Alcohol and young people in Slovakia: need for school social work

People who read my Facebook pages may have been wondering about the subject of the PhD that Natalia Holvova has been awarded, since on Facebook I concentrated on the feeling of relief and celebration that always follows the successful completion of years of work. As is often the case with PhD exams in mainland Europe, Natalia had not only to produce a thesis, but the examination was by a sizeable committee meeting in public (although unlike some I've been involved in there was no massive audience) and involved giving a lecture about the project (see the picture of Natalia in action).

Natalia's research was on alcoholism among young people, and the research project involved interviewing your people in their school setting about their experience of alcohol, providing them with some groupwork about the problems of using alcohol inappropriately, retesting them about any changed attitudes and also interviewing their teachers. One of the striking outcomes for me was how disfranchised the teachers felt in dealing with social problems faced by their students and in trying to engage parents. This made a strong case for having school social workers.

Link to my Facebook page.

School social work is quite an interest in Slovakia at the moment, probably for this reason, although provision is very patchy, not to say absent. The Journal Czech and Slovak Social Work has an English edition annually, and the 2013 edition had an article by Tatiana Matulayova and Ilona Pesatova on Social Workers in Schools, which you can access on the internet:

Link to article on social workers in Schools in Czech and Slovak Republics (click on 'download a sample' and scroll through the articles).

There was a whole edition on school social work earlier in 2013, but most of it was in Czech, and you have to buy it.

Why do societies not value social work? Analysis from the Czech Republic

A new book arrives from the Czech Republic, and usefully provides information about social work education in both the Czech and Slovak Republics.

But the major contribution is an extended paper about postmodernity and social work by the respected Czech academic, Libor Musil. This addresses the concern shared by scoial workers across the world that their profession is not held in the high level of respect that they might wish. Why is this? He argues that the traditional view in which professions attain respect for their valued contribution to society needs to be replaced by our understanding that the legitimacy of our role (and indeed that of all professions) needs to be constantly renegotiated in response to changing social conditions.

The whole publication is in English.

Citation:  MATULAYOVÁ, Tatiana a Libor MUSIL. Social Work, Education and Postmodernity. Theory and Studies in Selected Czech, Slovak and Polish Issues. first. Liberec: Technical University of Liberec, 2013. 145 s. 55-100-13. ISBN 978-80-7494-032-3.

Link to publisher

Studies of adult and child social care in Czech and Slovak republics: English edition of their journal

A newly published edition of the journal Czech and Slovak Social Work fully in English demonstrates what an interesting range of research is going in on countries that one hears little about, because they don't write in English. this one includes studies of domiciliary social care, how palliative care staff  cope with the fact that their patients die, an account of Czech and Slovak social care in the 1970s and '80s (just before the transition of Western-style democratic government) and Czech childcare policy.

The link: Czech and Slovak Social Work: English edition

Czech/Slovak social work journal

Here's a lot of titles from a journal. Look familiar; sort of thing social workers across the world are interested in? this lot come from the most recent volume of the Czech and Slovak Journal of Social Work, which I get as an international member of their editorial board. Parts of thejournal are magazine-like, with info about new legislation and news about personalities and projects. And, of course, if you don't read Czech and Slovak, you can't read the full content of the articles - neither can I. But there are English abstracts, and some articles in English on its website, which you can use to educate yourself about social work practice and thinking in those countries. What a pity language difference means that we can't read what all our colleagues are writing about their practice.

Knowledge creation in social work

Using sociological research methods in social work

Survey of approaches to social work education, especially in practice education

Self-help and support groups in the Czech Republic

Organisational identity and culture in staff working in a Czech charity

Theory and practice in working with families at risk

Case management using a postmodern collaborative approach

Complex needs assessment in problem- and solution-focused practice

Risk assessment with children in need

Citizen participation in working with families caring for disabled children

Social work with children experiencing domestic violence

Psychosocial effects of unemployment on families

Stereotypes of maternal and paternal roles in child protection practice

Rights of children with intellectual disabilities in the Czech Republic

Alternative approaches to data analysis in small samples in social work practice

Applying ethical theory in practice

Mediation in family conflicts

The key worker role in care homes for older people

Individual planning in domiciliary care services for older people

Experiences of staff as individual planning is introduced in residential care for older people

Teaching ethics in social work

Widows and widowers’ views of support from their environment

The approach to death of helping professionals in a hospice and their ways of managing stress

Volunteering and do-gooding

Volunteering to promote social inclusion

Volunteering in Slovakia – new trends

Psychological aspects of volunteering in social work

Youth volunteering as a framework to make social connections

Volunteering in hospices

 The journal English website here:  http://www.socialniprace.cz/english.php