Editorial

1998/1999 ISSUE 1

The IUC Dubrovnik, Croatia is an independent international center for post-graduate studies, founded in 1972 as a meeting point for scholars from all over the world (www.iuc.hr/). The place itself, the ancient city of Dubrovnik, provided a rich "backdrop" for the development of numerous courses in practically all areas of scientific inquiry and well established professional programs. By 1985, the IUC already offered several courses in the field of social work of which the best known was a course in modern self-help coordinated by Dr. Alfred Katz, professor at University of California, Los Angeles in the United States. That year, Burt Galaway and Dada M. Maglajlic' met at the world congress on victimology in Zagreb.

We spent several days reviewing social work practice and theory with special interest to further explore the common ground for joint research. One of the directions we decided to take was exploration of the possibility to offer a set of courses under the umbrella title "School of Social Work Theory and Practice" within the IUC Dubrovnik. We spent almost two years reviewing similar programs and envisioning school that may combine the traditions of the IUC and Dubrovnik, as well as the best traditions of the field we both belong to. In 1987 we formally approached the International Association of the School of Social Work Secretariat in Austria and the International Federation of Social Workers Secretariat in Norway. We received support and direct help from both, defined the first three courses and continued to work on formal procedure as required by the IUC. In 1989/90 we offered the first three courses:

Spirituality and Social Work,
Foster Care as an Alternative to Institutional Care, and
Nordic Model of Social Work and Social Welfare.

After a series of courses and publications related to foster care and adoption, we decided to develop two different courses which will emphasize different dimensions of working with children and youth, that is:

Social Work with Children (Youth and Families), and
Developing Neighborhood and Community Support Systems.

Social Policies and Social Work, become a "substitute" for the excellent course Social Work and Social Welfare in the Nordic Countries, a model that guided most of us but could be replicated only in a very limited number of countries, and is for the most part restricted to the Nordic Region.

In addition to our program in Dubrovnik, we developed a whole network of collaborative connections and offered many additional workshops, most of which focused on working with children, youth and families, as well as the foster care and adoption. Special programs such as a "Train the Trainers" international workshop were offered linking the "west and the east, the north and the south," both figuratively and literally. Shortly after it, the war in former Yugoslavia started. Although we were one of the first programs that offered courses in Dubrovnik after the siege of the ancient city, we had to seek new locations in order to preserve the broad network of active participants, established during the first two years. With the help of the IUC secretariat and numerous other institutions, we staged annual programs in Zagreb (several times), Budapest, Brijuni, Seattle and Philadelphia. In 1997, we returned to Dubrovnik. War in the region affected our, and all other, academic programs. We felt a need to "deliver a message" about the situation in the region and our efforts to preserve the school as a plea for peace and a more just world. As part of this mission, we published four and prepared the fifth book (which was to be published at the community college in Zagreb):

Galaway, B., Maglajlic', D., Hudson, J., Harmon, P., and McLagan, J.(Editors). (1990)
International Perspectives on Specialist Foster Care. H.S.A. St. Paul, MN, USA.
Maglajlic', Dada M. and Zivkovic', Aleksandra S. (1991). Treatment Foster Care as an Alternative to Institutional Care. (Specijalizirani smjestaj u drugu obitelj kao alternativa
institutucionalnom smjestaju; English & Croatian): Special edition of Social Welfare journal. FSZ, Zagreb.
Maglajlic', Dada M. and Soydan, Haluk. (1992). Social Work and Social Welfare in the Nordic Countries. (Sociajlni rad i socijalna skrb u Nordijskim zemljama; English & Croatian): Special edition prepared as a symbolic contribution to rebuild the IUC building which was destroyed during the war. CRZ, Zagreb.
McKenzie, Brad (Editor): (1993). Foster Family Care for Children and Youth. Wall & Emerson, Inc. CND, Toronto.
Galaway, Burt and Maglajlic', Dada M. (1995). Unpublished book prepared for publication in collaboration with the Open University (community college): International Prosepctive on Caring for Children and Youth With Special Reference to Foster Care. (Medjunarodni pristup skrbi za djecu s posebnim osvrtom na hraniteljsku skrb).

From the very beginning we developed a very strong network of associates in all regions of the world. For more information please visit the "News and Information" section of the journal! We invite you to visit our web pages, and welcome your decision to join us in Dubrovnik! At this point School has five course and the sixth is in preparation. The annual academic program is offered in the form of a postgraduate symposium and is equally open to social work faculty and researchers, well established practitioners and graduate students. Undergraduate students must provide at least one letter of reference as explained in our general information statement.

Copyright for the I.U.C. Journal of Social Work Theory and Practice is owned by the Social Work Program, Department of Social Relations and Services, Bemidji State University, Bemidji, Minnesota, USA. One copy may be made (printed) for personal use; teachers may make multiple copies for student use if the copies are made available to students without charge. Permission must be secured from the editors for sale of any copies of articles or for any commercial use of the material published in the Journal.