JOURNAL
ISSUE 2
1999/2000
ARTICLE
ABSTRACTS
table of contents
Collaboration
and Case Management in Social Services
Mari-Anne Zahl
ABSTRACT
Cooperation and coordination are politically correct terms.
They can occur at either organizational or case levels. An
example of a public social service cluster surrounding nineteen
year old women with multiple agencies illustrates the difficulty
of case coordination. The involvement of a number of workers
is, in itself, neither effective nor a guarantee of quality
care.
This paper is
based on a research project focusing on case problem definition,
cooperation, and coordination presented at Social Welfare
Departments. Definitions of the terms "cooperation, coordination
and collaboration" are overlapping, ambiguous, and context
related. However, they are frequently used in relation to
the helping professions, where they appear to be presented
both as ends and means. These taken-for-granted terms are
of theoretical interest to organizations, professionals, clients,
and their environments.
Developing
Neighborhood and Community Support Systems
Nino Zganec
ABSTRACT
Soon
to Come
Social
Work in a Multi-Professional Environment
Juha Hämäläinen
Erja Widgren
ABSTRACT
Social work is part of a multi-professional network of social
services in the Nordic countries. The special know-how and
attitudes required for cooperation are an essential part of
social workers' professional skills. Cooperation between different
occupational groups vary in content, form, and intensity,
and concerns both client-related and administrative matters.
Cooperation can be divided into cooperation inside and among
organizations.
The need for the
developing of cooperation has been justified by economic arguments
and the interests of the client. Problems hindering cooperation
are varying organizational cultures and professional principles,
professional specialization, professional power, administrative
hindrances, and personal characteristics of workers. Strict
confidentiality regulations can obstruct the intended cooperation.
The aim of the
cooperation between social and health services is that services
are easily available and clients get better and more humane
help.
In the Nordic
model, social work is regarded as part of a comprehensive
multi-professional system of welfare services. Social work
is done in cooperation with representatives of many professions;
the cooperation varies in form and content with different
sectors of the welfare service system.
One of the goals
in the Nordic system of welfare services has been to increase
interprofessional cooperation. This has been persued by cooperation
groups inside each sector. Joint administrative coordination
of different organizations, regionalization of welfare services,
and legislative obligations have been the central administrative
measures for increasing interprofessional cooperation, lowering
the threshold of cooperation, and removing obstacles which
hinder cooperation.
Professional cooperation
of social workers with the representatives of other professions
can be administrative or client related. It can be more or
less nominal and occasional or regular, systematic, intensive,
and programmatic (Bruce, 1980; Hallet & Stevenson, 1980;
Westrin, 1986). The cooperation can be the exchange of information
through telephone, consulting, work in multi-professional
groups, or developing joint projects.
Traditionally,
social and health services have been sectorized; separated
administratively in the Nordic countries. As a result, legislation
does not usually oblige the administrations of different social
and health service sectors to cooperate, although it often
creates premises for it. Cooperation between the social workers
and the representatives of other occupational groups is seldom
required by law. However, social workers work increasingly
in a variety of multi-professional, network-styled cooperation
projects and teams.
Adolescense
Happens to the Whole Family
Kristina Urbanc
ABSTRACT
Soon
to Come
Child
Protection in Norway: Changing Ideologies
Torill Tjelflaat
ABSTRACT
A frame of reference from which to understand children and
their families in a family policy perspective is developed
along with examples of social benefits related to families.
The focus is on
child protection in Norway, and the ideological basis for
changes influencing the services for children in need. Key
issues are:
(1) the shift from care to prevention, and,
(2) care and preventive strategies.
How is the child defined and understood in child protection
work related to ideology, legislation, practice and research?
Means
of Prevention in Community Youth Work
Gordana Forcic
ABSTRACT
Suncokret is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization that
was organized in 1992 by a group of Croatian students and
young professionals to respond to the needs of children and
youth in refugee camps. As the war in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina
has ended, Suncokret has focused more on preparing people
for resettlement and providing support in local communities.
Community youth centers provide youth with a variety of discussion
groups as well as workshops in areas such as film making,
music, drama, computers, and so forth. A program of prevention
and education is also offered in the school; groups of 10-18
youth meet weekly to consider matters related to their psychosocial
development. A program of work with youth in collective centers
helps prepare youth for transition to their communities and
to participate in their communities.
Suncokret is a
non-governmental, non profit organization registrated in 1992
in Croatia. Suncokrets' mission is to address the psychological,
social, cultural, and environmental consequences of war and
social change in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Suncokret
aims to mitigate the effects of conflict through local and
international participation in social, renewal, peace-building,
and post-war social reconstruction.
In Summer 1992
a group of students and young professionals from Croatia,
joined by international volunteers, responded to the needs
of refugee children and youth by working and living in some
of the biggest and most deprived refugee centers in Croatia.
Financial resources which were barely sufficient to cover
some crayons and paper; the project grew, however, with imagination
and commitment to a vital program serving all ages of refugees
and displaced persons. In normal circumstances this group
of relatively inexperienced young professionals and volunteers
would have never dreamed of engaging themselves in the difficult
task of helping children to cope and overcome the stressful
experiences of war and relocation. The war induced the feeling
of responsibility to address the problem and act with immediacy.
The desire to support and improve services to refugees and
displaced persons was the birth of Suncokret.
As the work progressed,
it became clear that a short-term crisis response was inadequate
and that a long-term perspective was mandated. Need for a
clear organizational structure began to be a priority, and
a slow and difficult period of change ensued. A structure
is now in place with clear roles and responsibilities for
proper use of a professional staff as co-ordinators and supervisors.
The professional staff includes social workers, psychologists,
teachers, and other professionals.
Suncokret has
developed concrete policies, training, programs and a qualified
professional staff to meet various needs of people of all
ages affected by the war. The focus is on the psycho-social
needs of children, teenagers, women, and senior citizens living
in collective centers and in the local communities. Increasingly,
Suncokret is engaged in community development and has started
to develop work using community centers to facilitate participation
of all people living there in activities which improve the
quality of their lives and self sufficiency. Generally, programmes
are carried out through a range of social, recreational, creative,
educational, and self-help activities.
Suncokret aims
to empower people to take control of their lives and communities.
It has been welcomed and received requests from all parts
of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina for services. Suncokret
has been influential in the growth and development of NGOs
in Croatia and has:
- provided services
in over thirty collective centers throughout Croatia and
Bosnia-Herzegovina,
- supported local
initiatives for community development in five regions of
Croatia, and
- trained and
supervised over 2000 local and international volunteers
to work in collective centers and local communities.
Most international
humanitarian organizations have withdrawn from Croatia and
the majority of local humanitarian organizations have stopped
providing support due to lack of finances. This has created
feelings of abandonment and despair among refugee/displaced
population Suncokret has, however, continued working with
people in collective centers. In most centers Suncokret stayed
as the only remaining organization supporting the remaining
people and providing an array of services.
Suncokret works
in twelve collective centers in five regions of Croatia organizing
educational, creative, recreational, and other activities
for all age groups. The work in all of these collective centers
is, whenever possible, spread into the local communities around
them, so that privately accommodated refugees and displaced
persons as well as the local population are able to join these
programmes. Suncockret provides group and individual support
to prepare people to return their communities from collective
centers.
Suncokret has
also started several projects of direct support to the people
who have returned. During 1996 Suncokret started work in Topusko,
a town of returnees, some 100 kilometers southeast from Zagreb.
Several public actions were organized to clean the surroundings;
a Suncokret Summer Camp for children and teenagers was held
during July and August 1996. Local authorities have provided
for the community center for ten years. The Topusko Summer
Camp involves about 300 children and teenagers (displaced,
refugees, socially deprived) during July and August. Suncokret
has also conducted a needs assessment in the town of Knin
and is waiting for positive replay from local authorities
regarding adequate space for a youth community center. In
Karlovac, Suncokret is engaged is supporting displaced children
from Turanj. Since 1995 we have organized four Suncokret Theatre
Workshops using the Theatre of Opressed technique, for war
traumatized children and local professionals working with
them. Community youth centers and programs of psycho-social
support and education are all the models of primary prevention
in work with children and youth.
The
Protective Role of the School in War Situations
Anica Mikus Kos
Sanja Derviskadic Jovanic
Sonja Gole Asanin
ABSTRACT
The school provides a protective function for children's mental
health. The awareness of this protective function is not uet
adequately developed nor is this function utilized sufficiently
to protect the psychosoical health of children exposed to
traumatic events or to long lasting adversities.
This aritcle describes
the functioning of the Bosnian school in Sloveniw and its
impact on refugee children.
Foster
Care for Unaccompanied Children in Exile
Danijela Bucevic
Dusko Ljiljak
ABSTRACT
The war in Bosnia-Herzegovina resulted in many unaccompanied
children as refugees in Zagreb. The Unaccompanied Children
in Exile project has organized two foster family care programs
to respond to the needs of some of these children. One places
the children in foster homes, including kinship homes. Center
parents can be located and the children safely registrated
for reconstruction with these families. The second serves
children who have been evacuated to Zagrab for whom treatment
of serious illnesses or injuries. Often treatment is needed
on an outpatient basis after hospitalization. Foster families
are recruited to care for these children during the time of
their medical treatment.
Copyright
for the I.U.C. / B.S.U. 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
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