Projects / Programmes
Social work as the leading discipline for the promotion of social inclusion and social justice in Slovenia – theoretical and methodological foundations
January 1, 2004
- December 31, 2008
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.07.00 |
Social sciences |
Criminology and social work |
|
| 5.09.00 |
Social sciences |
Psychology |
|
| 5.03.00 |
Social sciences |
Sociology |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S215 |
Social sciences |
Social problems and welfare, national insurance |
| S216 |
Social sciences |
Care and help to handicapped |
social justice, social inclusion, mental health in community, independent living, disability studies, interdisciplinarity, anthropology of health, gender studies, social work with families, antiracist social work, critical social work, user perspective, welfare state
Researchers (7)
Organisations (1)
Significance for science
The research program deals with some new questions connected with the problems of the triple social work mandate in solving ethical dilemmas in the process of carrying out social services. The meaning for scientific elaboration of the mentioned field is essential, because it is about the first systematic, conceptual and empirical research work in Slovenia of the kind. The problem of the triple mandate in social work involves three principal dimensions: professional, political and ethical. The triple mandate means that the the discussed field is simultaneously influenced by three sources of authorization or of power practising which is regulated through different institutional mechanisms, and through which it is carried out according to different principles and arguments (ethics). In this sense, it deals with a mandate, which ison the one hand imposed to social workers by the state (through social policy nad regulation of social welfare services), but at the same time it is also about an expert mandate which is regulated by professional principles, valid for this profession, and thirdly, an important mandate for carrying out services is also given to professional performers by service users, because without their consent and cooperation, services in social work would remain without its essential source of legitimacy and they are in such a case as a rule inefficient. The research also draws attention to historical development of socio-regulative mechanisms connected with the first mandate(social policy and system), which can be of crucial significance also for further development. At this point, it is about the characteristics, common for the system of old Yugoslavia as well of socialist Yugoslavia, and for the democratic system we have had in Slovenia for the last twenty years: the essential characterisic for all the three systems is the same »blind spot«, which can be condensely designated as non-autonomy of social policy. The characteristic pertaining to the second mandate are mainly connected to the dynamics of the development of professional intervention methods and skills as well to the »evolution« of the professional role of welfare institutions, mainly centers of social work. In Slovenia, the development of professional methods and skills was satisfactory, which means that it was very good in the Yugoslav context, but it was barely satisfactory in comparison to Europe. In shortage of adequately trained staff and relative closure of the socialist space against west influences (in which the transmission of professional information was difficult), the main obstacle was political domination. The difficulties in this connection have not essentialy changed since 1991. The main difficulties arising from the third mandate are connected with the problems of self-organization of users groups, institutions (movements)and with a chronic negligence of non-governmental sector because of the inactivity of the state, which carries out its own demonopolisarion by withdrawig from social welfare problems (instead of redifining its own activities). The two most frequent and typical ways of ignoring users, which are constant, most outstanding and at the same time such, that could be very easily solved are: neglecting users groups as important sources of social capital or even putting an indirect pressure on them on local and also at times on state level (e.g. YHD); another characteristic is the state(even more than local) disregard of non-governmental organizations, from which for example, follows that the share of employed professionals in non-governmental sector in European Union is the last but one. In contrast to the above mentioned, it is much more difficult to solve problems with a direct users' influence within the process of performing social services, where underdevelopped control and complaint mechanisms and, on the other hand, fragmentation of users groups and powerlessness of individual are significant features.
Significance for the country
The research team is the only one in the field of social work in Slovenia and therefore important for this social science discipline. Direct importance: Research will extend the knowledge necessary for analytical understanding of ethical dilemmas in social work and will contribute to better identification of key concepts in social work. It will be significant for the social development of Slovenia, with the emphasis on its orientation toward core social and democratic values, such as universal equality of all people, social justice and inclusion, the ethic of care and the rights to well-being and good life. It will induce a partnership in Slovenia between professionals and users who enter helping processes as experts of experience. Relevance for society lies in the sense of a higher lever of society’s reflectivity of social processes, and understanding group and community processes. It increases people’s capability for strengthening social networks and social capital. Indirect importance: The members of this programme group have already been promoting the science of social work abroad and will continue to do so. By membership in various international organizations that welcomed them due to their contribution to the science of social work, they are part of the international community of scientists in social work and they intertwine Slovenian social work with international trends. With their research activities, the members of this programme group introduce new, international knowledge in Slovenia; they access international knowledge and transfer it to interest groups at the national level. Research done at the national level qualifies them as competitive in international project applications. The group is diverse in age, where established researchers attend to the development of younger researchers: two members of the group have successfully supervised two junior researchers who have completed their postgraduate studies successfully and are now both employed at the faculty where this programme is carried out. One member of the group is presently a supervisor to a junior researcher, and another member will start his supervision later this year. Accumulated knowledge is transferred to the young and new staff with training through doctoral studies.
Most important scientific results
Final report,
complete report on dLib.si
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Final report,
complete report on dLib.si
