The purpose of this study was to investigate the self- rated mental health of social services clients and see what affects it. A comparison was made against the other respondents regarding mental health. The study investigated the link between mental health and some different variables, such as gender, country of origin and whether they have emplyment or not. In addition, it was also examined how clients experienced the meeting with the social services and whether there was connection between their mental health and contact with social services. The material that formed the basis for the study was PART-studien (Mental health-Employment-Relations) and was collected by three researchers; Forsell and Lavebratt from Karolinska Institutet (KI) and Lundberg of Uppsala University, and concerned individuals' living conditions and mental health. To analyze the use Goffman's theory (2011) of psychological and social stigma and Ahmed Anis theory analysis on stigma and its three levels of stigma; social stigma, self-stigma and professionals stigma against clients. Previous research in this field has also helped in the interpretation of the results, as previous research reinforced the image of the individual's self- rated mental health varies between different groups in society, and that mental illness is linked to stigma. The result shows that self- rated mental health was adversely affected if they were a client of social services, if they were a woman, if they were born abroad, if they dint´t had employment and if they had a negative experience of the encounter with the social services. It also revealed that those who were in contact with social service felt worst in general, regardless of the other variables influence such as gender, birth country or employment. / Syftet med uppsatsen har varit att undersöka den självskattade psykiska hälsan hos socialtjänstens klienter och vad som kan påverka den. En jämförelse gjordes mellan socialtjänstens klienter och övriga respondenter i undersökningsmaterialet. Studien undersökte samband mellan psykisk hälsa och olika variabler, så som kön, ursprungsland samt om man har sysselsättning eller ej. Utöver det undersöktes även hur klienterna upplevde mötet med socialtjänsten och om det fanns samband mellan deras psykiska hälsa och kontakten med socialtjänsten. Materialet som låg till grund för studien var PART-studien (Psykisk hälsa-Arbete-Relationer), som är insamlat av tre forskare; Forsell och Lavebratt från Karolinska Institutet (KI), samt Lundberg från Uppsala universitet, och rörde individers levnadsvillkor och psykiska hälsa. För att analysera användes Goffmans (2011) teori om psykiska och sociala stigman och Ahmedanis (2011) teorianalys om stigmatisering och dess tre olika nivåer av stigma; socialt stigma, självstigma och yrkesverksammas stigma mot klienter. Även tidigare forskning på området har använts för att tolka resultatet, då det förstärkte bilden av hur individers självskattade psykiska hälsa varierar mellan olika grupper i samhället och att psykisk ohälsa är kopplat till stigmatisering. Resultatet visar att den självskattade psykiska hälsan var sämre hos dem som var i kontakt med socialtjänsten, om de var kvinnor, om de var födda utomlands, om de saknade sysselsättning och om de hade en negativ erfarenhet av mötet med socialtjänsten, samt att rollen som klient hos socialtjänsten hade störst påverkan på den psykiska hälsan jämfört med övriga variabler. Det framkom även att de som var i kontakt med socialtjänsten mådde sämst, oberoende av de andra variablernas påverkan så som kön, födelseland eller sysselsättning.

I avhandlingen analyseras hur våldsutsatta kvinnors behov tolkas, omförhandlas och anpassas för att kunna hanteras inom socialtjänstens organisation. Avhandlingens övergripande frågeställningar fokuserar på insatser och behov, betydelsen av socialtjänstens organisering och betydelsen av socialarbetarnas handlingsutrymme. Avhandlingen baseras på kvalitativa analyser av statliga propositioner, intervjuer med socialarbetare och med kvinnor som varit utsatta för våld i nära relationer. Det teoretiska ramverket bygger bland annat på Frasers (1989) teoretiska perspektiv som tar sin utgångspunkt i samhällets tolkningar av människors/gruppers behov av stöd, nyinstitutionell teori och teorier om gatubyråkrater. Avhandlingen visar att socialarbetares tolkningar är centrala aspekter av förhandlingen om hur våldsutsatta kvinnors behov och rätt till stöd ska förstås. Ett viktigt resultat i avhandlingen är att stödet till våldsutsatta kvinnor blir så pass olika. Avhandlingen ger inga svar i kvantitativa termer på hur olikheten är fördelad, men den ger exempel på hur olikheten tar sig uttryck. I kommuner där specialiseringen innebär att socialarbetarna på socialkontoret i första hand utreder behov och fattar beslut om insatser, måste det också finnas adekvata insatser att besluta om. Saknas det så erbjuds inte heller något stöd. Stödet till kvinnor som utsatts för våld i nära relationer blir också olika eftersom socialarbetare ställer olika krav eller sätter upp olika trösklar för att kvinnor ska få stöd. Avhandlingen visar att både gemensam kunskap och gemensam syn på sociala problem är centralt för att samarbetet inom den specialiserade socialtjänstens ska fungera och i längden också för vilket stöd människor kommer att erbjudas. / This thesis analyses how the needs of abused women are interpreted, renegotiated and adapted for handling within the social services. The overarching research questions concern support and needs, the significance of the social services organisation, and the role of social workers’ own discretion. The material consists of qualitative analyses of government bills, and interviews with social workers as well as with female victims of domestic violence. The theoretical framework includes Fraser's (1989) perspective on society's interpretations of people/groups in need of support, neo-institutional theory and the theory of street level bureaucracy. The thesis shows that social workers’ interpretations are central for how abused women's needs and their right to support will be understood. An important result is the wide variation in the kinds of support offered, deriving from the fact that there appears to be no uniform approach across the municipal social services; social workers in the different offices set up different requirements/thresholds for women to receive support. No answers are given in quantitative terms of how this diversity is distributed, but examples are presented to illustrate the range manifested. In  municipalities where specialisation means that the social workers primarily investigate needs and make formal decisions about measures to be taken, there must also be adequate interventions in place to decide upon and distribute. The thesis shows that both mutual knowledge and mutual understanding of social problems are central for the cooperation within in the specialised social services and ultimately for what kind of support people will be offered.

The sharing of personal information among health and social service organisations is a complex issue and problematic process in present-day England. Organisations which provide services to children face enormous challenges on many fronts. Internal ways of working, evolving best practice, data protection applications, government mandates and new government agencies, rapid changes in technology, and increasing costs are but a few of the challenges with which organisations must contend in order to provide services to children while keeping in step with change. This thesis is an exploration into the process of sharing personal information in the context of public sector reforms. Because there is an increasing emphasis of multi-agency collaboration, this thesis examines the information sharing processes both within and among organisations, particularly those providing services to children. From the broad principles which comprise a socio-technical approach of information sharing, distinct critical factors for successful information sharing and best practices are identified. These critical success factors are then used to evaluate the emerging national database, ContactPoint, highlighting particular areas of concern. In addition, data protection and related issues in the information sharing process are addressed. It is argued that one of the main factors which would support effective information sharing is to add a timeline to the life of a dataset containing personal information, after which the shared information would dissolve. Therefore, this thesis introduces Dynamic Multi-Agency Collaboration (DMAC), a theoretical model of effective information sharing using a limited-life dataset. The limited life of the DMAC dataset gives more control to information providers, encouraging effective information sharing within the parameters of the Data Protection Act 1998.

The aim of this study was to examine how parents of children who refuse school experience the treatment they received from the school and from social services in regards to their situation, and what they believe that social services can improve in their work with these families. The study was conducted by qualitative phone interviews with six mothers of children with school refusal behavior. The main results show that the mothers were displeased with the help and treatment the school provided, but overall pleased with the help from social services although they also described room for improvements. The respondents also expressed that they had to struggle to receive help and had to make a lot of efforts themselves. Several suggestions for improvements for social services were mentioned, especially that more knowledge about school refusal and neuropsychiatric disabilities is needed in social services, and that collaboration between schools and social services should be improved. / Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur föräldrar med s.k. hemmasittande barn, det vill säga som varit frånvarande från skolan utan synbar orsak i minst tre veckor, upplever skolans och socialtjänstens agerande gentemot dem samt vad de anser att socialtjänsten eventuellt kan förbättra i arbetet med dessa familjer. Telefonintervjuer med sex mödrar till hemmasittare genomfördes. Resultaten visade på ett missnöje med skolans bemötande och hjälp medan man överlag var nöjda med socialtjänstens bemötande och hjälp även om de ansåg att det fanns utrymme för förbättringar. Ett annat starkt tema var att man ofta upplevde att deras barn inte togs på allvar utan föräldrarna fick kämpa för att få hjälp och lägga ner mycket arbete själva. Flera förbättringar för socialtjänstens arbete föreslogs, främst nämndes att mer kunskap om hemmasittare och neuropsykiatriska funktionsnedsättningar behövs samt att deras samverkan med skolan behöver förbättras.

- 5 - SUMMARY This thesis is dedicated to the assessment of the current state of education and care for the elderly, and outlines ways to improve care through education and, ultimately, to achieve life satisfaction of seniors. The thesis is written in the form of a comparison of scholarly sources dealing with the education and care of the elderly, and the current legislation of the Czech Republic. The thesis also includes an empirical study which draws on a quantitative questionnaire survey in a selected nursing home. This investigation aims at further education of the elderly and its effect on life satisfaction of population in this age group. Key words: Old age, aging, older adult, elderly education, social services for the elderly.

Title: Sexuality of people with mental disability and autism spectrum disorders in residential facilities in South Bohemia Author: Bc. Veronika Beránková Supervisor: Doc. PhDr. Jan Šiška, Ph.D. ABSTRACT This thesis solves the attitude of the sexuality of people with mental disability and autism spectrum disorders in residential facilities in South Bohemia. We specifically wonder, if there is any work with sexuality and in which way. Chosen research problems were solved during an interview with the employees of the facility whoch provides residential services. Then we did an analysis of the interview by coding and categorization of answers. In the final stage, emerged from the analysis of the interviews main interests of respondents and their attitudes to the sexuality topic. We created a summary which shows how staff work with sexuality of clients with mental disability and autism spectrum disorders and which are their individual attitudes. The benefit of this thesis is effort of explanation our topic to the general public and to the facilities providing residential social services itself. KEYWORDS Mental disability, autism spectrum disorders, sexuality, residential facilities, social services.

The effectiveness of legal regulation of care for the elderly - summary From the projected demographic development, one can conclude that the proportion of the elderly in the society will grow significantly in the future. Advancing age is generally accompanied by the weakening of self-reliance and the need of help from others to take care of oneself. The aim of this work is to capture the latest trends in taking care of the elderly and its legislative anchorage in the laws of the Czech Republic. The fundamental law from which I start is the act no. 108/2006 Sb. on social services. This act brought a large number of changes and new institutions into the department of care (not only for seniors), from which the most important was the introduction of care subsidy. The work is focused mainly theoretically, it is divided into seven chapters and further particular sub-chapters. The first chapter deals with embedding the social services into the social security law system, and also briefly with their historical development. These bases represent essential determinants that affect both the current state of social services, as well as their possible future development. The need for effective regulation of social services for seniors can be seen in the demographic indicators, which confirm the long-term trend towards...

UNIVERZITA KARLOVA V PRAZE Husitská teologická fakulta Diplomová práce Possibilites of the social work on the support of the sexual and partnership of disabled people Vedoucí práce: Autor: PhDr. ThDr. Václav Mitáš, Th.D. Bc. Tomáš Drábek Praha 2011 Annotation The author of this thesis concerns the issues of charitable profession workers working with disabled people, in area of sexuality and partnerships. The workers tend to have wide knowledge in many disciplines, but in sexuality, which is so natural and closely related to the quality of life, are not instructed. According to the author, it is necessary to develop social workers' attitude towards sexuality during their professional training, and implicate a different behaviour towards persons with disabilities and their sexuality. Education in area of sexuality as well as disability studies should not be based on theoretical knowledge, but need to be conceived as a process of forming views at fundamental issues in this area. Therefore the aim of this thesis should be to declassify the topic of sexuality and to accept it as a natural part of life for everyone, including individuals with disabilities.

Annotation: This thesis concerns in detail with the system of social services which contribute to the process of social inclusion of the Roma minority in the area of Jihlava city. The thesis describes analytically particular services from a point of view of their needs, focus and range, and puts them in the context of theoretical knowledge of social work and its importance for integration. It specially focuses on the local excluded Roma urban localities, it maps their current status and analyses the general situation from a viewpoint of next development related to the housing of Jihlava's Roma people. Proposals for measures how to improve the living conditions of the Roma community in Jihlava and its coexistence with the majority are a part of this thesis.

The purpose of this study is to examine and understand social workers view on the relationship between children and social workers within Individual and Family care in Sweden, and how personnel turnover affects relationship-building with children.   Method: This study is based on a qualitative method, with semi-structured interviews as an approach to gather empirical data. The participants in the study are seven social workers from five different municipalities in Sweden, who work with placed children.   Theory: Our theoretical framework is the attachment theory and the accounts theory. This approach has helped us analyze the result and highlight the importance of essential attributes for a good relationship between social worker and child.   Result: The study is characterized by two different themes, Professional relationship-building and The organization of social work. Our results show that the attributes trustful, confiding, straight, predictable and respectful are essential for a good relationship. Further results indicate that continuity is of importance to build and preserve a healthy relationship. The study also shows that variety in the work force have negative impact on the relationship between social workers and placed children.