Social work profession creating for captured social development in

Lithuania

Dovilė Veličkaitė Dr. Dalija Snieškienė

Vytautas Magnus University

Social Work Social Development 2012: Action and Impact conference to be held in Stockholm 8-12 July, 2012.

Political context for the SW start in Lithuania Restoration of independence of Lithuania on11of March 1990;

Destruction of the soviet social - economical and totalitarian system;

Beginnig of the transition from socialism to capitalism;

Reestablishment of former religion organizations – “Caritas” and Vytautas Magnus University;

Lithuanian emmigrants who worked in foreign countries, the professionals of social work were comming back;

Upspring of the big hopes, trusts and ideas;

Economical brake down – huge unemployment and raising of the old and new social problems;

1992 opening the first social work study master program near Vytautas Magnus University

Goal of the presentation

to reveal how the creators of social work profession and the first graduates see the evolution of the social work profession and how this reveal they associate with the rebirth of citizenship elevation of a particular time and place of perspective.

This research was supported by Science Council of Lituania, 2011 “Students research practice”

Research methodology Constructyvistic ontology;

Interpretatyvistic –subjektyvistic epistemology;

Qualitative content analysis research method;

Semi - structured interviews with questions: under what grounds and how did these people become the creators,

teachers and students of the program? How did their identity as professionals form in that context, and how

were the social work services developed? To what extend were the civic, professional and identity aspirations,

intertwined in those activities, a part of the process? How do these developers and initiators of the studies, profession and

services see the social work profession today?

Participants of the research

3 members of the first Board of the Social work study program near Vytautas Magnus University; (1 w+2m)

2 directors of the established program (1w+1m) 2 professors from the USA and 1from UK; (3m) 12 interviews with the 1st graduates of Social

work master program in 1995. (2 m+10 w)

Preliminarry results: 1Under what grounds and how did these people

become the creators, teachers and students of the program?

First theme - “Meeting”: meeting the goals of Catholic teaching – the first initiatives

came from “Caritas “ leader Albina Pajerskaite and two other members of the Board.

meeting people who arrive to the Lithuania, and Lithuanian who came to the USA and met people with the same ideas and helped to meet people with fundations;

meeting the answers to the ideas or questions, when they were invited by whom, they “met” to come to the first lectures about social work;

meeting the needs of their life: child care, personal, professional development,

meeting somebody (future teacher) at the International conference about social development;

Preliminarry results: 1question theme – “invited” – or the practicing of the social

capital and networks. internationally active professors of social work:

Robert Constable, Regina Kulys, David Drucker, Bill Meezan, Walter Lorenz, Wilson Watt, and many others;

first members of the Board of the program; first codirectors of the program; first visitors of the lectures; first future students for the interviews; first practice teachers – Lithuanians social workers

from USA, Canada, Australia

The period was for:

Theme – “Active search” – to the answers: how to be in the future? - spiritual life, economical life – beeing unemployed, new way of life, family life, ways of how the soviet institutions could be changed...

Theme – “curiosity’ – part of the first students came leaded by curiosity, because this was so new and so attractive, and the professors behave very different as was usually acepted during the studies for the first degree. Curriosity for some professors to come and work after the collapse of the SU.

Preliminary results: 2 How did their identity as professionals form in that context, and how were the social work services

developed?

Theme – “matching their value and principles of their and their family life” part of the students were from the families with the

experience of undeground activities to SU ideologies and models; “Oh it was this about I was thinking all the life” (Ramune)

“ majority of teachers - role models” The professors behaviour fitted to what they were teaching; Experiences of the first practices and jobs were supported; Helped to develope the first job places for social workers; supported to develope the first innovative programs together

with Caritas and Kaunas Municipality;

Preliminary results: 2 question

Theme: “very supportive context for the development “: At the university – newly resatablished university

with rector from USA; Hierrchy of Katholic Church – finaced by Katholic

Conference of the Bishops of USA. At the municipality: political and administrative

leaders were members of “Sąjūdis” – idealisticly thinking;

Preliminary results: 3

Theme - This study program became” our own” students from the first steps of the implementation of this

program became a partners of the development of the curriculum.

this was very strange to local academia and professors; big portion of empowerment for many students; Big responsibilities to keep it on this track: 7 became

professors of this program, and many others are working as teathers in other sw education programs.

Preliminary results: 4How do these developers and initiators of the studies, profession and services see the social work profession today?

“Impotrant for all national social development” profession became known to all citizens; still is alive and developing; new services are developing by social workers according the

needs of people; Stil there are many social workers leaded by high idelas, but not

suported from organizations and burocracy; But there are challenges: too many educated social workers, but

at the same time uneducated working in the positions of social workers;

Profession too controled from the state, and LASW do not represent professionals to make a balance in power;

The lowest salary from all professionals in the country; State social policy is not responding to the high human rights

ideals and treaties;

Bibliography

Berger, L. P., Luckmann, T. 1999. Socialinis tikrovės konstravimas. Vilnius, Pradai.

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Zaviršek D. (1999), Civil Society, Memory and Social Work. International perspectives in Social Work, in Social work and the State. Pavilion publishing, Brighton, pp. 65 – 75.

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Tunney, K., Kulys, R. (2004) Social Work Field Education as Social Development– A Lithuanian Case Study. In Social Work Approaches in Health and Mental Health from Around the Globe. Routledge.

Thank you for attention

We are still colecting and analysing data