This blog is a forum for Discussion among faculty and students from Loyola University of Chicago School of Social Work and Vytautas Magnus University, Schools of Social Work and Public Administration.
A brief presentation of the situation. Children left without parental care are a social problem. In Lithuania we observe different situations where children are losing their biological parents. Their parents dump them, leaving them for fate, for example: the mother leaves her baby or the children are taken from the parents because they have serious problems ussually dependence on alcohol, drugs or have health problems and therefore does not care for their children. Thus, the children find themselves at the disposal of institutions and their future is strongly influenced by the institutional activities which are formed by the policy of the country. In my work paper I focus on adoption in Lithuania and work experience in this field with foreign countrie’s. By data of Lithuanian State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service under the Ministry of Social Security and Ministry of the Labour in Lithuania there almost aren’t any young and healthy children whitch can be offered to international adoptions, as those children are adopted by the Lithuanians themselves. In addition, the decreasing number of children available for adoption to foreigners in the country leaves the possibility to adopt only children with special needs, children – older than 8 years, with serious health problems or from large groups of brothers and sisters. For familys from other countries faster adoption is possible only if they are determined to adopt three or more children at ones. Currently, there are 13 accredited foreign adoption organizations in the country, including four Italian, three U.S. and one in Sweden, France, Germany, Spain, New Zealand and Canada. In 2009 foreigners were adopted 146 children from Lithuania, of which over 100 were with special needs. Most Lithuanian children adopts Italian, American and French families.
Cooperation with foreign countries. In the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in the range of Intercountry Adoption (1993) in Article 9 to the parties is pointed, to exchange information and experience between themselfs about the Inter-country Adoption. So a year ago the Lithuanian State Child Rights Protection and adoption service representative with the Child Welfare Center “Shelter” and Child protection experts visited Scotland, where they were introduced with prospective foster parents and adoptive parents preparation, provided social services for foster familys and assistance to adoptive parents. The visit took place under the Leonardo da Vinci project, “Care and adoption system development through applying best practice of Scotland ", which won the Children's Welfare Center “Shelter”. The project purpose – to raise professional qalification of caregivers, which prepares adoptive parents, provides social services to families and working children rights protection, as well as applying the Scottish experiense, to develop Lithuanian care and adoption procedures, social services and to improve inter-institutional cooperation. During this visit, Lithuanian specialists met with non-governmental organizations, care and adoption services activities. Dissemination of good practice is beneficial to our country's specialists, who work in the field of adoption and try to improve in working life. Cooperation with other foreign countries is promoting changes and new working methods in our country.
Work with the child. Solving the issue of international adoption, it became clear that Lithuania's child care homes do not prepare children for adoption. Therefore, it is important to provide trainings to child care home professionals in this field. It is necessary to revise the legal framework, anticipating that not only the arrangement of legal status allows to adopt a child. For the child it is necessary a social - psychological preparation for the changes in his life. The child’s departure to a foreign country is a big change in his life. So I think in this situation, the social worker should play an important role in preparing the child, that the adaptation period in a new country would be less complicated. It is important to introduce the child to the country to which he is going to, information to make natch to his age, the information should not scare the child more. It is important to respond sensitively to all issues facing the child and try to answer him, that he would feel more confident before departure. Thesocial worker should be able to find information and make it attractive to the child. A new family of the child - the adoptive parents. It would be perffect, if the child would get information about them before leaving, even the photographs or video tape, where he could see their faces. The social worker's role is to maintain contact with the country's social workers. Mutual cooperation allows both parties the child and the adoptive parents to learn about others in advance. A child knows of pre-adoptive parents their age, they have or not other children, a place of residence (village or town), school is important for children, knowledge of the educational system in the country too, the language barrier , how it will be dealt with. In such situation when it seems so many things will change, the child may have a lot of stress about it, it is important that the social worker would give a hope that with time everything will be resolved and get back to normal.
The child in this situation is experiencing a loss, because of that, the social worker need to talk with a child about the joy of loss and discovery. First of all, I mean, the fact that he may have to separate with his brother or sister, grandmother, people close to him. The both sides going through the loss, social worker in order to maintain the child's relationship with the people closest to him takes care that the child would left his contacts. Becomes important as far as the adoptive parents are willing to give the child the opportunity to keep in touch with loved ones. In this situation the attitude of adoptive parents determinates the child’s relations. Especially it is importanta child’s full preparation, it is worth to provide as many situations which the child will face with getting to the trip and as far as possible to prepare him. If a child is for the first time on an airplane social worker should instruct the child how to behave on a board and warnes how he may feel (eg, people are starting to annoy) and what to do in that situation, it may be necessary to carry the drugs. With regard to international adoption, I think it is important to assess the situation of the child and the adoptive parents, in whith the two sides find themselves. It is not a secret that there are many differences between countries: language, traditions and customs, religion, acceptable behavior in society, ultimately, climate, nature, spread diseases and others. These differences need to be discussed with both the child and the adoptive parents.
Global poverty In the article “Global poverty: No longer an untouchable problem” Michael M. O. Seipel represents two concepts of poverty, which are most often used to define poverty in the world (World Bank, 1999; Kangas and Ritakallio, 1989, Kammerman and Kahn, 1997; UNDP, 1997). 1) Income poverty. This has two variations: absolute poverty and relative poverty. Absolute poverty measures the number of people with inadequate income to obtain basic necessities of life. The cost is calculated by pricing a standard “market basket” of everyday consumer commodities needed by people in that society. Relative poverty is concept relates to inequalities of income distribution. Under this concept, people are defined as poor even if they have an adequate income for survival, so long as their income does not allow them to obtain food and services at a 50 percent level of the societal standard. 2) Human Poverty Index (HPI). This concept (developed by the UN Development Programme) is based on the theory that poverty involves more than lack of income. It means denial of choices and opportunities for a tolerable life. Thus, rather than measuring poverty solely by income, it examines the most basic dimensions of deprivation, like early death, malnutrition, illiteracy, access to healthcare and safe water. Despite unprecedented progress made to reduce poverty in the last 50 years, about 1.3 billion people in the world still live in abject poverty. Poor people not only suffer from economic hardships, but many also suffer from malnutrition, illiteracy, poor health, premature death and broken spirit (Michael M. O. Seipel, 2003). The poorest 40 % of the world’s population accounts for 5 % of global income. The richest 20 % accounts for three-quarters of world income (Human Development Report (HDR), 2007). According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. Half of the children in the world live in poverty. It is imperative that the fight against poverty be accelerates. The cost of inaction is increased misery and deprivation. One of the goals of social work is to help to solve the problem of global poverty. In that case, the social workers should not be limited to organizing and division of humanitarian aid to local community. Social workers should combat for human right, equality, social and political justice. It is not enough for social worker to be only in the role of practitioner with individuals and groups, social worker also should be in the role of advocate, researcher, educator, planner of social policy and so on. Also social workers should be consultant and supervisor for local social work.
Social workers should develop collaboration with distinguished international organizations such as the United Nation, the Red Cross, the World Bank and so on. In that case, the social worker can be as program developer and manager. His role would be to apply international program to local community. Social worker should care about organization of education and health care and to pursue, that it could be available to each person. Especially, attention should be paid to children’s welfare. Some actions should be done to increase accessibility to social capital for person who belongs to one or another group of exclusion. It is important to create and develop democratic values in the country to combat corruption and inequality. Democratization process offers opportunities for citizens’ more active involvement in decision-making at local levels, civil society struggles with the issue of establishing trust within and between the local associations and between them and local government (J. C. R. Hermoso, C. G. Luca, 2004). Civil society is what provides the infrastructure for direct democracy. If we want to foster democratic values in the country, people should be active and participating. Social workers could initiate discussions, open talks among politicians, journalists, social workers, public representatives, to seek ways to curb corruption, unfair distribution of social capital, discrimination to consider ways to create welfare, equal rights for education, health care, justice, cultural achievements and other kinds of social capital. Social workers could help to found more non-governmental organizations in some countries that would take care of the problem of exclusion and education, health services, social services, cultural values, would be accessible for all, especially for women, children, refugees and other discriminated groups.
References Seipel, Michael (2003). Global poverty: No longer an untouchable problem. International Social Work, 46, 191-207. Healey, Lynn M. (2005). International Social Work: Professional Action in an Interdependent World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hermoso, Jocelyn and Luca, Carmen (2004). Civil society’s role in promoting local development in countries in transition: A comparative study of the Philippines and Romania. International Social Work, 49, 319-332.
Middle part If we want to organize help, in my opinion, it is very important to know the cultural context of the country, traditions and customs. Some practices or methods could be effective and operative in one cultural context, but can not be acceptable or ineffective in other cultural context. According Healey, Lynn M. (2001), in international work, social workers will encounter some value differences that can be accommodated but others that must be rejected because they stray too far from respect for human dignity, and they do harm. Donaldson cities the example of nepotism in corporations in India and gift-giving in Japan as example of the first, and formed labor, physical abuse of employees, and toxic waste dumping as examples of practices that stray too far from essential values and cannot be condoned. Again, respect for cultural differences is encouraged unless the practice causes significant harm. Thus opposition to female circumcision may be more easily justified by the practice’s record of causing serious physical harm to many who undergo it rather than attacking the practice’s roots in denial of female sexual pleasure. Using the material above, judgments would also be influenced by the fact that the victims of female circumcision are children, who are unable to participate in the dialogue about cultural formation and preservation. In that case, the social worker should be in the role of researcher, he should know local culture and traditions and make decisions what kind of help to provide. He should recognize which traditions can help and be useful for planning and intervention and which can not be acceptable. Maybe in this case, the social worker should be an educator. He can work with individuals and groups to teach and empower for change against discrimination, health damage.
Problems of reintegration which arouse to drug abusers after rehabilitation process
Reintegration – is a less well-established response to the problem of drug use than is treatment and, consequently, monitoring and reporting in this field is also patchier. Some Member States report that this area needs much more attention and financial support. According to Martin Keane (2007), the goal of a successful drug rehab program is not only to help an individual understand why they use drugs and why their life will be better without drugs, but also to offer the individual the necessary tools to continue to remain drug-free once they have completed the rehab program and have re-entered into society. Usually drug users are in some kind of social exclusion, in the form of homelessness and insecure accommodation, inadequate education and poor employment skills, is closely associated with problematic drug use. As a response, social reintegration has emerged as a key aspect of drug treatment and rehabilitation in order to provide responses to accommodation, education, vocational training and employment support needs of problem drug users (Social reintegration as a response to drug use in Ireland, 2007). Reading different articles about reintegration I found out that a very big problem is public opinion on drug addiction problem which stigmatizes, marginalizes and excludes population of drugs addicts from their work or educational environment. So, drug addicts often have difficulties to get back to their social environment after the treatment for a number of reasons. Most works, projects, rehabilitation centers work on prevention, intervention, psychotherapists widening the therapy methods, treatment approaches etc. Very rarely, we can see the works or centers which work on the reintegration process of the clients. According to the stages of this process - reintegration is the last – and the most important stage, which requires more attention and work on it. According to governmental psychical healthy department in 2009 in Lithuania were registered about 6000 drug abusers, but these numbers are official because there are a lot of drug abusers who are not registered by any institution. In 2009 were registered 68 people who died from drugs (62-men, 6-womans). In „Annual report 2005: the state of the drugs problem in Europe“ it is said that: „social reintegration is defined as ‘any social intervention with the aim of integrating former or current problem drug users into the community’. The three ‘pillars’ of social reintegration are (1) housing; (2) education; and (3) employment (including vocational training). Other measures, such as counseling and leisure activities, may also be used“. All these parts of reintegration are very important in person‘s life because person is living and acting in micro level – which in this situation is family, mezzo level – labour market, education, leisure activities, etc. and macro level – all the institutions and organizations which help to cooperate and collaborate in reintegration process more widely. As I have mentioned before about the environment in which person is living, now I am going to describe these levels and what social worker could do in all of them.
1. To family: Stanton, Todd and Associates (1982) and Haley (1980) – proposed the Conceptual model that drug addiction could be thought of as part of a cyclic process involving three or more individuals, commonly the addict and his two parents or parent surrogates. And according to the Ecological systems approach – a change in one part of the system will impact changes in other parts of the system. Family is very important for everyone and for ex-drug abusers as well. Last year I have done some interviews and found out that most of them are afraid to reintegrate into micro level, because there are afraid to be rejected by their family and friends – the closest people in their lives. Here social worker needs to cooperate with family to encourage them to accept their family member back to the family. Sometimes family members don‘t know how to behave with ex-drug abusers, so it is important to give all necessary information, even to make some groups where could participate some different families and to see that they are not alone with such kind of problem. Social worker has to be able to identify issues and vulnerabilities faced by families. Also in such groups or meetings they could speak, share their thoughts, fears, maybe social worker could organize some meetings to teach some social skills. According to Drug rehab advice center, it is very important to avoid hanging out with former friends who continue to do drugs. This is crucial and very difficult because very often former addicts will no longer have any other friends. This can be a lonely period for many recovering addicts. Sometimes they feel so alone, they are tempted to start taking drugs again to ease the pain. In order to have success in this stage person who were using drugs have to feel the support of family, friends (who were not a part of his former life), counselors, therapists, priests or pastors, and anyone else he may need to get through this early period of re-integration. Here social worker could ask who he or she think could support him in this stage, who would be the most important for person and then to start collaborate with that particular people.
2. To labor-market: employment and vocational training initiatives aim to achieve social independence by integrating the client into the labor market either by finding or even subsidizing a job all through specific skills training. So this second part describes mezzo level, level in which person need to get into institutions, to be allowed there. It is very hard for ex-drug users, because once the people notice that they were drug users they are putting some labels, stigmatizing them. One very good example was described in article “Understanding and addressing AIDS-related stigma: from anthropological theory to clinical practice in Haiti” where was written the story of one man, who lost everything when found out that he is ill. His family, his friends left him. Moreover he lost his clients in the shop because everybody was looking at him like at “leprous one”. I think it was good example how people put label and leave people in the situation when support of others is very important. Speaking about mezzo level in overview of Martin Keane, (2007) was mentioned that homelessness, early school leaving and unemployment have long been associated with individuals who engage in problematic drug use. The provision of housing, education, vocational training and employment supports is vital to the reintegration of drug users into mainstream society. In practice, there is often a degree of overlap between education and vocational training measures. In effect, social reintegration is concerned with creating the conditions whereby persons affected by drug misuse have access to the social norms, such as employment and a place to live. Neale (2002) explains the rationale to this approach very well: Recovery will only occur if drug users believe that abstinence has more to offer than addiction. Accordingly, recovering drug users must find a purpose in their drug-free lives. To this end, they need meaningful roles and activities that offer them self-respect and pride, and daily routines that do not involve criminal or drug using activities…the conditions that seem likely to facilitate successful rehabilitation are the same kinds of conditions that probably prevent drug misuse in the first place. That is, access to a decent income, adequate housing, employment opportunities; family relationships and being connected to community networks. These are key factors that motivate most non-addicted members of society (p. 219).
3. To society in general: this last third part takes part in macro level because here we see the issue I am talking about not only in country borders but much more widely – in global perspective. According to stigmatization theory, persons-ex users are in social exclusion and become a “burden” to society because: taxpayers’ are paying for them in prisons, hospitals they and their families can get social benefit etc... It is very important to help these people to reintegrate into society – to take their life in their own hands, in other words, to become responsible for their life – to get background, to find a job and to take care about their families, their kids and so on. In article „Social reintegration as a response to drug use in Ireland, 2007“ it is said: „Social reintegration is defined as any attempt to integrate drug users into the community. Measures include the provision of accommodation, education, vocational training and employment supports, but do not include medical or psycho-social components. The United Nations and the Council of the European Union see social reintegration as part of an approach to reducing the demand for drugs“. According to EMCDDA annual report „The Lithuanian strategy prioritizes prevention of drug use in the family, among children and youths. The drug prevention projects executed in Lithuania in 2008 focused mainly on universal and selective prevention in local communities and schools, aiming at protecting young people against drug use“ (4, p 3). No doubts that youth and prevention programs for schools and universities are very important but we can’t forget those who want to have a second chance as well. Within the last three years, Lithuania has been formulating the country’s drug policy in compliance with the international requirements and standards in terms of drug control and drug prevention with assistance by the UN organizations, the WHO, EUROPOL, EMCDDA, Northern Dimension, the EU Phare program, the EC Pompidou Group and other bilateral support. The National Drug Strategy is based on the National Drug Prevention and Drug Control Strategy for 2004–2008 and the National Program on Drug Control and Prevention of Drug Addiction 2004–2008. To speak about macro level it is always very hard because here the most important role belongs to authorities of the country. Despite this fact social worker is very important in this level too…he can be the one who can initiate collaboration and start to cooperate with different institutions and NGO all over the world and find some important collaborative members. As I have mentioned before, Lithuania is working with some global programs on this problems. Social worker is like advocate between ex-drug abusers and community or society which is usually against these people. It is very important to be interested in how other countries work with such problems and then try something in our country. The most important is to show to society that other countries have the same problem and we are not alone. If in other countries these people are getting second chance so we can try to do it as well. Social worker could try to motivate community to help people who need help in reintegration process.
To conclude I would like to say that social reintegration of problematic users is not a new concept; indeed, it has been around since the early 1960s (United Nations 1961). Since 2000, the Council of the European Union has asked member states to improve availability of, and access to, social reintegration services. Since 2003, the EMCDDA has promoted the provision of accommodation supports and job training as key parts of social reintegration and has asked member states to monitor and report on the situation. As it is said in article Conflict, Peace-building, Disarmament, Security Gender Perspectives on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR), 2001: „Reintegration programs often focus on economic reintegration, providing food, allowances and skills training. Yet, ex-combatants and their families may also require other types of support, including psychological trauma counseling, to rebuild their lives. Well speaking about drug abusers and their reintegration it is very important to counsel families too. It is important to help relatives to escape from position of silent voice, because relatives play a great role in reintegration process of the clients and only when reintegration process in micro level will be successful in two others we could expect to succeed as well. Social worker could make situations – places for dialog, where could participate persons from different positions: ex-drug abusers, relatives, staff members of rehabilitation centers and the authorities. It is important because as Freire has said, dialog provides equal relationships with everyone and it helps to look at the problem from different perspectives. When people will share what problem they see and what solutions for that problem they see only then could be find ways to make this reintegration process much easier and successful.
Street children Who are considered street children? Article 27 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) asserts that “States Parties recognize the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.” Homelessness and living on a street denies each one of those rights, but street children are a worldwide reality. The broadest definition of a street child is “any girl or boy who has not reached adulthood, for whom the street (in the broadest sense of the word, including unoccupied dwellings, wasteland, etc.) has become her or his habitual abode and/or sources of livelihood, and who is inadequately protected, supervised or directed by responsible adults” (Inter-NGO, 1985). The UNICEF definition of street children provides additional clarity by creating three classifications: Candidates for the Street, Children on the Street, and Children of the Street. - Children of the Street are living on the streets without any functional family support. They have no home to return to, move from place to place, living in shelters and abandoned buildings, and often do not have any family protection or supervision. - Children on the Street – those with a tendency of working on the streets during the day and returning to a home at night. Children spend most days and some nights on the street because of poverty, overcrowding, sexual or physical abuse at home. Children of the street are negatively viewed by society. These children are often described as delinquents, criminals, drug addicts, and simply the rubbish of society. They are rarely referred to as children. Tomkins, says that “Society at large believes that street children are a group of irredeemable delinquents who represent a moral threat to a civilized society – a threat that must be exorcised.” In Lithuania the term “Street Child” is not legally defined and there are no statistics that can present the scale and amount of street children in our country. Even though, this term is used very often. Every kid or adolescent who spend most of his time „on a pavement“, skip the school constantly, beg on a street, steel or try to trick others, sell flowers in bars or subways, or bully and curse a lot, and disturb steady life of others is defined as a street child. Most of these kids are from the multi problem families at risk. And quite often these children are treated as if they were evil themselves, people ignore children on a street and try to avoid any contact with these kids or dole out some money or food. Members of our society are not tended to acknowledge the fact of street children existence and everyday reality and their own way of struggling for being.
Children at risk As with any childhood abuse, the child is not at fault. A large majority of street children come from poor families; however poverty is not the sole factor of becoming a child of the street. The results of a survey of Bolivian street children show that only 7% of children are living on the streets as a direct result of poverty. The children stated that they became street youth due to physical abuse (40%), parental death (18%), abandonment (16%), mental abuse (13%), and lack of financial resources to support them (7%). The children do not live on the street because they are immoral or want a “free” life. Egyptian children cited following causes for being on the street: child abuse (82%), neglect (62%), peer pressure (36%), sensation seeking (16%), other brothers and sisters (8%). Even though the reasons differ in various countries, in most cases children live on the street as a result of amoral conditions in society. The number of risk families in Lithuania recently is decreasing, but still there are lots of children who live under conditions that cannot be considered as child-friendly. Abuse of children may include sexual exploitation or molestation, threats to kill or abandon, or lack of emotional or physical support necessary for normal development.
According to Department of Statistics of Lithuania the criminal acts against children usually is carried out by parents or stepparents, non legal acts against kids are performed by foster parents or carers, pedagogues and adoptive parents as well. So we can predict that children who are abused by their closest adults sometimes better chose to pass their days (and even nights) on a street rather staying in and spending time with their abusers. At the moment poverty level in Lithuania is highest after 1996, and almost one third of Lithuanians live in poverty. This also may cause that some children are forced to beg or work on the streets, or find another way to get some money for themselves and their families. Even the children in risk families are abused and do not have safe environment and usually live in „unprivileged neighborhood”, but they also do not have an activity that would be a substitute for strolling the streets. Despite the fact that every year there are more and more day centers for kids in Lithuania and in the last years they provide social services for almost 7000 children from multi problem families, but that is not enough, because there are way more children who need social services, and possibility to spend their leisure time in a safe atmosphere and be treated like a „normal child“.
Street children around the World Estimating numbers of street children is fraught with difficulties. The exact number of street children is impossible to quantify, but the figure almost certainly runs into tens of millions across the world. It is likely that the numbers are increasing (UNICEF, 2005). Street children may be found on every inhabited continent in a large majority of the world's cities. Millions of street children live in India, over one million in Egypt and Pakistan, hundreds of thousands in Kenya, Philippines and Congo, tens of thousands in Morocco, Brazil, Germany, Honduras, etc. And if we would count the ones on the Street and the ones who are just Candidates for the Street the numbers would be unbelievably high. The children of the Streets as well as ones on or for the Streets are misunderstood and their stories are not known. Contrary to popular opinion, their lives are not typically characterized by crime and amoral activities. As one author writes, “despite the popular assumption that street children are all thieves, scant evidence exists about illegal activities.” Their drug use (street children sniff paint thinner or glue) is rarely the cause of them being on the streets, but a necessary reality of surviving on the street. Drug use is, for them, one of their many coping mechanisms. Another typical coping mechanism is self-inflected cutting. These coping mechanisms are ways of sustaining the police brutality, the rapes, the cold, and forgetting about their past. Many see life on a street as a child’s escape from reality and an attempt to live an easy life. One author generalizes this viewpoint writing, “Those who have this perception [that they live a free and easy life] see the children living only for the moment, as if they are immersed in continual play.“ However tempting it is to consider the freedom of the street something making street life desirable, it is necessary to forget that there is nothing desirable about street life.
What do we usually do? Governments are often embarrassed by street children and may blame parents or neighboring countries. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) may also be blamed for encouraging children to live in the streets by making street life more bearable or attractive through the services they provide. When governments implement programs to deal with street children these generally involve placing the children in orphanages, juvenile homes or correctional institutes. However, some children are in the streets because they have fled from such institutions and some governments prefer to support or work in partnership with NGO programs. Governments sometimes institute roundups when they remove all the children from city streets and deposit them elsewhere or incarcerate them. In Lithuania is also usual practice to deal with Children of the Streets by putting them into institutions and foster care houses, NGOs establish children day centers and work with children on the Streets. Also there are some more beautiful examples of some organizations which are working with street children and seeking for a better future for them. For instance, St. John Brothers monastery community in Vilnius took aid to children living in the streets of the capital of Lithuania. Even the beginning was quite difficult, after getting boys confidence (by communicating with children in their environment, playing football together etc.), the monks invited kids into „Sleptuve“ (eng. „Cache“) where volunteers were ready to listen to children and provide some social services around the clock. So the children were able to warm up, wash their things, and most importantly – spend the night safely. Later brothers opened „Pereja“ (eng. „Passage“) for those children who wanted finally leave the street. Boys are living there all the time and with the help of many specialists they are able to catch up with their peers in school. Four homesteads in rural areas were opened as well, where boys live in a family environment, get education in rural schools, do sports, play music etc. Brothers also established the trade school for their kids to get a profession and an opportunity to get a job in a future. St. John monks also work with other children from risk families and the ones who spend their days fighting with their boredom on the streets. And I believe that this example of developing existing services and creating the new ones by establishing new services and social centers according to the need is a real proof of making a difference and creating our World a better place to live. In many countries this practice is quite usual, but as far as I‘m concerned in Lithuania it is pretty rare, because we still do not have wide range of social services network.
What can we do? The first thing we have to do is to get rid of the judgment for these children and try to understand that if the children have had a possibility to chose, they would probably never wanted to be Street Children. Also society needs to acknowledge the fact that Children of, on or for the Streets are the same children, just they have different experiences and life stories. One more very important thing working and communicating with these children is empathy. Even these things are very simple and necessary for a social worker working with every group, but sometimes these principles are forgot even by professionals. I think the work requires us to spend time on the streets working with current street children, helping children through transition into an off-street life, and with children and adolescents who have left the streets. Each transition starts with a contact phase. The contact phase is on the streets and starts when first meeting a child and varies significantly in duration. In certain cases one might meet a child who is ready to leave the streets at that point and wants to make that change or this first phase may be a long process of building a trust relationship, talking about life on the street, spending time together as friends, and may or may not result in the child leaving the streets. Next step is the initial transition. In other words, to protect the children from the temptations of the street and help children to adapt a new scheduled lifestyle of school and chores. The third stage is integration when empowered child start to feel that he is a part of the society, not some „trash“. And the final phase is independence when the services are not required any more. Even these phases are the same for all street children, but it fits more for the ones who have no families and places to come back. And for the children who have their families and come back home during the night, it is also very important to work with teir families as well, to achieve the positive change. And these kids need to be in a safe environment as much as it is possible and to spend time improving various skills. I also think, that it is useful for children to have their own hobby and social worker might be a person who can help a child to find field of interests and help to increase their self – esteem. This can be done by exploring new interesting things like making photos, watching movies, painting, trying to play some musical instruments, visiting various places etc., and doing group or individual social work, consultations according to a need. And I still stick to a thought, that was mentioned above, that in order to provide qualitative services we need to establish new social services, new centers and to carry out new programs (if there is a need) not just rely and work on existing ones (not necessary corresponding to the needs).
Bullying is a significant, pervasive form of school violence (Batsche, 1997). Olweus (1993), who is considered by many researchers to be the leading expert on peer victimization, offers a general definition of bullying that includes repeated exposure to negative actions by one or more students over time. Olweus (1993) further defined a negative action as a purposeful attempt to injure or inflict discomfort on anothers, either through words, physical contact, gestures, or exclusion from a group. The portion of the definition that includes harassment conducted repeatedly and over time is designed to exclude occasional negative actions that are not perceived as being serious and may be directed toward one student on one occasion and toward another student on a different occasion. However, in certain circumstances, a single instance of serious victimization may be perceived as bullying. Bullying refers to repeated, unprovoked, harmful actions by one child or children against another. The acts may be physical or psychological. Physical, or direct, bullying includes hitting, kicking, pushing, grabbing toys from other children, and engaging in very rough and intimidating play. Psychological bullying includes name calling, making faces, teasing, taunting, and making threats (Olweus, 1991). Bullying among children encompasses a variety of negative acts carried out repeatedly over time. It involves a real or perceived imbalance of power, with the more powerful child or group attacking those who are less powerful. Bullying can take three forms: • physical (hitting, kicking, spitting, pushing, taking personal belongings); • verbal (taunting, malicious teasing, name calling, making threats); • psychological (spreading rumors, manipulating social relationships, or engaging in social exclusion, extortion, or intimidation). Three general forms of bullying have been delineated in the literature (Ross, 1996). Olweus (1993) first distinguished between direct and indirect bullying, later describing direct bullying as "relatively open attacks on a victim" and indirect bullying as a "form of social isolation and intentional exclusion from a group". Indirect bullying eventually was referred to in the literature as relational victimization and describes manipulation of relationships or friendships to inflict emotional pain on another, such as a group of peers retaliating against someone by ignoring her or him (Bjorkqvist, Lagerspetz, Kaukiainen, 1992; Crick, Grotpeter, 1995). Finally, a further distinction was made in the form of a third category, direct verbal aggression, which consists of such behaviors as name-calling, shouting, abusing, and accusing (Bjorkqvist, 1992). Research has identified bullying as being ongoing, unsolicited, and frequently not physically injurious (Hoover, Oliver, Thomson, 1993; Olweus, 1993). Essentially, bullying is the process of establishing and maintaining social dominance through overt aggression and doing so in ways that victims are unable to deflect because of their lack of skills, their inability to effectively integrate with peers, or their inability to develop subgroups of peers (Arora, Thompson, 1987).
Children who bully are impulsive, dominate others, and show little empathy. They display what Olweus (1991) defines as an "aggressive personality pattern combined with physical strength". Without intervention, the frequency and severity of the bullying behaviors may increase (Batsche, Knoff, 1994; Baumeister, 2001). Even more disturbing, it appears that the patterns of bullying learned in the early years can set children on a course of violence later in life. Unfortunately, many children are bullied in schools. Children who are chronically victimized by bullies may experience such short-term problems as physical and psychological distress, difficulty in concentrating, and school phobia (Bernstein, Watson, 1997) and such long-term problems as an inability to initiate and maintain successful interpersonal relationships with members of the opposite sex, higher levels of depression, and having a more negative self-concept than do peers who have not been bullied (Olweus, 1993). Evidence-based practice (i.e., practices that have been empirically endorsed) for addressing childhood bullying emphasizes a comprehensive approach of assessment, prevention, and intervention (Batsche, 1997; Olweus, 1993; Ross, 1996). „Save Children“ organization data: in Lithuanian 52,4% children underwent bullying and 56,8 % were being taunted in 2010. This huge number show us this complicated phenomena . The first step in establishing a bullying prevention program is to develop an effective assessment program. Although few studies have examined the assessment practices of school counselors and few, if any, have examined the role of counselors in the assessment of bullying, one study has suggested that although school counselors recognize the usefulness of assessment, they actually use relatively few assessment instruments (Giordano, Schwiebert, 1997). Thus, it follows that counselors may benefit from additional information regarding the assessment of childhood bullying, particularly if their districts are prioritizing bullying prevention and intervention as one means to counter the problem of school violence. Children learn more powerfully from what they see adults doing than from what we say. When adults do not intervene, bullies may feel there is nothing wrong with their actions. Victims may feel that they deserve the bullying. I think, that this is the main idea. Parents and teachers must understand, that they are influencing children‘s behavoiur. They have to say and to do the same things! Adults can intervene effectively to reduce bullying. The first step is to identify unacceptable peer actions: hitting, kicking, pushing, choking, punching, threatening, taunting, teasing, starting rumors.
Here are some interventions I would suggest schools to use reducing teachers bullying: • Work together as a staff to create a code of conduct for staff; • Make sure administration know about incidents and patterns of bullying; • Work out ways all staff can let each other know when they see anyone have a momentary lapse into angry or other harmful behavior towards children. Sometimes these ways will be based on a code phrase or other signal; • Survey staff and children periodically about school climate. Include questions about whether staff are treating children respectfully. Social pedagogue (worker) are member of school community. This member are like mediator between a child and other children, children and teachers, teachers and administration. It is complicated to be between different sides and seek changes. But we all have to remember definition of global social work: „The social work profession promotes social change, problem-solving in human relationships, and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance wellbeing“. Therefore, school social worker has to seek changes in school violence – bullying. This person would perform roles of an iniciator, mediator, welfare bearer. Finally, I think that, successful bullying prevention includes education, preparation, and especially teamwork.
WOMAN IN POVERTY. The women’s fund at the United Nations UNIFEM (2005, p. 8) states: “The modern global economy is now a reality. Yet everywhere in the world, there are people working in conditions that should no longer exist in this 21st century, for income that is barel enough for survival. Home-based workers put in long hours each day, yet are paid for only a fraction of their time. Rural women spend backbreaking hours on family plots, often for no payment at all. Those in urban areas work in unregulated factories, earning pennies for products that are shipped via sub-contractors to markets far away, or they find jobs as waste-pickers, scavenging garbage heaps for items to sell. The working poor are both men and women. However, the further down the chain of quality and security, the more women you find“. Nowadays all our life is in global processes all over the world and sometimes we don’t see what happens around us. Poverty has many dimensions and is difficult to measure. Calculated in dollars and cents, it is inadequacy of income. But measured in terms of the human condition, it is inadequacy of health and nutrition, education, and other components of wellbeing, including leisure time. For poor people who are working, how they make a living – their sources of income or livelihood – is a major preoccupation. Poverty, however, is multidimensional. Today, there are several broad approaches to understanding and measuring poverty and well-being, including: • income and basic needs: focusing on the income, expenditures, and basic needs of poor households; • human development: focusing on health, education, longevity and other human capabilities and on the choices or freedom of poor people; • human rights: focusing on the civic, political, economic and social rights of the poor; and • social inclusion: focusing on the access of poor people to what they are entitled to as citizens and on giving them representative ‘voice’ in the institutions and processes that affect their lives and work. (UNIFEM, 2005) It is said that now in the world there are much more equalities between genders, but some countries still suffer from gender inequality and predominantly negative attitude towards women. Such situation when women are not having equal rights as mans raise many problems. One of these problems - women in poverty. Causes of women's poverty: • Lack of education; • Unemplyment; • Not equal wages for woman and man (ussualy man get much money for the same work); • In some comunities still exist opinion that woman duty is to manage home and to born baby.
What social worker could do with this problem in micro, mezzo and macro level? • To disseminate the ideas of feminism in order everybody could understand that women have to have equal rights in labor market, and social environment. • Be able to identify problems and weaknesses of women because it is necessary to understand what work skills women have, in what country and culture they live, and how hard they can work. • Provide support for women experiencing poverty and advise them on how to solve this problem (discussed in the work, educational opportunities, etc...). Very often lack of information may raise the problem. In order to avoid this social worker could make some community meetings and share important information. Also this could be done with assistants of labor market because usually they don’t have enough information about women capabilities as well. • Encourage the establishment of non-governmental organizations that defend women's rights. It is very important to establish such organizations or to find organizations which pretend women rights in other countries and to start collaborate with them. • Promote cooperation between governmental and non-governmental organizations, and provide assistance if there are any problems. Social worker could be like advocate in this situation and to assist one or another side. It is necessary to develop such relations because when all focus on the problem it is much more ways to make situation solving. • Participate in the development of legislation. To my mind this point is one of the most important because when legislation will be done according to problem of women in poverty only then these women could have equal rights. Well, here social worker also could be like an advocate and to participate in the process as an assistant of women. To ensure that appropriate policies, institutions and services are put in place, the informal workforce needs to be visible to policy makers and government planners. Similarly, economic policies that ignore the fact that most unpaid care work is done by women cannot be assumed to be neutral towards women’s labour in particular. • To be included in studies on the causes of poverty, its consequences and the most effective ways of coping. • Participate in exchanges with foreign counterparts, internships in other countries to develop international conferences. This last point is important in macro level because provides wide relationships between countries and makes opportunities to share different examples how they are working on this problem in their countries. The best way to find ways of solution is to watch examples of others.
We live in a dawn of the twenty-first century. We can state that this period is characterized by rapid and evolving movement Technical progress and development, have created favorable conditions for people to move freely from one place to another This large variety generates new challenges in creation of peaceful states essential to ensure equal rights, opportunities and dignified life for everyone. The following are a few facts and figures about immigration. Worldwide, there is an estimated 191 million immigrants; The last 50 years has seen an almost doubling of immigration; • 115 million immigrants live in developed countries; • 20% (approximately 38 million) live in the US alone, making up 13% of its population; • 33% of all immigrants live in Europe; • 75% live in just 28 countries; • Between 1990 and 2005 o There were 36 million migrations (an average of approximately 2.4 million per year); o 33 million wound up in industrialized countries; o 75% of the increases occurred in just 17 countries;
These figures confirm of growing number of people arriving from other countries. At this point I would like to stop and take a closer look to one of the phenomenon, which is called xenophobia. In my opinion, it is an important and delicate issue, which is likely to be relevant to every part of the world.
Xenophobia is a form of attitudinal, affective, and behavioral prejudice toward immigrants and those perceived as foreign. Wikipedia definition of xenophobia as the "hatred or fear of foreigners or strangers or of their politics or culture".[1] It comes from the Greek words ξένος (xenos), meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος (phobos), meaning "fear." However, more recent definitions of xenophobia suggest that the fear of foreigners and their impact is linked with ethnocentrism, which is characterized by the attitude that one’s own group or culture is superior to others (Merriam-Webster Online, n.d.). V. Reynolds and Vine (1987) stated that xenophobia is a “psychological state of hostility or fear towards outsiders” (p. 28). Crowther (1995) emphasized that xenophobia focuses on individuals who come from “other countries” and toward whom native individuals have “an intense dislike or fear” ( Oksana Yakushko 2009). Racism and xenophobia are distinct phenomena, although they often overlap. While racism generally implies distinction based on difference in physical characteristics, such as skin coloration, hair type, facial features, etc, xenophobia denotes behaviour specifically based on the perception that the other is foreign to or originates from outside the community or nation. The definition of xenophobia, and its differentiation from racism and racial discrimination, are still evolving concepts. One of the regional Preparatory Meetings for this World Conference suggested that: • Racism is an ideological construct that assigns a certain race and/ or ethnic group to a position of power over others on the basis of physical and cultural attributes, as well as economic wealth, involving hierarchical relations where the “superior” race exercises domination and control over others; • Xenophobia describes attitudes, prejudices and behavior that reject, exclude and often vilify persons, based on the perception that they are outsiders or foreigners to the community, society or national identity. ( WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED INTOLERANCE (WCAR)
In this part of the text I would like to introduce several theoretical perspectives, which explains the reasons of ethnic hatred. These theoretical perspectives emerge in the U.S. in the end of nineteenth century and in the beginning of the twentieth century, at that time movements of independence and heterogeneous society was being created.
Economic theory perspective In this perspective it is being stated that the conflict over labor relations. One of the things is that employers use a less paid ethnic group work to cut other (better paid) group wage. These reasons stimulate inter-ethnic antagonism and competition. Rakauskiene MF (2009) in her work writes that the key factors in economic competition between groups and ethnic intolerance can be: irreconcilable or coincidel material interests, objectives, economic and human resources reclamation, housing demand, solidarity of minority communities, status and power projection.
Cultural theoretical perspective This perspective is based on cultural determinism and emphasis on cultural differences (customs, lifestyles, manners). For each ethnic group culture and its survival is very important. If the fundamental elements of culture are different, in terms of competition and inequality we have a confrontation between ethnic groups. In this perspective preconception and usage of human patterns is emphasized. Thus we can conclude that the emphasis of differences and setting it as inadequacy may lead to intolerance.
Relevance to social work The Definition of social work from the International Federation of Social Workers: the social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenses at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work. Xenophobia is a phenomenon that poses / create discrimination, marginalization, and thus violates human rights and social justice. Social workers can help to restore the justice and fight oppression. I think this problem is strongly related with justice and its rehabilitation, and this is a social worker's mission.
Social workers might be that people who can contribute to the problem – xenophobia. Of course, this problem may include on a large scale, but also can be little inclusive. In reflections on what social work might contribute, I would like to start with the fact that the important thing to understand what is my relationship with foreigners, what is my expertise. It is important to know and understand its attitude. At this point, first action of a social worker should be work with himself, because social worker will be a "tool", which in any case will have to communicate with two different sides – foreigners and the ones who feel negative emotions to the foreigners. Another thing is the knowledge about two hostile groups. While working with foreigners it would be absorption into the culture, customs, values and lifestyles. And at this point is very important to maintain respect for otherness and the refusal to desire to change these people. An introduction to the other side is also very important. One way would be analysis of the phenomenon of xenophobia and its origin. Familiarization with the phenomenon more closely helps to see the manifold and it opens up wider possibilities for action. This text I would like to build on cultural theoretical perspective, which states that xenophobia starts because of the cultural differences and the fact that people use preconception and stereotypes. All of this arises from lack of knowledge and communication with foreigners. The social worker can help the two sides to meet and socialize. It would be a transformative dialogue. Social workers could look back at positive experience in other countries while organizing meetings. In this case I have in mind the reconcilation workshops between the Palestinian and Israeli youth. These workshops were held for protracted conflicts, distorted knowledge of each others, anger, and hostility. Youth from two different sides was selected to these workshops and meetings were organized. They were based on their experience and knowledge of other cognitive experiences. In this way emotional experience was neutralized and relationship was reconstructed. An interesting fact that these workshops were led by two staff members from different sides: Palestinian and Israeli. And both of them were equal partners. And so they constructed a different experience that cooperation between former adversaries is possible. Working with the problem of xenophobia I think it would be useful to look at tries of two countries, their attempts to find peace. Although problems are not equivalent, but there is some conjunctions. One of the directions of the social workers should be based on public information, education about foreigners living nearby. And this work could begin from the very smallest. Various events and projects could be held in kindergartens and schools. Where children could meet and cooperate with people with different nationalities and feel equal. In this way natural cognition and the knowledge of otherness is not disturbed. To summarize, the social workers could be intermediaries between the two sides, organizers and educators. It becomes important letting two opposing sides to meet each other, seeing reality from opposite side and not following dissonant fact about world.
International adoption This international course was very important experience for me because it helped to develop my knowledge about international social work practice. Now I can understand global problems which international social workers are interested in and also evaluate their importance. Some of the problems I have never given a thought before, for example, the lack of clear water, peace keeping and others, it seemed hardly understandable what social worker could do in these situations. But is occurs one may act, just the broader point of view is needed, as well as ideas, knowledge and willing to act. I say knowledge hence it is wider than just knowledge in social work but also international, cultural and historical perspectives of the problem. It enables social worker to understand the process and change of the problems. Global social workers have to play many roles. During the work in cross-cultural context they should vary between many delicate themes and the cultural differences. Sometimes it is hard to find the way to the client‘s world even if he or she lives in the same nation, speaks the same language and has the same customs. I found it pleasant to share my country‘s experience and discussing or sharing social work experience between the students of different continents. In this final paper I would like to talk about social worker‘s role during adoption process. I chose the adoption topic because adoption is not popular in Lithuania and the number of people who want to adopt a child is not big. Actually it is quite small. So it means that if social workers want to change the situation it is not enough to be a consultant, practitioner with individuals or families or to be an advocate. It is important to work on mezzo and macro levels, social policy planning, community development, strategy creation, international research and collaboration. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that child‘s universal and harmonic development is possible just then child grows up in a family, feeling happiness, love and understanding. Children learn to live while observing family, friends and environment. Social learning starts at the very first days of child‘s life. They are learning everything: how to behave at home, communicate with others, avoid problems and conflicts and etc. Unfortunately not all children are able to live in a family. This may be determined by different reasons. Children might be deprived of care because of misbehaviour and drug abuse of their parents. Other reason might be natural disasters or wars when children lose their parents because of factors one cannot control. A part of children who lost their parents or whose parents were deprived of parents rights find themselves at foster care home. In my opinion life in foster care home withdraws child’s possibility to observe family model, which is very important in later life. Child has no natural opportunities to learn family model. Child does not perceive relationship model between man and woman and does not have a parenting model. Thus it is highly important that the bigger part of children would grow up in families, not foster care homes. Lithuanian Children rights departments give these numbers: last year there were 11608 children without parents care in Lithuania. 6931 child was cared for families, 286 – to households and 4391 – was in institutional care. Lithuanian families adopted 108 children in 2010 (110 children were adopted in 2009, 101 child was adopted in 2008). 53 girls and 55 boys found new home in 2010 (National department of Children rights defence and adoption, 2010). Quite considerable numbers of children were adopted by foreigners (see Table 1). Following statistical data one can tell that foreigners are interested in adopting Lithuanian children and do adopt them.
Accordingly there are two types of adoption – national adoption and international adoption. Question of International adoption lately caused discussions as international adoption is more complicated than national adoption because of racial, ethnical and cultural differences. International adoption means that not only two different families meet, but also different cultures, customs and etc. After World War I international adoption was seen as help to childless families from rich countries to adopt children. Thus began the first wave of international adoptions (Askeland, 2005). Some countries made better conditions for adoption because of political and economical crises. Countries felt need to find homes for their children abroad not just of poverty and crisis, but also of cultural attitude. It is important to know, that Muslim countries subscribe to a religious faith that makes adoption, in which a child is assigned new legal parents, unacceptable, and so these countries don’t permit international adoption. Asian countries tend to value blood-related parenthood, and so South Korea was eager to place its children abroad even when it was relatively well off economically, because the government knew that there was little opportunity for the children in its orphanages to find adoptive homes within the country (Askeland, 2005). There in Australia, Paraguay, Japan and Eskimo living places adoption in early ages was partially based on parenting motives. For Teutons (Germanic people) and Romans adoption was possibility an option to take extramarital children into their father’s family. Christianity repudiated extramarital children. They were not adopted, but given away to orphanage. The only exception was Breisgau city (Freiburg) where in 1520 babies were adopted because of mercy and love. Only in 1900 German laws stated not only care of elderly people, legacy and inheritance matters, but also matters of finding family for children without parents. Presently adoption, as well as care in a family or children foster care home, is one way to help children. It has to ensure right to grow up in a family and be a legal member of it for those children who cannot live with their parents (Wiemann, 2006). 17th January, in 2011 European parliament suggested making international adoption easier. Children, who are left without parents care is becoming a tender problem and it is needed to take new decisions. Therefore it is important to make international adoption easier and ensure children rights and interests (stated 19th January, 2011, resolution of European parliament). Parliament encourages investigating possibility to coordinate strategy of international adoption in Europe considering children’s rights for safety and family. EU institutions are urged to participate more active in Hague conference “seeking to improve, simplify and facilitate procedure of international adoption and eliminate useless bureaucracy and also bond to defend children from third party countries”. It is encouraged to create system that guarantees transparency and helps to coordinate fight against children trafficking. Nevertheless, Euro MPs think that “if there is possibility and also considering child’s interests, priority should be given to national adoption” and if it is decided to take child away from his/her birthplace state has to consider psychological, emotional, social and educational consequences and give help adoptive child and foster parents need. (http://www.mususeima.lt/lt/naujienos/europos_parlamentas_siulo_palengvinti_tarpta_ivaikinim_). This Euro MPs suggestion causes ambiguous thoughts. It is not possible to simplify procedure of adoption to minimum level if child rights and interests are meant to be guarded. On the other hand can we truly say that complicated adoption system helps to advocate child’s rights and interest and encourages family to seek its purpose?
The procedure of adoption is a complex process in national and as well international level, because family willing to adopt has to fill in lots of documents and prove that it is suitable to adopt a child. And just think of finding the right child for the family. In my opinion, these procedures require a help of professionals. Social worker is a member of professional team working in adoption process. Most often social worker takes part in educating foster parents and evaluation of suitable and not suitable families for adoption. Concerning adoption in international level social worker should be able to introduce foster parents with child’s original country, customs and traditions, because it is important to safe child’s identity with his/her motherland especially if adoptive child is elder. I think different countries’ social workers cooperation introducing foster parents from foreign countries with child’s motherland’s culture and folk would be useful. To improve cooperation and communications between different counties social workers’ meetings should be organised. It is important to remember European Parliament’s suggestion to create common adoption system. Social workers could help to create system by sharing their thoughts about adoption, impedimental and conducive factors and giving their insights. Social worker would be a researcher, looking for answers to various adoption situations like what do foster parents family want, what is important to adoptive children and what help is needed. Child coming into family is time of great changes not only for child but also to all family. Then a new member of family appears new worries come, also the inner filmily life changes, members have to adapt to occurring psychological problems. Family members have to communicate with other persons like social workers, parents of child and friends more often. Incoming of child necessarily requests change of common family roles. Family “old-timers” and a “new-comer” have to adapt to each other, adjusting their characters, habits, day rhythm and order. (D.Matulevičiūtė, R.Kukauskas, V.Montrimienė, 2005). In these situations social worker could help to overcome difficulties and give needed support. It is also very important to prepare family and also the child for adoption. Speaking of international adoption, I think that social worker should give child information about new family and country child is going to. Here we can see social worker in a caseworker role. This role of social worker can be discussed when social workers from different countries can counsel each other and to share experiences how to work in the situations where the client is. It can be done using technologies, which helps to make social work more global. International dialogue is essential for the growth and development of social work theory and methods and to foster collaborative work on the same of social problems (Healey, 2001). I think it is important to work not only with family willing to adopt and a child, but also with all society, changing its point of view to adoption. Most of Lithuanian citizens are sceptical about adoption. It is common opinion that only reasons for adopting a child are either money, either family having problems to have their own child. In my opinion, people self-consciousness should be educated and their understanding of adoption should be broadened. Most citizens are not familiar with adoption, they do not know how system functions and that family is not being paid for adopting a child. Adoptions and child‘s care in a family are only forms which give child, who has been left without adult care, possibility to grow up in family environment, love and mutual understanding atmosphere. That is why attentions should be given to make these two forms more popular and better.
To improve some of social welfare spheres is it highly important to share good experiences and examples. Governmental, municipal and nongovernmental organizations should open up to each other to gather and create social capital together. Global social worker must actively participate in foster and adoption dialogue with colleagues from other countries, because the exchange of international experience is very important for global social worker too. International dialogue is essential for the growth and development child welfare programs and services. Child interests are most important to protect in adoption procedure. Specialists defending children rights are guarding this sphere, but social worker must advocate to both – the child and the family. To ensure clear adoption procedure interinstitutional cooperation between both sides is highly important. Also it is very important to keep connection with foster parents after adoption. In this situations social worker‘s advocacy for families’ and child‘s interests is very useful. This should make illegal adoption or adoption against child’s interests not possible. One more important step is to ensure continuous communication with the foreign country the child was adopted. Some countries cannot give this obligation. If elder child is adopted it is important to ensure child’s communication with relatives in birthplace cause there are few orphans who have no relatives. To some up, social worker’s practice in adoption sphere may run in all three – micro, macro and mezzo – levels, as well as social worker may have several roles – a tutor, researcher, advocate, policy maker and caseworker. For international adoption cases communication and experience sharing between social workers is important (this can be implemented using information technologies or organising conferences – face-to-face contact). In my opinion, this would ensure child and family interests implementation also would help to develop international social work.
There were no disabled people in the former Soviet Lithuania the problem was ignored, the disabled being isolated, having to live at first, in the boarding schools, later in the foster homes. According to the Social Affairs Ministry statistics, there were 266645 disabled people in Lithuania in 2010, getting the disability pensions or pays; among them - 153799 persons with average disability, 33973 - hard disability and 15335 disabled children (www.soc.min.lt, 2011). The above figures coincide with the UNO data – about 10 per cent of the world people being the disabled. Disability is often presented in this society as a problem and not as a possibility. The disabled are separated from the social living standards. The disabled child is often treated by his / her parents as a personal tragedy, and the family‘s future life is looked upon as senseless, pointless and useless. The rights of the disabled are officially and publicly declared, but the gap between state issued legal acts and the real society attitude still exists in this country. Since 2005 the Social integretion law for the disabled with the changed attitude towards the disabled and with the new possibilities for them has come into force. The social integration system for the disabled comprises provision of medical, professional and social rehabilitation services, provision for special needs using special assistance tools, support to employment of the disabled, social assistance, award and payment of pensions and benefits of the State Social Insurance Fund, award and payment of benefits of the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund, provision of education services, ensuring equal opportunities to participate in cultural, sports and other areas of public life. The social integration system for the disabled is funded from the national budget, municipal budgets, State Social Insurance Fund, Compulsory Health Insurance Fund, Employment Fund, Structural Funds of the European Union and other legitimate financial resources. Professional rehabilitation has been and still is the weakest point in the social integration system for the disabled. Participation of the disabled Lithuanian citizens in the social life is guaranteed by the social services net which include general social services (information, consultation and intermediation) and special social services (day social assistance, long-term (short-term) social assistance). Special social services are provided mostly by the governmental offices; general and sociocultural services- both by the governmental and non-governmental organizations. Social services system is regulated by the following documents: Social services law (2006), Social services catalogue (2006), Provision of the disabled with the technical equipment and associated expenses compensation order (2006), Requirements for the physical environment for the disabled (2001). The disabled rights convention was ratified and came into force in 2010.
Social services net for the disabled is fastly growing- more and more services are tried to be provided not far from their living places, but it is not sufficient. There still exist many foster homes for the mentally disabled (26 homes, 5,3 thousand places).This service is greatly needed, because day social assistance service is not satisfactory. There are no foster homes for mentally disabled in Kaunas, but there is a day centre for mentally and complex disabled people with a branch-a day centre for mentally disabled. There is also a self-supporting living place for physically disabled people and homes for babies with growth dysfunction (5 in Lithuania). There is growth in a new type of social services- self-supporting living homes where the disabled can do without anybody‘s help. There were 13 such houses (for 253 persons) by the end of 2009. Today, the Social Affairs Ministry is trying to improve social services accessibility and quality and is implementing modern infrastructure in stationary social services places with the goal of constructing a new type of group living homes (10-20 persons) and innovatory social services, connected with the disabled boarding (www.socmin.lt, 2011). Communities and non-governmental organizations can influence the governmental acts for the disabled, concerning state resources for the disabled needs: living environment, education and social services, but in reality it does not work very well. After the reestablishment of Lithuania independence there were many non-governmental organizations of the disabled founded - there are 50 of them in Kaunas. Today the activity of these organizations is rather weak. People with a low disability level have very few possibilities to find jobs, that is why a day foster services or living in a self-supporting home give them the possibility and valuable participation in the society life. The lack of a day social services influence the disabled activities and possibility for their family members to live a full-rounded life (most often it is impossible to leave the disabled person at home alone). Insecurity, stress, self- unbelief and inability to solve their own problems often influence social elimination of the disabled. Family, bringing up a disabled child, undergoes a stress both for his/her disability and poor possibilities for him/her to have a fully satisfying life. The stress influences the whole family life- the child‘s disability rise new challenges and interrupts its ordinary functioning inside and outside. The child‘s destiny depends primarily on the parent‘s outlook to the disease and their ability to take the suffering. Having a disabled child in a family is treated as a slowly going stress. In the run of years, the family is hardened both physically and psychologically. The stress may even change family status: values, borders, social roles and their links. If such a family does not reconstruct their interrelations and get greatly needed help, it may go to pieces. Divorce is an often phenomenon here in Lithuania. Family reactions and possibility to overcome the stressful situation depend on the weight the family and the surroundings attribute to the disabled child. In this situation, a great role is played by an extended family, which is extincting nowadays. Traditionally it used to be the main social unity and people were helped by these family relations in their difficulties and daily decisions.
A lot of researches in the field of mental health meet with the „victim blaming“ ideology, where people with the hard mental illness are blamed for their former inability to communicate, lack of daily skills, motivations, any skills etc. (Ch. A. Rapp, W. Shera, V. Kisthardt, 1993). Most often families with the disabled child, instead of seeking for individualization, maturity and independence, foresee hopelessness, dependence and growing social isolation. However, such an „unfortunate“ may bring the family members close together and show their strong sides. Restrictions and difficulties adjusting to the different reality is one moment only, and another is to find a new life quality for the disabled (family) accepting disability. Very few families and society members in Lithuania see in such a person and his/her family value and dignity first, and disability afterwards. Disability is not a possibilities restricting factor, however, it can give the new possibilities. A family has the competence to overcome difficulties. The strength perspective is based on the idea of helping the family to recognize these competences; in order the family itself would be strong enough to change its life. At the same time, strength perspective approach does not negate human weaknesses or problems and rejects the position that the problems are shortage, pathology or abnormality. A strength theory is problem solving and self recognition, self-reliance and hope keeping. Strength shows that encountering permanent or temporary stresses, crisis, traumas and violence, difficulties can be overcome. Through these challenges a man purchases personal qualities and skills that may be used for positive life creation. Overcoming difficulties threatening a person‘s health, integrity or existence, the individual finds strength in himself, his self-evaluation is strengthened and this leads to the further changes. Nobody can understand other person‘s growth and changes limits. A person‘s behavior evaluation, his judgment restricts the individual or family‘s possibilities and destroy their hopes. These factors influence the disabled person‘s (family‘s) isolation and loneliness, stopping their skills finding and prospering. True democracy seeks for justice in politics, economics and social structure. The development level of a country is stated by the 45 criteria: unemployment, salary amount, homeless people number etc. That is why the social development is valued for the two points: equality and participation in the global action. Midgley (1999) presents three social development intervention ways: 1. Human capital development - investments into human education, health and nutrition. 2. Social capital development - self-help groups, communities mobilization for human needs satisfaction, not for economical development. 3. Employment promotion or other productive projects (Healy, 2005).
Earlier care was taken of elementary clients needs - clothing, suitable food. High attention was paid to the social support, but it did not help to raise integrity. Ability is neither daily living needs nor better living conditions. Ability is when clients can be self-dependent, self-relying, autonomous. And only then their life quality advances. Intervention must agree with the clients‘ agenda, must reflect the help in need. Its suitability, usefulness are very important and would give way to the further interventions (Ch. A. Rapp, W. Shera, V. Kisthardt, 1993). Social workers should assist the disabled children families to live a whole life and support them with the most necessitous social services: 1. Individual parent consultation. The social worker, bearing in mind a family‘s strength, seeks to strengthen motivation to meet its needs. Strengths influence a person‘s (family‘s) self-proud, future hopes, ability to understand needs and perspectives of the others; ability to recognize and make one‘s own or family‘s goal choices. The main question evaluating strengths is- what kind of life a client wants? The clients’ hopes are important. 2. Self-help groups for parents’ organization. Cooperation in recognition strengths and goals. A family itself knows its strengths and abilities best. A social worker can help only to start a dialogue in the group. It is important to pay attention to a family‘s efforts to try to do something, and a social worker‘s aim is to help to continue and strengthen these efforts. 3. Cooperative activities in the community organization, involving a disabled child family. Encourage the families’ involvement and participation in the community life, accepting the strengths they have. Involvement is connected with the feeling of belonging that influences a very important caring component. 4. High hopes modeling. A social worker creates an optimistic, hopeful, possible atmosphere. That is why, it is important to recognize a family‘s strengths and model its high hopes. The importance of reflection. Reflection is disclosing a client‘s strengths and goals formation (T. J. Early, L. F. GlenMaye, 2000). It is important to underline that all the social services should be organized in the same community, answering rising needs. International social work is a comprehension that any social work is like a strength, helping to solve social problems Solidarity, tolerance, practice and openness help to realize the social work in the international context.
A brief presentation of the situation. Children left without parental care are a social problem. In Lithuania we observe different situations where children are losing their biological parents. Their parents dump them, leaving them for fate, for example: the mother leaves her baby or the children are taken from the parents because they have serious problems ussually dependence on alcohol, drugs or have health problems and therefore does not care for their children. Thus, the children find themselves at the disposal of institutions and their future is strongly influenced by the institutional activities which are formed by the policy of the country.
ReplyDeleteIn my work paper I focus on adoption in Lithuania and work experience in this field with foreign countrie’s.
By data of Lithuanian State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service under the Ministry of Social Security and Ministry of the Labour in Lithuania there almost aren’t any young and healthy children whitch can be offered to international adoptions, as those children are adopted by the Lithuanians themselves. In addition, the decreasing number of children available for adoption to foreigners in the country leaves the possibility to adopt only children with special needs, children – older than 8 years, with serious health problems or from large groups of brothers and sisters. For familys from other countries faster adoption is possible only if they are determined to adopt three or more children at ones.
Currently, there are 13 accredited foreign adoption organizations in the country, including four Italian, three U.S. and one in Sweden, France, Germany, Spain, New Zealand and Canada.
In 2009 foreigners were adopted 146 children from Lithuania, of which over 100 were with special needs. Most Lithuanian children adopts Italian, American and French families.
Cooperation with foreign countries. In the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in the range of Intercountry Adoption (1993) in Article 9 to the parties is pointed, to exchange information and experience between themselfs about the Inter-country Adoption. So a year ago the Lithuanian State Child Rights Protection and adoption service representative with the Child Welfare Center “Shelter” and Child protection experts visited Scotland, where they were introduced with prospective foster parents and adoptive parents preparation, provided social services for foster familys and assistance to adoptive parents.
ReplyDeleteThe visit took place under the Leonardo da Vinci project, “Care and adoption system development through applying best practice of Scotland ", which won the Children's Welfare Center “Shelter”. The project purpose – to raise professional qalification of caregivers, which prepares adoptive parents, provides social services to families and working children rights protection, as well as applying the Scottish experiense, to develop Lithuanian care and adoption procedures, social services and to improve inter-institutional cooperation. During this visit, Lithuanian specialists met with non-governmental organizations, care and adoption services activities.
Dissemination of good practice is beneficial to our country's specialists, who work in the field of adoption and try to improve in working life. Cooperation with other foreign countries is promoting changes and new working methods in our country.
Work with the child. Solving the issue of international adoption, it became clear that Lithuania's child care homes do not prepare children for adoption. Therefore, it is important to provide trainings to child care home professionals in this field. It is necessary to revise the legal framework, anticipating that not only the arrangement of legal status allows to adopt a child. For the child it is necessary a social - psychological preparation for the changes in his life.
ReplyDeleteThe child’s departure to a foreign country is a big change in his life. So I think in this situation, the social worker should play an important role in preparing the child, that the adaptation period in a new country would be less complicated.
It is important to introduce the child to the country to which he is going to, information to make natch to his age, the information should not scare the child more. It is important to respond sensitively to all issues facing the child and try to answer him, that he would feel more confident before departure. Thesocial worker should be able to find information and make it attractive to the child.
A new family of the child - the adoptive parents. It would be perffect, if the child would get information about them before leaving, even the photographs or video tape, where he could see their faces. The social worker's role is to maintain contact with the country's social workers. Mutual cooperation allows both parties the child and the adoptive parents to learn about others in advance. A child knows of pre-adoptive parents their age, they have or not other children, a place of residence (village or town), school is important for children, knowledge of the educational system in the country too, the language barrier , how it will be dealt with. In such situation when it seems so many things will change, the child may have a lot of stress about it, it is important that the social worker would give a hope that with time everything will be resolved and get back to normal.
The child in this situation is experiencing a loss, because of that, the social worker need to talk with a child about the joy of loss and discovery. First of all, I mean, the fact that he may have to separate with his brother or sister, grandmother, people close to him. The both sides going through the loss, social worker in order to maintain the child's relationship with the people closest to him takes care that the child would left his contacts. Becomes important as far as the adoptive parents are willing to give the child the opportunity to keep in touch with loved ones. In this situation the attitude of adoptive parents determinates the child’s relations.
ReplyDeleteEspecially it is importanta child’s full preparation, it is worth to provide as many situations which the child will face with getting to the trip and as far as possible to prepare him. If a child is for the first time on an airplane social worker should instruct the child how to behave on a board and warnes how he may feel (eg, people are starting to annoy) and what to do in that situation, it may be necessary to carry the drugs.
With regard to international adoption, I think it is important to assess the situation of the child and the adoptive parents, in whith the two sides find themselves. It is not a secret that there are many differences between countries: language, traditions and customs, religion, acceptable behavior in society, ultimately, climate, nature, spread diseases and others. These differences need to be discussed with both the child and the adoptive parents.
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ReplyDeleteGlobal poverty
ReplyDeleteIn the article “Global poverty: No longer an untouchable problem” Michael M. O. Seipel represents two concepts of poverty, which are most often used to define poverty in the world (World Bank, 1999; Kangas and Ritakallio, 1989, Kammerman and Kahn, 1997; UNDP, 1997).
1) Income poverty. This has two variations: absolute poverty and relative poverty. Absolute poverty measures the number of people with inadequate income to obtain basic necessities of life. The cost is calculated by pricing a standard “market basket” of everyday consumer commodities needed by people in that society. Relative poverty is concept relates to inequalities of income distribution. Under this concept, people are defined as poor even if they have an adequate income for survival, so long as their income does not allow them to obtain food and services at a 50 percent level of the societal standard.
2) Human Poverty Index (HPI). This concept (developed by the UN Development Programme) is based on the theory that poverty involves more than lack of income. It means denial of choices and opportunities for a tolerable life. Thus, rather than measuring poverty solely by income, it examines the most basic dimensions of deprivation, like early death, malnutrition, illiteracy, access to healthcare and safe water.
Despite unprecedented progress made to reduce poverty in the last 50 years, about 1.3 billion people in the world still live in abject poverty. Poor people not only suffer from economic hardships, but many also suffer from malnutrition, illiteracy, poor health, premature death and broken spirit (Michael M. O. Seipel, 2003). The poorest 40 % of the world’s population accounts for 5 % of global income. The richest 20 % accounts for three-quarters of world income (Human Development Report (HDR), 2007). According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. Half of the children in the world live in poverty. It is imperative that the fight against poverty be accelerates. The cost of inaction is increased misery and deprivation.
One of the goals of social work is to help to solve the problem of global poverty. In that case, the social workers should not be limited to organizing and division of humanitarian aid to local community. Social workers should combat for human right, equality, social and political justice. It is not enough for social worker to be only in the role of practitioner with individuals and groups, social worker also should be in the role of advocate, researcher, educator, planner of social policy and so on. Also social workers should be consultant and supervisor for local social work.
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ReplyDeleteSocial workers should develop collaboration with distinguished international organizations such as the United Nation, the Red Cross, the World Bank and so on. In that case, the social worker can be as program developer and manager. His role would be to apply international program to local community. Social worker should care about organization of education and health care and to pursue, that it could be available to each person. Especially, attention should be paid to children’s welfare. Some actions should be done to increase accessibility to social capital for person who belongs to one or another group of exclusion.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to create and develop democratic values in the country to combat corruption and inequality. Democratization process offers opportunities for citizens’ more active involvement in decision-making at local levels, civil society struggles with the issue of establishing trust within and between the local associations and between them and local government (J. C. R. Hermoso, C. G. Luca, 2004).
Civil society is what provides the infrastructure for direct democracy. If we want to foster democratic values in the country, people should be active and participating. Social workers could initiate discussions, open talks among politicians, journalists, social workers, public representatives, to seek ways to curb corruption, unfair distribution of social capital, discrimination to consider ways to create welfare, equal rights for education, health care, justice, cultural achievements and other kinds of social capital.
Social workers could help to found more non-governmental organizations in some countries that would take care of the problem of exclusion and education, health services, social services, cultural values, would be accessible for all, especially for women, children, refugees and other discriminated groups.
References
Seipel, Michael (2003). Global poverty: No longer an untouchable problem. International Social Work, 46, 191-207.
Healey, Lynn M. (2005). International Social Work: Professional Action in an Interdependent World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hermoso, Jocelyn and Luca, Carmen (2004). Civil society’s role in promoting local development in countries in transition: A comparative study of the Philippines and Romania. International Social Work, 49, 319-332.
Middle part
ReplyDeleteIf we want to organize help, in my opinion, it is very important to know the cultural context of the country, traditions and customs. Some practices or methods could be effective and operative in one cultural context, but can not be acceptable or ineffective in other cultural context. According Healey, Lynn M. (2001), in international work, social workers will encounter some value differences that can be accommodated but others that must be rejected because they stray too far from respect for human dignity, and they do harm. Donaldson cities the example of nepotism in corporations in India and gift-giving in Japan as example of the first, and formed labor, physical abuse of employees, and toxic waste dumping as examples of practices that stray too far from essential values and cannot be condoned. Again, respect for cultural differences is encouraged unless the practice causes significant harm. Thus opposition to female circumcision may be more easily justified by the practice’s record of causing serious physical harm to many who undergo it rather than attacking the practice’s roots in denial of female sexual pleasure. Using the material above, judgments would also be influenced by the fact that the victims of female circumcision are children, who are unable to participate in the dialogue about cultural formation and preservation.
In that case, the social worker should be in the role of researcher, he should know local culture and traditions and make decisions what kind of help to provide. He should recognize which traditions can help and be useful for planning and intervention and which can not be acceptable. Maybe in this case, the social worker should be an educator. He can work with individuals and groups to teach and empower for change against discrimination, health damage.
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ReplyDeleteProblems of reintegration which arouse to drug abusers after rehabilitation process
ReplyDeleteReintegration – is a less well-established response to the problem of drug use than is treatment and, consequently, monitoring and reporting in this field is also patchier. Some Member States report that this area needs much more attention and financial support.
According to Martin Keane (2007), the goal of a successful drug rehab program is not only to help an individual understand why they use drugs and why their life will be better without drugs, but also to offer the individual the necessary tools to continue to remain drug-free once they have completed the rehab program and have re-entered into society.
Usually drug users are in some kind of social exclusion, in the form of homelessness and insecure accommodation, inadequate education and poor employment skills, is closely associated with problematic drug use. As a response, social reintegration has emerged as a key aspect of drug treatment and rehabilitation in order to provide responses to accommodation, education, vocational training and employment support needs of problem drug users (Social reintegration as a response to drug use in Ireland, 2007).
Reading different articles about reintegration I found out that a very big problem is public opinion on drug addiction problem which stigmatizes, marginalizes and excludes population of drugs addicts from their work or educational environment. So, drug addicts often have difficulties to get back to their social environment after the treatment for a number of reasons.
Most works, projects, rehabilitation centers work on prevention, intervention, psychotherapists widening the therapy methods, treatment approaches etc. Very rarely, we can see the works or centers which work on the reintegration process of the clients. According to the stages of this process - reintegration is the last – and the most important stage, which requires more attention and work on it.
According to governmental psychical healthy department in 2009 in Lithuania were registered about 6000 drug abusers, but these numbers are official because there are a lot of drug abusers who are not registered by any institution. In 2009 were registered 68 people who died from drugs (62-men, 6-womans).
In „Annual report 2005: the state of the drugs problem in Europe“ it is said that: „social reintegration is defined as ‘any social intervention with the aim of integrating former or current problem drug users into the community’. The three ‘pillars’ of social reintegration are (1) housing; (2) education; and (3) employment (including vocational training). Other measures, such as counseling and leisure activities, may also be used“. All these parts of reintegration are very important in person‘s life because person is living and acting in micro level – which in this situation is family, mezzo level – labour market, education, leisure activities, etc. and macro level – all the institutions and organizations which help to cooperate and collaborate in reintegration process more widely. As I have mentioned before about the environment in which person is living, now I am going to describe these levels and what social worker could do in all of them.
1. To family: Stanton, Todd and Associates (1982) and Haley (1980) – proposed the Conceptual model that drug addiction could be thought of as part of a cyclic process involving three or more individuals, commonly the addict and his two parents or parent surrogates.
ReplyDeleteAnd according to the Ecological systems approach – a change in one part of the system will impact changes in other parts of the system. Family is very important for everyone and for ex-drug abusers as well. Last year I have done some interviews and found out that most of them are afraid to reintegrate into micro level, because there are afraid to be rejected by their family and friends – the closest people in their lives. Here social worker needs to cooperate with family to encourage them to accept their family member back to the family. Sometimes family members don‘t know how to behave with ex-drug abusers, so it is important to give all necessary information, even to make some groups where could participate some different families and to see that they are not alone with such kind of problem. Social worker has to be able to identify issues and vulnerabilities faced by families. Also in such groups or meetings they could speak, share their thoughts, fears, maybe social worker could organize some meetings to teach some social skills. According to Drug rehab advice center, it is very important to avoid hanging out with former friends who continue to do drugs. This is crucial and very difficult because very often former addicts will no longer have any other friends. This can be a lonely period for many recovering addicts. Sometimes they feel so alone, they are tempted to start taking drugs again to ease the pain. In order to have success in this stage person who were using drugs have to feel the support of family, friends (who were not a part of his former life), counselors, therapists, priests or pastors, and anyone else he may need to get through this early period of re-integration. Here social worker could ask who he or she think could support him in this stage, who would be the most important for person and then to start collaborate with that particular people.
2. To labor-market: employment and vocational training initiatives aim to achieve social independence by integrating the client into the labor market either by finding or even subsidizing a job all through specific skills training. So this second part describes mezzo level, level in which person need to get into institutions, to be allowed there. It is very hard for ex-drug users, because once the people notice that they were drug users they are putting some labels, stigmatizing them. One very good example was described in article “Understanding and addressing AIDS-related stigma: from anthropological theory to clinical practice in Haiti” where was written the story of one man, who lost everything when found out that he is ill. His family, his friends left him. Moreover he lost his clients in the shop because everybody was looking at him like at “leprous one”. I think it was good example how people put label and leave people in the situation when support of others is very important.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking about mezzo level in overview of Martin Keane, (2007) was mentioned that homelessness, early school leaving and unemployment have long been associated with individuals who engage in problematic drug use. The provision of housing, education, vocational training and employment supports is vital to the reintegration of drug users into mainstream society. In practice, there is often a degree of overlap between education and vocational training measures. In effect, social reintegration is concerned with creating the conditions whereby persons affected by drug misuse have access to the social norms, such as employment and a place to live. Neale (2002) explains the rationale to this approach very well:
Recovery will only occur if drug users believe that abstinence has more to offer than addiction. Accordingly, recovering drug users must find a purpose in their drug-free lives. To this end, they need meaningful roles and activities that offer them self-respect and pride, and daily routines that do not involve criminal or drug using activities…the conditions that seem likely to facilitate successful rehabilitation are the same kinds of conditions that probably prevent drug misuse in the first place. That is, access to a decent income, adequate housing, employment opportunities; family relationships and being connected to community networks. These are key factors that motivate most non-addicted members of society (p. 219).
3. To society in general: this last third part takes part in macro level because here we see the issue I am talking about not only in country borders but much more widely – in global perspective. According to stigmatization theory, persons-ex users are in social exclusion and become a “burden” to society because: taxpayers’ are paying for them in prisons, hospitals they and their families can get social benefit etc... It is very important to help these people to reintegrate into society – to take their life in their own hands, in other words, to become responsible for their life – to get background, to find a job and to take care about their families, their kids and so on.
ReplyDeleteIn article „Social reintegration as a response to drug use in Ireland, 2007“ it is said: „Social reintegration is defined as any attempt to integrate drug users into the community. Measures include the provision of accommodation, education, vocational training and employment supports, but do not include medical or psycho-social components. The United Nations and the Council of the European Union see social reintegration as part of an approach to reducing the demand for drugs“.
According to EMCDDA annual report „The Lithuanian strategy prioritizes prevention of drug use in the family, among children and youths. The drug prevention projects executed in Lithuania in 2008 focused mainly on universal and selective prevention in local communities and schools, aiming at protecting young people against drug use“ (4, p 3). No doubts that youth and prevention programs for schools and universities are very important but we can’t forget those who want to have a second chance as well.
Within the last three years, Lithuania has been formulating the country’s drug policy in compliance with the international requirements and standards in terms of drug control and drug prevention with assistance by the UN organizations, the WHO, EUROPOL, EMCDDA, Northern Dimension, the EU Phare program, the EC Pompidou Group and other bilateral support. The National Drug Strategy is based on the National Drug Prevention and Drug Control Strategy for 2004–2008 and the National Program on Drug Control and Prevention of Drug Addiction 2004–2008.
To speak about macro level it is always very hard because here the most important role belongs to authorities of the country. Despite this fact social worker is very important in this level too…he can be the one who can initiate collaboration and start to cooperate with different institutions and NGO all over the world and find some important collaborative members. As I have mentioned before, Lithuania is working with some global programs on this problems. Social worker is like advocate between ex-drug abusers and community or society which is usually against these people. It is very important to be interested in how other countries work with such problems and then try something in our country. The most important is to show to society that other countries have the same problem and we are not alone. If in other countries these people are getting second chance so we can try to do it as well. Social worker could try to motivate community to help people who need help in reintegration process.
To conclude I would like to say that social reintegration of problematic users is not a new concept; indeed, it has been around since the early 1960s (United Nations 1961). Since 2000, the Council of the European Union has asked member states to improve availability of, and access to, social reintegration services. Since 2003, the EMCDDA has promoted the provision of accommodation supports and job training as key parts of social reintegration and has asked member states to monitor and report on the situation.
ReplyDeleteAs it is said in article Conflict, Peace-building, Disarmament, Security Gender Perspectives on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR), 2001: „Reintegration programs often focus on economic reintegration, providing food, allowances and skills training. Yet, ex-combatants and their families may also require other types of support, including psychological trauma counseling, to rebuild their lives. Well speaking about drug abusers and their reintegration it is very important to counsel families too. It is important to help relatives to escape from position of silent voice, because relatives play a great role in reintegration process of the clients and only when reintegration process in micro level will be successful in two others we could expect to succeed as well.
Social worker could make situations – places for dialog, where could participate persons from different positions: ex-drug abusers, relatives, staff members of rehabilitation centers and the authorities. It is important because as Freire has said, dialog provides equal relationships with everyone and it helps to look at the problem from different perspectives. When people will share what problem they see and what solutions for that problem they see only then could be find ways to make this reintegration process much easier and successful.
Street children
ReplyDeleteWho are considered street children?
Article 27 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) asserts that “States Parties recognize the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.” Homelessness and living on a street denies each one of those rights, but street children are a worldwide reality.
The broadest definition of a street child is “any girl or boy who has not reached adulthood, for whom the street (in the broadest sense of the word, including unoccupied dwellings, wasteland, etc.) has become her or his habitual abode and/or sources of livelihood, and who is inadequately protected, supervised or directed by responsible adults” (Inter-NGO, 1985).
The UNICEF definition of street children provides additional clarity by creating three classifications: Candidates for the Street, Children on the Street, and Children of the Street.
- Children of the Street are living on the streets without any functional family support. They have no home to return to, move from place to place, living in shelters and abandoned buildings, and often do not have any family protection or supervision.
- Children on the Street – those with a tendency of working on the streets during the day and returning to a home at night. Children spend most days and some nights on the street because of poverty, overcrowding, sexual or physical abuse at home.
Children of the street are negatively viewed by society. These children are often described as delinquents, criminals, drug addicts, and simply the rubbish of society. They are rarely referred to as children. Tomkins, says that “Society at large believes that street children are a group of irredeemable delinquents who represent a moral threat to a civilized society – a threat that must be exorcised.”
In Lithuania the term “Street Child” is not legally defined and there are no statistics that can present the scale and amount of street children in our country. Even though, this term is used very often. Every kid or adolescent who spend most of his time „on a pavement“, skip the school constantly, beg on a street, steel or try to trick others, sell flowers in bars or subways, or bully and curse a lot, and disturb steady life of others is defined as a street child. Most of these kids are from the multi problem families at risk. And quite often these children are treated as if they were evil themselves, people ignore children on a street and try to avoid any contact with these kids or dole out some money or food. Members of our society are not tended to acknowledge the fact of street children existence and everyday reality and their own way of struggling for being.
Children at risk
ReplyDeleteAs with any childhood abuse, the child is not at fault. A large majority of street children come from poor families; however poverty is not the sole factor of becoming a child of the street. The results of a survey of Bolivian street children show that only 7% of children are living on the streets as a direct result of poverty. The children stated that they became street youth due to physical abuse (40%), parental death (18%), abandonment (16%), mental abuse (13%), and lack of financial resources to support them (7%). The children do not live on the street because they are immoral or want a “free” life. Egyptian children cited following causes for being on the street: child abuse (82%), neglect (62%), peer pressure (36%), sensation seeking (16%), other brothers and sisters (8%). Even though the reasons differ in various countries, in most cases children live on the street as a result of amoral conditions in society.
The number of risk families in Lithuania recently is decreasing, but still there are lots of children who live under conditions that cannot be considered as child-friendly. Abuse of children may include sexual exploitation or molestation, threats to kill or abandon, or lack of emotional or physical support necessary for normal development.
According to Department of Statistics of Lithuania the criminal acts against children usually is carried out by parents or stepparents, non legal acts against kids are performed by foster parents or carers, pedagogues and adoptive parents as well. So we can predict that children who are abused by their closest adults sometimes better chose to pass their days (and even nights) on a street rather staying in and spending time with their abusers. At the moment poverty level in Lithuania is highest after 1996, and almost one third of Lithuanians live in poverty. This also may cause that some children are forced to beg or work on the streets, or find another way to get some money for themselves and their families.
Even the children in risk families are abused and do not have safe environment and usually live in „unprivileged neighborhood”, but they also do not have an activity that would be a substitute for strolling the streets. Despite the fact that every year there are more and more day centers for kids in Lithuania and in the last years they provide social services for almost 7000 children from multi problem families, but that is not enough, because there are way more children who need social services, and possibility to spend their leisure time in a safe atmosphere and be treated like a „normal child“.
Street children around the World
ReplyDeleteEstimating numbers of street children is fraught with difficulties. The exact number of street children is impossible to quantify, but the figure almost certainly runs into tens of millions across the world. It is likely that the numbers are increasing (UNICEF, 2005). Street children may be found on every inhabited continent in a large majority of the world's cities. Millions of street children live in India, over one million in Egypt and Pakistan, hundreds of thousands in Kenya, Philippines and Congo, tens of thousands in Morocco, Brazil, Germany, Honduras, etc. And if we would count the ones on the Street and the ones who are just Candidates for the Street the numbers would be unbelievably high.
The children of the Streets as well as ones on or for the Streets are misunderstood and their stories are not known. Contrary to popular opinion, their lives are not typically characterized by crime and amoral activities. As one author writes, “despite the popular assumption that street children are all thieves, scant evidence exists about illegal activities.” Their drug use (street children sniff paint thinner or glue) is rarely the cause of them being on the streets, but a necessary reality of surviving on the street. Drug use is, for them, one of their many coping mechanisms. Another typical coping mechanism is self-inflected cutting. These coping mechanisms are ways of sustaining the police brutality, the rapes, the cold, and forgetting about their past. Many see life on a street as a child’s escape from reality and an attempt to live an easy life. One author generalizes this viewpoint writing, “Those who have this perception [that they live a free and easy life] see the children living only for the moment, as if they are immersed in continual play.“ However tempting it is to consider the freedom of the street something making street life desirable, it is necessary to forget that there is nothing desirable about street life.
What do we usually do?
ReplyDeleteGovernments are often embarrassed by street children and may blame parents or neighboring countries. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) may also be blamed for encouraging children to live in the streets by making street life more bearable or attractive through the services they provide. When governments implement programs to deal with street children these generally involve placing the children in orphanages, juvenile homes or correctional institutes. However, some children are in the streets because they have fled from such institutions and some governments prefer to support or work in partnership with NGO programs. Governments sometimes institute roundups when they remove all the children from city streets and deposit them elsewhere or incarcerate them.
In Lithuania is also usual practice to deal with Children of the Streets by putting them into institutions and foster care houses, NGOs establish children day centers and work with children on the Streets. Also there are some more beautiful examples of some organizations which are working with street children and seeking for a better future for them. For instance, St. John Brothers monastery community in Vilnius took aid to children living in the streets of the capital of Lithuania. Even the beginning was quite difficult, after getting boys confidence (by communicating with children in their environment, playing football together etc.), the monks invited kids into „Sleptuve“ (eng. „Cache“) where volunteers were ready to listen to children and provide some social services around the clock. So the children were able to warm up, wash their things, and most importantly – spend the night safely. Later brothers opened „Pereja“ (eng. „Passage“) for those children who wanted finally leave the street. Boys are living there all the time and with the help of many specialists they are able to catch up with their peers in school. Four homesteads in rural areas were opened as well, where boys live in a family environment, get education in rural schools, do sports, play music etc. Brothers also established the trade school for their kids to get a profession and an opportunity to get a job in a future. St. John monks also work with other children from risk families and the ones who spend their days fighting with their boredom on the streets. And I believe that this example of developing existing services and creating the new ones by establishing new services and social centers according to the need is a real proof of making a difference and creating our World a better place to live. In many countries this practice is quite usual, but as far as I‘m concerned in Lithuania it is pretty rare, because we still do not have wide range of social services network.
What can we do?
ReplyDeleteThe first thing we have to do is to get rid of the judgment for these children and try to understand that if the children have had a possibility to chose, they would probably never wanted to be Street Children. Also society needs to acknowledge the fact that Children of, on or for the Streets are the same children, just they have different experiences and life stories. One more very important thing working and communicating with these children is empathy. Even these things are very simple and necessary for a social worker working with every group, but sometimes these principles are forgot even by professionals.
I think the work requires us to spend time on the streets working with current street children, helping children through transition into an off-street life, and with children and adolescents who have left the streets. Each transition starts with a contact phase. The contact phase is on the streets and starts when first meeting a child and varies significantly in duration. In certain cases one might meet a child who is ready to leave the streets at that point and wants to make that change or this first phase may be a long process of building a trust relationship, talking about life on the street, spending time together as friends, and may or may not result in the child leaving the streets. Next step is the initial transition. In other words, to protect the children from the temptations of the street and help children to adapt a new scheduled lifestyle of school and chores. The third stage is integration when empowered child start to feel that he is a part of the society, not some „trash“. And the final phase is independence when the services are not required any more.
Even these phases are the same for all street children, but it fits more for the ones who have no families and places to come back. And for the children who have their families and come back home during the night, it is also very important to work with teir families as well, to achieve the positive change. And these kids need to be in a safe environment as much as it is possible and to spend time improving various skills. I also think, that it is useful for children to have their own hobby and social worker might be a person who can help a child to find field of interests and help to increase their self – esteem. This can be done by exploring new interesting things like making photos, watching movies, painting, trying to play some musical instruments, visiting various places etc., and doing group or individual social work, consultations according to a need.
And I still stick to a thought, that was mentioned above, that in order to provide qualitative services we need to establish new social services, new centers and to carry out new programs (if there is a need) not just rely and work on existing ones (not necessary corresponding to the needs).
Bullying is a significant, pervasive form of school violence (Batsche, 1997). Olweus (1993), who is considered by many researchers to be the leading expert on peer victimization, offers a general definition of bullying that includes repeated exposure to negative actions by one or more students over time. Olweus (1993) further defined a negative action as a purposeful attempt to injure or inflict discomfort on anothers, either through words, physical contact, gestures, or exclusion from a group. The portion of the definition that includes harassment conducted repeatedly and over time is designed to exclude occasional negative actions that are not perceived as being serious and may be directed toward one student on one occasion and toward another student on a different occasion. However, in certain circumstances, a single instance of serious victimization may be perceived as bullying.
ReplyDeleteBullying refers to repeated, unprovoked, harmful actions by one child or children against another. The acts may be physical or psychological. Physical, or direct, bullying includes hitting, kicking, pushing, grabbing toys from other children, and engaging in very rough and intimidating play. Psychological bullying includes name calling, making faces, teasing, taunting, and making threats (Olweus, 1991). Bullying among children encompasses a variety of negative acts carried out repeatedly over time. It involves a real or perceived imbalance of power, with the more powerful child or group attacking those who are less powerful. Bullying can take three forms:
• physical (hitting, kicking, spitting, pushing, taking personal belongings);
• verbal (taunting, malicious teasing, name calling, making threats);
• psychological (spreading rumors, manipulating social relationships, or engaging in social exclusion, extortion, or intimidation).
Three general forms of bullying have been delineated in the literature (Ross, 1996). Olweus (1993) first distinguished between direct and indirect bullying, later describing direct bullying as "relatively open attacks on a victim" and indirect bullying as a "form of social isolation and intentional exclusion from a group". Indirect bullying eventually was referred to in the literature as relational victimization and describes manipulation of relationships or friendships to inflict emotional pain on another, such as a group of peers retaliating against someone by ignoring her or him (Bjorkqvist, Lagerspetz, Kaukiainen, 1992; Crick, Grotpeter, 1995). Finally, a further distinction was made in the form of a third category, direct verbal aggression, which consists of such behaviors as name-calling, shouting, abusing, and accusing (Bjorkqvist, 1992).
Research has identified bullying as being ongoing, unsolicited, and frequently not physically injurious (Hoover, Oliver, Thomson, 1993; Olweus, 1993). Essentially, bullying is the process of establishing and maintaining social dominance through overt aggression and doing so in ways that victims are unable to deflect because of their lack of skills, their inability to effectively integrate with peers, or their inability to develop subgroups of peers (Arora, Thompson, 1987).
Children who bully are impulsive, dominate others, and show little empathy. They display what Olweus (1991) defines as an "aggressive personality pattern combined with physical strength". Without intervention, the frequency and severity of the bullying behaviors may increase (Batsche, Knoff, 1994; Baumeister, 2001). Even more disturbing, it appears that the patterns of bullying learned in the early years can set children on a course of violence later in life.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, many children are bullied in schools. Children who are chronically victimized by bullies may experience such short-term problems as physical and psychological distress, difficulty in concentrating, and school phobia (Bernstein, Watson, 1997) and such long-term problems as an inability to initiate and maintain successful interpersonal relationships with members of the opposite sex, higher levels of depression, and having a more negative self-concept than do peers who have not been bullied (Olweus, 1993).
Evidence-based practice (i.e., practices that have been empirically endorsed) for addressing childhood bullying emphasizes a comprehensive approach of assessment, prevention, and intervention (Batsche, 1997; Olweus, 1993; Ross, 1996).
„Save Children“ organization data: in Lithuanian 52,4% children underwent bullying and 56,8 % were being taunted in 2010. This huge number show us this complicated phenomena .
The first step in establishing a bullying prevention program is to develop an effective assessment program. Although few studies have examined the assessment practices of school counselors and few, if any, have examined the role of counselors in the assessment of bullying, one study has suggested that although school counselors recognize the usefulness of assessment, they actually use relatively few assessment instruments (Giordano, Schwiebert, 1997). Thus, it follows that counselors may benefit from additional information regarding the assessment of childhood bullying, particularly if their districts are prioritizing bullying prevention and intervention as one means to counter the problem of school violence.
Children learn more powerfully from what they see adults doing than from what we say. When adults do not intervene, bullies may feel there is nothing wrong with their actions. Victims may feel that they deserve the bullying. I think, that this is the main idea. Parents and teachers must understand, that they are influencing children‘s behavoiur. They have to say and to do the same things!
Adults can intervene effectively to reduce bullying. The first step is to identify unacceptable peer actions: hitting, kicking, pushing, choking, punching, threatening, taunting, teasing, starting rumors.
Here are some interventions I would suggest schools to use reducing teachers bullying:
ReplyDelete• Work together as a staff to create a code of conduct for staff;
• Make sure administration know about incidents and patterns of bullying;
• Work out ways all staff can let each other know when they see anyone have a momentary lapse into angry or other harmful behavior towards children. Sometimes these ways will be based on a code phrase or other signal;
• Survey staff and children periodically about school climate. Include questions about whether staff are treating children respectfully.
Social pedagogue (worker) are member of school community. This member are like mediator between a child and other children, children and teachers, teachers and administration. It is complicated to be between different sides and seek changes. But we all have to remember definition of global social work: „The social work profession promotes social change, problem-solving in human relationships, and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance wellbeing“. Therefore, school social worker has to seek changes in school violence – bullying. This person would perform roles of an iniciator, mediator, welfare bearer.
Finally, I think that, successful bullying prevention includes education, preparation, and especially teamwork.
WOMAN IN POVERTY. The women’s fund at the United Nations UNIFEM (2005, p. 8) states: “The modern global economy is now a reality. Yet everywhere in the world, there are people working in conditions that should no longer exist in this 21st century, for income that is barel enough for survival. Home-based workers put in long hours each day, yet are paid for only a fraction of their time. Rural women spend backbreaking hours on family plots, often for no payment at all. Those in urban areas work in unregulated factories, earning pennies for products that are shipped via sub-contractors to markets far away, or they find jobs as waste-pickers, scavenging garbage heaps for items to sell. The working poor are both men and women. However, the further down the chain of quality and security, the more women you find“. Nowadays all our life is in global processes all over the world and sometimes we don’t see what happens around us. Poverty has many dimensions and is difficult to measure. Calculated in dollars and cents, it is inadequacy of income. But measured in terms of the human condition, it is inadequacy of health and nutrition, education, and other components of wellbeing, including leisure time.
ReplyDeleteFor poor people who are working, how they make a living – their sources of income or livelihood – is a major preoccupation. Poverty, however, is multidimensional. Today, there are several broad approaches to understanding and measuring poverty and well-being, including:
• income and basic needs: focusing on the income, expenditures, and basic needs of poor households;
• human development: focusing on health, education, longevity and other human capabilities and on the choices or freedom of poor people;
• human rights: focusing on the civic, political, economic and social rights of the poor; and
• social inclusion: focusing on the access of poor people to what they are entitled to as citizens and on giving them representative ‘voice’ in the institutions and processes that affect their lives and work. (UNIFEM, 2005)
It is said that now in the world there are much more equalities between genders, but some countries still suffer from gender inequality and predominantly negative attitude towards women. Such situation when women are not having equal rights as mans raise many problems. One of these problems - women in poverty. Causes of women's poverty:
• Lack of education;
• Unemplyment;
• Not equal wages for woman and man (ussualy man get much money for the same work);
• In some comunities still exist opinion that woman duty is to manage home and to born baby.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhat social worker could do with this problem in micro, mezzo and macro level?
ReplyDelete• To disseminate the ideas of feminism in order everybody could understand that women have to have equal rights in labor market, and social environment.
• Be able to identify problems and weaknesses of women because it is necessary to understand what work skills women have, in what country and culture they live, and how hard they can work.
• Provide support for women experiencing poverty and advise them on how to solve this problem (discussed in the work, educational opportunities, etc...). Very often lack of information may raise the problem. In order to avoid this social worker could make some community meetings and share important information. Also this could be done with assistants of labor market because usually they don’t have enough information about women capabilities as well.
• Encourage the establishment of non-governmental organizations that defend women's rights. It is very important to establish such organizations or to find organizations which pretend women rights in other countries and to start collaborate with them.
• Promote cooperation between governmental and non-governmental organizations, and provide assistance if there are any problems. Social worker could be like advocate in this situation and to assist one or another side. It is necessary to develop such relations because when all focus on the problem it is much more ways to make situation solving.
• Participate in the development of legislation. To my mind this point is one of the most important because when legislation will be done according to problem of women in poverty only then these women could have equal rights. Well, here social worker also could be like an advocate and to participate in the process as an assistant of women. To ensure that appropriate policies, institutions and services are put in place, the informal workforce needs to be visible to policy makers and government planners. Similarly, economic policies that ignore the fact that most unpaid care work is done by women cannot be assumed to be neutral towards women’s labour in particular.
• To be included in studies on the causes of poverty, its consequences and the most effective ways of coping.
• Participate in exchanges with foreign counterparts, internships in other countries to develop international conferences. This last point is important in macro level because provides wide relationships between countries and makes opportunities to share different examples how they are working on this problem in their countries. The best way to find ways of solution is to watch examples of others.
Xenophobia
ReplyDeleteWe live in a dawn of the twenty-first century. We can state that this period is characterized by rapid and evolving movement Technical progress and development, have created favorable conditions for people to move freely from one place to another This large variety generates new challenges in creation of peaceful states essential to ensure equal rights, opportunities and dignified life for everyone.
The following are a few facts and figures about immigration.
Worldwide, there is an estimated 191 million immigrants;
The last 50 years has seen an almost doubling of immigration;
• 115 million immigrants live in developed countries;
• 20% (approximately 38 million) live in the US alone, making up 13% of its population;
• 33% of all immigrants live in Europe;
• 75% live in just 28 countries;
• Between 1990 and 2005
o There were 36 million migrations (an average of approximately 2.4 million per year);
o 33 million wound up in industrialized countries;
o 75% of the increases occurred in just 17 countries;
These figures confirm of growing number of people arriving from other countries. At this point I would like to stop and take a closer look to one of the phenomenon, which is called xenophobia. In my opinion, it is an important and delicate issue, which is likely to be relevant to every part of the world.
ReplyDeleteDefinitions
ReplyDeleteXenophobia is a form of attitudinal, affective, and behavioral prejudice toward immigrants and those perceived as foreign. Wikipedia definition of xenophobia as the "hatred or fear of foreigners or strangers or of their politics or culture".[1] It comes from the Greek words ξένος (xenos), meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος (phobos), meaning "fear."
However, more recent definitions of xenophobia suggest that the fear of foreigners and their impact is linked with ethnocentrism, which is characterized by the attitude that one’s own group or culture is superior to others (Merriam-Webster Online, n.d.). V. Reynolds and Vine (1987) stated that xenophobia is a “psychological state of hostility or fear towards outsiders” (p. 28). Crowther (1995) emphasized that xenophobia focuses on individuals who come from “other countries” and toward whom native individuals have “an intense dislike or fear” ( Oksana Yakushko 2009).
Racism and xenophobia are distinct phenomena, although they often overlap. While racism generally implies distinction based on difference in physical characteristics, such as skin coloration, hair type, facial features, etc, xenophobia denotes behaviour specifically based on the perception that the other is foreign to or originates from outside the community or nation. The definition of xenophobia, and its differentiation from racism and racial discrimination, are still evolving concepts. One of the regional Preparatory Meetings for this World Conference suggested that:
• Racism is an ideological construct that assigns a certain race and/ or ethnic group to a position of power over others on the basis of physical and cultural attributes, as well as economic wealth, involving hierarchical relations where the “superior” race exercises domination and control over others;
• Xenophobia describes attitudes, prejudices and behavior that reject, exclude and often vilify persons, based on the perception that they are outsiders or foreigners to the community, society or national identity. ( WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED INTOLERANCE (WCAR)
Causes of xenophobia
ReplyDeleteIn this part of the text I would like to introduce several theoretical perspectives, which explains the reasons of ethnic hatred. These theoretical perspectives emerge in the U.S. in the end of nineteenth century and in the beginning of the twentieth century, at that time movements of independence and heterogeneous society was being created.
Economic theory perspective
In this perspective it is being stated that the conflict over labor relations. One of the things is that employers use a less paid ethnic group work to cut other (better paid) group wage.
These reasons stimulate inter-ethnic antagonism and competition. Rakauskiene MF (2009) in her work writes that the key factors in economic competition between groups and ethnic intolerance can be: irreconcilable or coincidel material interests, objectives, economic and human resources reclamation, housing demand, solidarity of minority communities, status and power projection.
Cultural theoretical perspective
This perspective is based on cultural determinism and emphasis on cultural differences (customs, lifestyles, manners). For each ethnic group culture and its survival is very important. If the fundamental elements of culture are different, in terms of competition and inequality we have a confrontation between ethnic groups. In this perspective preconception and usage of human patterns is emphasized. Thus we can conclude that the emphasis of differences and setting it as inadequacy may lead to intolerance.
Relevance to social work
ReplyDeleteThe Definition of social work from the International Federation of Social Workers: the social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenses at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work. Xenophobia is a phenomenon that poses / create discrimination, marginalization, and thus violates human rights and social justice. Social workers can help to restore the justice and fight oppression. I think this problem is strongly related with justice and its rehabilitation, and this is a social worker's mission.
The social worker's roles and opportunities
ReplyDeleteSocial workers might be that people who can contribute to the problem – xenophobia. Of course, this problem may include on a large scale, but also can be little inclusive. In reflections on what social work might contribute, I would like to start with the fact that the important thing to understand what is my relationship with foreigners, what is my expertise. It is important to know and understand its attitude. At this point, first action of a social worker should be work with himself, because social worker will be a "tool", which in any case will have to communicate with two different sides – foreigners and the ones who feel negative emotions to the foreigners. Another thing is the knowledge about two hostile groups. While working with foreigners it would be absorption into the culture, customs, values and lifestyles. And at this point is very important to maintain respect for otherness and the refusal to desire to change these people. An introduction to the other side is also very important. One way would be analysis of the phenomenon of xenophobia and its origin. Familiarization with the phenomenon more closely helps to see the manifold and it opens up wider possibilities for action.
This text I would like to build on cultural theoretical perspective, which states that xenophobia starts because of the cultural differences and the fact that people use preconception and stereotypes. All of this arises from lack of knowledge and communication with foreigners. The social worker can help the two sides to meet and socialize. It would be a transformative dialogue. Social workers could look back at positive experience in other countries while organizing meetings. In this case I have in mind the reconcilation workshops between the Palestinian and Israeli youth. These workshops were held for protracted conflicts, distorted knowledge of each others, anger, and hostility. Youth from two different sides was selected to these workshops and meetings were organized. They were based on their experience and knowledge of other cognitive experiences. In this way emotional experience was neutralized and relationship was reconstructed. An interesting fact that these workshops were led by two staff members from different sides: Palestinian and Israeli. And both of them were equal partners. And so they constructed a different experience that cooperation between former adversaries is possible. Working with the problem of xenophobia I think it would be useful to look at tries of two countries, their attempts to find peace. Although problems are not equivalent, but there is some conjunctions.
One of the directions of the social workers should be based on public information, education about foreigners living nearby. And this work could begin from the very smallest. Various events and projects could be held in kindergartens and schools. Where children could meet and cooperate with people with different nationalities and feel equal. In this way natural cognition and the knowledge of otherness is not disturbed. To summarize, the social workers could be intermediaries between the two sides, organizers and educators. It becomes important letting two opposing sides to meet each other, seeing reality from opposite side and not following dissonant fact about world.
International adoption
ReplyDeleteThis international course was very important experience for me because it helped to develop my knowledge about international social work practice. Now I can understand global problems which international social workers are interested in and also evaluate their importance. Some of the problems I have never given a thought before, for example, the lack of clear water, peace keeping and others, it seemed hardly understandable what social worker could do in these situations. But is occurs one may act, just the broader point of view is needed, as well as ideas, knowledge and willing to act. I say knowledge hence it is wider than just knowledge in social work but also international, cultural and historical perspectives of the problem. It enables social worker to understand the process and change of the problems. Global social workers have to play many roles. During the work in cross-cultural context they should vary between many delicate themes and the cultural differences. Sometimes it is hard to find the way to the client‘s world even if he or she lives in the same nation, speaks the same language and has the same customs. I found it pleasant to share my country‘s experience and discussing or sharing social work experience between the students of different continents.
In this final paper I would like to talk about social worker‘s role during adoption process. I chose the adoption topic because adoption is not popular in Lithuania and the number of people who want to adopt a child is not big. Actually it is quite small. So it means that if social workers want to change the situation it is not enough to be a consultant, practitioner with individuals or families or to be an advocate. It is important to work on mezzo and macro levels, social policy planning, community development, strategy creation, international research and collaboration.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that child‘s universal and harmonic development is possible just then child grows up in a family, feeling happiness, love and understanding. Children learn to live while observing family, friends and environment. Social learning starts at the very first days of child‘s life. They are learning everything: how to behave at home, communicate with others, avoid problems and conflicts and etc. Unfortunately not all children are able to live in a family. This may be determined by different reasons. Children might be deprived of care because of misbehaviour and drug abuse of their parents. Other reason might be natural disasters or wars when children lose their parents because of factors one cannot control. A part of children who lost their parents or whose parents were deprived of parents rights find themselves at foster care home. In my opinion life in foster care home withdraws child’s possibility to observe family model, which is very important in later life. Child has no natural opportunities to learn family model. Child does not perceive relationship model between man and woman and does not have a parenting model. Thus it is highly important that the bigger part of children would grow up in families, not foster care homes.
Lithuanian Children rights departments give these numbers: last year there were 11608 children without parents care in Lithuania. 6931 child was cared for families, 286 – to households and 4391 – was in institutional care. Lithuanian families adopted 108 children in 2010 (110 children were adopted in 2009, 101 child was adopted in 2008). 53 girls and 55 boys found new home in 2010 (National department of Children rights defence and adoption, 2010). Quite considerable numbers of children were adopted by foreigners (see Table 1). Following statistical data one can tell that foreigners are interested in adopting Lithuanian children and do adopt them.
Accordingly there are two types of adoption – national adoption and international adoption. Question of International adoption lately caused discussions as international adoption is more complicated than national adoption because of racial, ethnical and cultural differences. International adoption means that not only two different families meet, but also different cultures, customs and etc. After World War I international adoption was seen as help to childless families from rich countries to adopt children. Thus began the first wave of international adoptions (Askeland, 2005).
ReplyDeleteSome countries made better conditions for adoption because of political and economical crises. Countries felt need to find homes for their children abroad not just of poverty and crisis, but also of cultural attitude. It is important to know, that Muslim countries subscribe to a religious faith that makes adoption, in which a child is assigned new legal parents, unacceptable, and so these countries don’t permit international adoption. Asian countries tend to value blood-related parenthood, and so South Korea was eager to place its children abroad even when it was relatively well off economically, because the government knew that there was little opportunity for the children in its orphanages to find adoptive homes within the country (Askeland, 2005).
There in Australia, Paraguay, Japan and Eskimo living places adoption in early ages was partially based on parenting motives. For Teutons (Germanic people) and Romans adoption was possibility an option to take extramarital children into their father’s family. Christianity repudiated extramarital children. They were not adopted, but given away to orphanage. The only exception was Breisgau city (Freiburg) where in 1520 babies were adopted because of mercy and love. Only in 1900 German laws stated not only care of elderly people, legacy and inheritance matters, but also matters of finding family for children without parents. Presently adoption, as well as care in a family or children foster care home, is one way to help children. It has to ensure right to grow up in a family and be a legal member of it for those children who cannot live with their parents (Wiemann, 2006).
17th January, in 2011 European parliament suggested making international adoption easier. Children, who are left without parents care is becoming a tender problem and it is needed to take new decisions. Therefore it is important to make international adoption easier and ensure children rights and interests (stated 19th January, 2011, resolution of European parliament). Parliament encourages investigating possibility to coordinate strategy of international adoption in Europe considering children’s rights for safety and family. EU institutions are urged to participate more active in Hague conference “seeking to improve, simplify and facilitate procedure of international adoption and eliminate useless bureaucracy and also bond to defend children from third party countries”. It is encouraged to create system that guarantees transparency and helps to coordinate fight against children trafficking. Nevertheless, Euro MPs think that “if there is possibility and also considering child’s interests, priority should be given to national adoption” and if it is decided to take child away from his/her birthplace state has to consider psychological, emotional, social and educational consequences and give help adoptive child and foster parents need. (http://www.mususeima.lt/lt/naujienos/europos_parlamentas_siulo_palengvinti_tarpta_ivaikinim_).
This Euro MPs suggestion causes ambiguous thoughts. It is not possible to simplify procedure of adoption to minimum level if child rights and interests are meant to be guarded. On the other hand can we truly say that complicated adoption system helps to advocate child’s rights and interest and encourages family to seek its purpose?
The procedure of adoption is a complex process in national and as well international level, because family willing to adopt has to fill in lots of documents and prove that it is suitable to adopt a child. And just think of finding the right child for the family. In my opinion, these procedures require a help of professionals. Social worker is a member of professional team working in adoption process. Most often social worker takes part in educating foster parents and evaluation of suitable and not suitable families for adoption. Concerning adoption in international level social worker should be able to introduce foster parents with child’s original country, customs and traditions, because it is important to safe child’s identity with his/her motherland especially if adoptive child is elder. I think different countries’ social workers cooperation introducing foster parents from foreign countries with child’s motherland’s culture and folk would be useful. To improve cooperation and communications between different counties social workers’ meetings should be organised.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to remember European Parliament’s suggestion to create common adoption system. Social workers could help to create system by sharing their thoughts about adoption, impedimental and conducive factors and giving their insights. Social worker would be a researcher, looking for answers to various adoption situations like what do foster parents family want, what is important to adoptive children and what help is needed.
Child coming into family is time of great changes not only for child but also to all family. Then a new member of family appears new worries come, also the inner filmily life changes, members have to adapt to occurring psychological problems. Family members have to communicate with other persons like social workers, parents of child and friends more often. Incoming of child necessarily requests change of common family roles. Family “old-timers” and a “new-comer” have to adapt to each other, adjusting their characters, habits, day rhythm and order. (D.Matulevičiūtė, R.Kukauskas, V.Montrimienė, 2005). In these situations social worker could help to overcome difficulties and give needed support. It is also very important to prepare family and also the child for adoption. Speaking of international adoption, I think that social worker should give child information about new family and country child is going to. Here we can see social worker in a caseworker role. This role of social worker can be discussed when social workers from different countries can counsel each other and to share experiences how to work in the situations where the client is. It can be done using technologies, which helps to make social work more global. International dialogue is essential for the growth and development of social work theory and methods and to foster collaborative work on the same of social problems (Healey, 2001).
I think it is important to work not only with family willing to adopt and a child, but also with all society, changing its point of view to adoption. Most of Lithuanian citizens are sceptical about adoption. It is common opinion that only reasons for adopting a child are either money, either family having problems to have their own child. In my opinion, people self-consciousness should be educated and their understanding of adoption should be broadened. Most citizens are not familiar with adoption, they do not know how system functions and that family is not being paid for adopting a child. Adoptions and child‘s care in a family are only forms which give child, who has been left without adult care, possibility to grow up in family environment, love and mutual understanding atmosphere. That is why attentions should be given to make these two forms more popular and better.
To improve some of social welfare spheres is it highly important to share good experiences and examples. Governmental, municipal and nongovernmental organizations should open up to each other to gather and create social capital together. Global social worker must actively participate in foster and adoption dialogue with colleagues from other countries, because the exchange of international experience is very important for global social worker too. International dialogue is essential for the growth and development child welfare programs and services.
ReplyDeleteChild interests are most important to protect in adoption procedure. Specialists defending children rights are guarding this sphere, but social worker must advocate to both – the child and the family. To ensure clear adoption procedure interinstitutional cooperation between both sides is highly important. Also it is very important to keep connection with foster parents after adoption. In this situations social worker‘s advocacy for families’ and child‘s interests is very useful. This should make illegal adoption or adoption against child’s interests not possible. One more important step is to ensure continuous communication with the foreign country the child was adopted. Some countries cannot give this obligation. If elder child is adopted it is important to ensure child’s communication with relatives in birthplace cause there are few orphans who have no relatives.
To some up, social worker’s practice in adoption sphere may run in all three – micro, macro and mezzo – levels, as well as social worker may have several roles – a tutor, researcher, advocate, policy maker and caseworker. For international adoption cases communication and experience sharing between social workers is important (this can be implemented using information technologies or organising conferences – face-to-face contact). In my opinion, this would ensure child and family interests implementation also would help to develop international social work.
There were no disabled people in the former Soviet Lithuania the problem was ignored, the disabled being isolated, having to live at first, in the boarding schools, later in the foster homes. According to the Social Affairs Ministry statistics, there were 266645 disabled people in Lithuania in 2010, getting the disability pensions or pays; among them - 153799 persons with average disability, 33973 - hard disability and 15335 disabled children (www.soc.min.lt, 2011). The above figures coincide with the UNO data – about 10 per cent of the world people being the disabled.
ReplyDeleteDisability is often presented in this society as a problem and not as a possibility. The disabled are separated from the social living standards. The disabled child is often treated by his / her parents as a personal tragedy, and the family‘s future life is looked upon as senseless, pointless and useless.
The rights of the disabled are officially and publicly declared, but the gap between state issued legal acts and the real society attitude still exists in this country. Since 2005 the Social integretion law for the disabled with the changed attitude towards the disabled and with the new possibilities for them has come into force. The social integration system for the disabled comprises provision of medical, professional and social rehabilitation services, provision for special needs using special assistance tools, support to employment of the disabled, social assistance, award and payment of pensions and benefits of the State Social Insurance Fund, award and payment of benefits of the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund, provision of education services, ensuring equal opportunities to participate in cultural, sports and other areas of public life. The social integration system for the disabled is funded from the national budget, municipal budgets, State Social Insurance Fund, Compulsory Health Insurance Fund, Employment Fund, Structural Funds of the European Union and other legitimate financial resources. Professional rehabilitation has been and still is the weakest point in the social integration system for the disabled. Participation of the disabled Lithuanian citizens in the social life is guaranteed by the social services net which include general social services (information, consultation and intermediation) and special social services (day social assistance, long-term (short-term) social assistance). Special social services are provided mostly by the governmental offices; general and sociocultural services- both by the governmental and non-governmental organizations. Social services system is regulated by the following documents: Social services law (2006), Social services catalogue (2006), Provision of the disabled with the technical equipment and associated expenses compensation order (2006), Requirements for the physical environment for the disabled (2001). The disabled rights convention was ratified and came into force in 2010.
Social services net for the disabled is fastly growing- more and more services are tried to be provided not far from their living places, but it is not sufficient. There still exist many foster homes for the mentally disabled (26 homes, 5,3 thousand places).This service is greatly needed, because day social assistance service is not satisfactory. There are no foster homes for mentally disabled in Kaunas, but there is a day centre for mentally and complex disabled people with a branch-a day centre for mentally disabled. There is also a self-supporting living place for physically disabled people and homes for babies with growth dysfunction (5 in Lithuania). There is growth in a new type of social services- self-supporting living homes where the disabled can do without anybody‘s help. There were 13 such houses (for 253 persons) by the end of 2009. Today, the Social Affairs Ministry is trying to improve social services accessibility and quality and is implementing modern infrastructure in stationary social services places with the goal of constructing a new type of group living homes (10-20 persons) and innovatory social services, connected with the disabled boarding (www.socmin.lt, 2011).
ReplyDeleteCommunities and non-governmental organizations can influence the governmental acts for the disabled, concerning state resources for the disabled needs: living environment, education and social services, but in reality it does not work very well. After the reestablishment of Lithuania independence there were many non-governmental organizations of the disabled founded - there are 50 of them in Kaunas. Today the activity of these organizations is rather weak. People with a low disability level have very few possibilities to find jobs, that is why a day foster services or living in a self-supporting home give them the possibility and valuable participation in the society life. The lack of a day social services influence the disabled activities and possibility for their family members to live a full-rounded life (most often it is impossible to leave the disabled person at home alone). Insecurity, stress, self- unbelief and inability to solve their own problems often influence social elimination of the disabled.
Family, bringing up a disabled child, undergoes a stress both for his/her disability and poor possibilities for him/her to have a fully satisfying life. The stress influences the whole family life- the child‘s disability rise new challenges and interrupts its ordinary functioning inside and outside. The child‘s destiny depends primarily on the parent‘s outlook to the disease and their ability to take the suffering. Having a disabled child in a family is treated as a slowly going stress. In the run of years, the family is hardened both physically and psychologically. The stress may even change family status: values, borders, social roles and their links.
If such a family does not reconstruct their interrelations and get greatly needed help, it may go to pieces. Divorce is an often phenomenon here in Lithuania. Family reactions and possibility to overcome the stressful situation depend on the weight the family and the surroundings attribute to the disabled child. In this situation, a great role is played by an extended family, which is extincting nowadays. Traditionally it used to be the main social unity and people were helped by these family relations in their difficulties and daily decisions.
A lot of researches in the field of mental health meet with the „victim blaming“ ideology, where people with the hard mental illness are blamed for their former inability to communicate, lack of daily skills, motivations, any skills etc. (Ch. A. Rapp, W. Shera, V. Kisthardt, 1993).
ReplyDeleteMost often families with the disabled child, instead of seeking for individualization, maturity and independence, foresee hopelessness, dependence and growing social isolation. However, such an „unfortunate“ may bring the family members close together and show their strong sides. Restrictions and difficulties adjusting to the different reality is one moment only, and another is to find a new life quality for the disabled (family) accepting disability. Very few families and society members in Lithuania see in such a person and his/her family value and dignity first, and disability afterwards. Disability is not a possibilities restricting factor, however, it can give the new possibilities. A family has the competence to overcome difficulties. The strength perspective is based on the idea of helping the family to recognize these competences; in order the family itself would be strong enough to change its life. At the same time, strength perspective approach does not negate human weaknesses or problems and rejects the position that the problems are shortage, pathology or abnormality. A strength theory is problem solving and self recognition, self-reliance and hope keeping. Strength shows that encountering permanent or temporary stresses, crisis, traumas and violence, difficulties can be overcome. Through these challenges a man purchases personal qualities and skills that may be used for positive life creation. Overcoming difficulties threatening a person‘s health, integrity or existence, the individual finds strength in himself, his self-evaluation is strengthened and this leads to the further changes. Nobody can understand other person‘s growth and changes limits. A person‘s behavior evaluation, his judgment restricts the individual or family‘s possibilities and destroy their hopes. These factors influence the disabled person‘s (family‘s) isolation and loneliness, stopping their skills finding and prospering.
True democracy seeks for justice in politics, economics and social structure. The development level of a country is stated by the 45 criteria: unemployment, salary amount, homeless people number etc. That is why the social development is valued for the two points: equality and participation in the global action. Midgley (1999) presents three social development intervention ways:
1. Human capital development - investments into human education, health and nutrition.
2. Social capital development - self-help groups, communities mobilization for human needs satisfaction, not for economical development.
3. Employment promotion or other productive projects (Healy, 2005).
Earlier care was taken of elementary clients needs - clothing, suitable food. High attention was paid to the social support, but it did not help to raise integrity. Ability is neither daily living needs nor better living conditions. Ability is when clients can be self-dependent, self-relying, autonomous. And only then their life quality advances. Intervention must agree with the clients‘ agenda, must reflect the help in need. Its suitability, usefulness are very important and would give way to the further interventions (Ch. A. Rapp, W. Shera, V. Kisthardt, 1993).
ReplyDeleteSocial workers should assist the disabled children families to live a whole life and support them with the most necessitous social services:
1. Individual parent consultation. The social worker, bearing in mind a family‘s strength, seeks to strengthen motivation to meet its needs. Strengths influence a person‘s (family‘s) self-proud, future hopes, ability to understand needs and perspectives of the others; ability to recognize and make one‘s own or family‘s goal choices. The main question evaluating strengths is- what kind of life a client wants? The clients’ hopes are important.
2. Self-help groups for parents’ organization. Cooperation in recognition strengths and goals. A family itself knows its strengths and abilities best. A social worker can help only to start a dialogue in the group. It is important to pay attention to a family‘s efforts to try to do something, and a social worker‘s aim is to help to continue and strengthen these efforts.
3. Cooperative activities in the community organization, involving a disabled child family. Encourage the families’ involvement and participation in the community life, accepting the strengths they have. Involvement is connected with the feeling of belonging that influences a very important caring component.
4. High hopes modeling. A social worker creates an optimistic, hopeful, possible atmosphere. That is why, it is important to recognize a family‘s strengths and model its high hopes.
The importance of reflection. Reflection is disclosing a client‘s strengths and goals formation (T. J. Early, L. F. GlenMaye, 2000). It is important to underline that all the social services should be organized in the same community, answering rising needs.
International social work is a comprehension that any social work is like a strength, helping to solve social problems Solidarity, tolerance, practice and openness help to realize the social work in the international context.