pray all the time to be at one with the divine power. The young Congolese viewed their lives within such a theological ‘model’ and fitted all other seemingly ‘competing’ discourses and practices within it. As the young people negotiated their new lives in a new country, they adopted their coping strategies in ways that helped them benefit from the English welfare system and the Pentecostal faith respectively.

Denna studie ämnar att ingående undersöka begreppet samverkan med hjälp av en hermeneutisk textanalys av sju publikationer författade av Socialstyrelsen rörande barn och unga. Studien syftar till att fördjupa förståelsen av hur samverkansbegreppet förstås och används i en svensk myndighetskontext. De publikationer vi valt att studera av Socialstyrelsen är tänkta att fungera som vägledande för olika professionella vilket gör att hur samverkan framställs i publikationerna kan påverka hur samverkan fungerar i praktiken, vilket vi menar legitimerar studien. I resultatet redovisar vi för vilken innebörd samverkan tillskrivs, vilka anledningar det finns till att samverka och på vilket sätt människor och organisationer påverkas av samverkan enligt de utvalda publikationerna. Studien leder fram till slutsatser om att innebörden av begreppet samverkan är fragmentarisk och att de vanligaste anledningarna till samverkan är ömsesidighet och effektivitet. Samt att kunskapen inom publikationerna kring på vilket sätt samverkan egentligen påverkar människor och organisationer är otillräcklig. / This study aims to examine in depth the concept of cooperation by means of a hermeneutical text analysis of seven publications written by Socialstyrelsen concerning children and young people. The aim of the study is to deepen the understanding of how the cooperation concept is understood and used in a Swedish government context. The publications we chose to study by Socialstyrelsen are thought to serve as guidance for different professionals, which means that the way in which cooperation concepts are produced in the publications can affect how the interaction works in practice, which we believe legitimizes the study. In the result, we report what cooperation concepts are attributed, what reasons there are for cooperation and how people and organizations are affected by cooperation. The study leads to conclusions that the meaning of the concept of cooperation is fragmentary and that the most common reasons for cooperation are reciprocity and effectiveness. And that the knowledge in the publications about the way in which cooperation really affects people and organizations is insufficient.

The mandate of the Department of Social Development (DSD) is to provide welfare services. These services are targeted at every citizen in South Africa and most importantly the vulnerable and poor people of South Africa. In order to ensure that it fulfills its mandate, the Department of Social Development (DSD) has put in place a Performance Management System which seeks to ensure that the deliverables are achieved effectively and efficiently. It is often argued that services for the poor are sometimes poor services, yet government devotes ample resources to improve these services. Thus the implementation of Performance Management System is strategically geared at improving service delivery in government departments. The Department of Social Development (DSD) is one of those departments that have implemented the Performance Management System but the results reveal that it has not achieved the expected outcomes, There is heightened job dissatisfaction, poor performance and low morale. The study sought to investigate the perceived impact of the performance management system on service delivery. The primary aim of the study was to investigate the contributions of the performance management system of the Department of Social Development (DSD) in enhancing the delivery of social services. The study employed a qualitative approach and it was exploratory in nature. The study population consisted of social workers and managers. In addition, there were key informants drawn from the Human Resource section. A total of 15 participants and 2 key informants were selected using purposive sampling. Semi-structured interview schedules were used to collect data. There were separate interview schedules for social workers as well as the managers. Face to face interviews were conducted with all the participants. The collected data was analysed using thematic content analysis. Ethical considerations were adhered to, as the researcher observed and adhered to conducting the investigation without bringing harm to participants and allowing the participants free will to choose to participate in the study. The major findings revealed that there is no common understanding of what performance management is. The study revealed that the performance management system utilised in the DSD had a negative impact on service delivery. All the participants identified the performance management system as a management tool. Various challenges that undermine the effectiveness of the performance management system were identified. These challenges include the role of supervision was identified as being suppressed as proper supervision did not take place and political interference was also identified as a challenge that undermined the effectiveness of system. The work output of social workers was affected by these various challenges.

<p>The aim of this study is to explore the complexity of social workers professinal role in disability services in local municipalities. The study is based on qualitative interviews that took place in 5 local municipalities in the surroundings of Stockholm. I interviewed two social workers in every municipal. The theoretical point in the study is Roine Johanssons theory of streetlevel bureaucats´ discretion in the execution of their work and the limitations that comes from the organisation. The results in this study show that social workers are in a complex work situation between clients and the organisation they work for. Disability services are a multi-faced area and though the professionals have a substantial discretion in the execution of their work there are several limitations in the execution. The discretion is controlled by activities both from thr government and from the local municipality. The social worker is in a middle position in the organisation and has to choose between being loyal to the own organisation or show obedience to the laws.</p>

Es tracta d'una investigació historiogràfica de caràcter exploratori del fenomen dels serveis socials a Catalunya. La principal novetat de l'estudi resideix en l'enfocament històric, realitzat a partir de l'anàlisi institucional, normatiu i de les polítiques de serveis socials, centrat bàsicament en el territori català. El treball s'ha estructurat en tres partes. La primera, dedicada al projecte d'investigació, tracta del marc de referència, on es presenten unes reflexions inicials, s'efectuen unes precisions sobre la utilització dels termes i el mètode i es tracta de l'objecte d'estudi. A continuació es determina el tipus d'investigació i es delimita l'àmbit territorial i cronològic. En tercer lloc, s'estableix el marc teòric de referència i es formulen les principals qüestions i consideracions plantejades a l'entorn de la problemàtica d'estudi i el darrer apartat es refereix als mètodes i tècniques emprades, fent una especial referència a les dificultats sorgides en l'aplicació del mètode comparatiu i l'observació i, finalment, es concreten les dimensions operatives i les fonts documentals.Atesa la complexitat i la importància que tenia per a la investigació, es dedica íntegrament el capítol segon a l'establiment d'un marc de referència relatiu als conceptes tècnic i jurídic dels serveis socials, així com a altres termes propers, como la caritat, la beneficència, l'assistència social, l'acció social, la seguretat social o el treball social, entre altres. Al final es presenta una definició operativa per a utilitzar en el transcurs del treball.La segona part, que es titula "Una visió històrica de los serveis socials a Catalunya", es refereix pròpiament a la investigació. El primer capítol tracta dels antecedents, que s'inicien amb la pobresa i la caritat medievals, es revisen, després, les aportacions del Renaixement i els canvis produïts al final del absolutisme, així com els derivats de la industrialització, incloent les realitzacions de la Mancomunitat de Catalunya i de la Generalitat republicana, i, finalment, es revisa l'etapa franquista, tant les actuacions públiques com les innovadores experiències cíviques. El segon capítol es centra en l'etapa de la transició, quan es produeix la gestació dels serveis socials de la democràcia, on es tracta del paper desenvolupat per la iniciativa social i la Generalitat provisional, i s'analitza el tractament dels serveis socials en la Constitució espanyola i l'Estatut d'autonomia de Catalunya. El següent capítol es dedica a la dècada dels vuitanta i s'exposen les actuacions dels primers ajuntaments democràtics i la constitució i estructuració de la Generalitat autonòmica, així com les transferències rebudes de l'Estat i de la Seguretat Social en aquesta matèria. S'analitza la definició, l'estructuració i l'organització dels serveis a través de les principals lleis i reglaments que els regulen.En el capítol quart es tracta la dècada següent, on es produeixen transformacions remarcables. S'analitzen els significats dels canvis que es situen des de la fase excepcional de consens fins a una altra de certa normalitat democràtica. Es revisen els aspectes i les novetats principals, com la creació del Departament de Benestar Social, la Llei 4/1994 i els debats i plans d'actuació del mundo local, especialment les repercussions de les reformes organitzatives i les de les lleis territorials catalanes: creació de les comarques, la reducció del paper de les diputacions i la redistribució competencial local. Finalment, es constata el fort creixement dels serveis socials i la seva consolidació en el territori.A la tercera part es presenten les conclusions i consideracions referents a les qüestions plantejades inicialment en el projecte d'investigació. El darrer apartat es dedica a la bibliografia i els annexos. / This is a historiographic piece of research of an exploratory nature into the phenomenon of social services in Catalonia. In the first part, the research project is presented and the conceptual aspects are clarified. The second part is the research itself, which starts with a chapter dedicated to the background of social services from late mediaeval times to the end of Franco's dictatorship, including the study of the two Catalan experiences of self-government: the Mancomunitat de Catalunya and the Republican Generalitat. In the following chapters, it studies the management of the social services during the transition period until the approval of the Spanish Constitution and the Catalan Statute of Autonomy; it then deals with the social services in the new social, democratic and autonomic state and their shaping through the transfer of State and Social Security resources, the organisation and definition of the model and finally it looks at the changes and consolidation of the social services during the final decade of the last century. In the third part, the conclusions and considerations about the matters initially proposed for the research project are presented. The final part is the bibliography and annexes.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2004. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

This project continues the tradition of scholarly attention to the social service activities of African-American religious organizations. Analysis of data from the 1998 National Congregations Study reveals that African-American congregations are not more or less likely to support social services in general. They are, however, more likely to support certain types of programs. Specifically, these are programs in the areas of substance abuse, mentoring/tutoring, and non-religious education. Further analysis of NCS indicates that, among African-American congregations, theological conservatism is associated with a greater likelihood of supporting social service programs. This runs counter to existing assumptions about theological conservatism, which has previously been associated with a focus on "other-worldly" concerns, such as getting into heaven. As such, theological conservatism has never been thought to encourage concern over "this-worldly" issues such as poverty, homelessness, and other social problems that are part of the social service realm. While these assumptions about theological conservatism hold true for non-African-American congregations, the same cannot be said for African-American congregations. This project attempts to figure out why this is the case. Does theological conservatism mean something different in African-American congregations than what it does in other congregations? If so, what are these different meanings?To answer these questions, the project includes nineteen interviews with key informants, such as ministers, priests, or other staff people/leaders, from local religious congregations in a mid-sized city in the southwestern U.S. Nine of the informants are affiliated with African-American congregations, and the other ten are affiliated with non-African-American congregations. The interviews establish the racial/ethnic composition, theological & political orientations (liberal, conservative, or in the middle) of each informant's congregation, as well as whether the congregation supports any social service programs. The interview data show the ways in which many of the stereotypes about theological conservatism do not apply to African-American, theologically conservative congregations. Many of the interviewees from African-American, theologically conservative congregations emphasize the importance of relationships and community in ways that the non-African-American theological conservatives do not. This explains why these African-American congregations are more likely to support social service programs, unlike other theologically conservative congregations.

The activity of the third sector in social sphere becomes very important lately. For this reason, the Non-governmental organizations, providing social services in Lithuania, are chosen as the object of presentable research. The place of Non-governmental organizations, taking action in social sphere, in the market of social services and the part taken in solving social problems is being analyzed in this work. Non-governmental organizations are described. The presumptions of attitude of intensification of Non-governmental organizations as participators of market of social services are segregated. The influence of legislation, which regulates presentation of social services, for activity is amplified. The research was carried out trying to proof that Non-governmental organizations can become the main providers of social services. There were used theoretical, empirical and statistic methods of research in this work. The experience of Non-governmental organizations in social activity was evaluated during research. There were determined strong enough positions of Non-governmental organizations in the market of social services. The problems that meet Non-governmental organizations are being analyzed. These problems were determined using scientific literature of Lithuania and foreign authors, legislations of Republic of Lithuania and with help of representatives of Non-governmental organizations that took part in this research. Respondents specified reasons that prevent activity... [to full text]