Speaker
Prof Gordana Berc
Associate Professor
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law, Department of social work
Is it time for something new? :The perspective of the vulnerable young people in the urban agglomeration of Zagreb
Abstract Narrative
The NEET population presents the young people who are not involved in education, retraining or the labor market. Due to the large representation of the NEET population, in 2013 the European Union drafted the Operational plan to reduce the share of this population for the period 2014-2020. In Croatia, ESF measures and funds are also planned. The share of NEET population in the EU for 2016 was 17.2% while in Croatia for 2017 was 21.4% (Eurostat, 2018). NEET’s are recognized as a prototype of socially excluded population and professional work with them is key factor in their possible social integration. The City of Zagreb develops numerous services and programs for young people in unfavourable social position in the frame of its social policy investments.
This qualitative research is aimed at gaining into the experiences of professionals and members of the NEET population on services and programs aimed to the NEET population in the City of Zagreb to prepare them for employment and also on the perception of possible service improvement and prevention of NEET status. The study involved 15 experts working with the NEET population and 25 members of the NEET population.
The results suggest that experts recognize the challenges in working with the NEET population in terms of motivating them to change personal perspectives towards their educational orientation and in terms of demanding work models.
Institutional limitations such as insufficient coordination with other institutions, administrative constraints and insufficient professional training of experts are highlighted by both groups of research participants. Young people emphasize that some services and information that they receive from professionals are useless and late, and on the other side that they have positive experiences in obtaining professional recommendations and personal support.
The research indicates the need for systematic investment improvement oriented to institutions that provide services for NEET population in the City of Zagreb. The main focus of investments should be focused on staff, space, informatization, coordination of institutions in order to enhance the content and working model of programs as well as investment in promotion and availability of support programs for the NEET population to enter the labour market.
Taking in regard wider analysis of social policy and social work practice orientated towards NEET population in Croatia, current trends in the development of policies and services at EU level, we will give specific recommendations for innovating actions in favour of promoting social inclusion of this vulnerable population.
Biography
Gordana Berc, Ph.D. is an associate professor at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law, Department of social work, Croatia. She is a social worker and has 16-year experience in teaching micro social work area: counseling, social work in education, and family issues. She teaches on undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate social work programs. Berc published more than 30 scientific articles and reviews in national and international journals, books and other publications. Her current research interests are related to families and youth social issues, spirituality, and social services (like counseling). Gordana Berc in 2008 completed six-month Junior Faculty Development Programme, funded by the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. In 2012 she was a KAKI fellowship awardee, Council of Social Work Education and she spent a summer semester as a teacher of social work at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, USA.
She is a member of International consortium of social development where she serves as a director for special projects and as the president of ICSD European Branch.
Dr Poppy Masinga
Head Of Faculty
SACAP
Social Injustice and Inequality: Perspectives of social work students from a University in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.
Abstract Narrative
Social injustice and inequality characterise societies globally. South Africa’s history is ingrained with racial inequality and social injustice. Social work is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline underpinned by social justice principles, human rights, and respect for diversities. It focuses on promoting social change and the empowerment and liberation of people. Therefore, social work educators are responsible for ensuring that students are introduced to applicable theories and indigenous knowledge to enhance their understanding of social justice and equality while learning advocacy strategies. Besides, social work students should require appropriate skills to prepare them for engaging with people and structures at multiple levels in advocating for social change to address social injustice, inequality, and human rights violations. Transformational Learning Theory guided the study. The transformative learning theory is relevant in research that aims to transform unjust and oppressive societies and practices by democratic means, which involve spreading critical consciousness and establishing social movements amongst social work students.
The study aimed to explore and describe social work students’ perceptions and experiences from a developing country, concerning social injustice and inequality issues. It was hoped that the students’ experiences would shed light on how social work educators could improve students training and/or spark a willingness amongst students to consider taking on the advocacy role by engaging in social action to influence social policy.
The study was qualitative in nature, and a constructivist grounded theory design was applied. The population was final year undergraduate social work students and postgraduate students in one of the Master’s courses at the particular institution. The sample consisted of eight final year social work students and eight postgraduate students. Photovoice was the method of data collection. Participants were orientated and received clear guidelines on the Photovoice method and the use of cameras. Two separate focus group discussions were facilitated with the two groups of participants, using the SHOWeD method. The collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
This paper presents the findings from 16 social work students who participated in the two focus group discussions. Their everyday experiences and observations of factors that exacerbate social injustice and inequality and the impact of social injustice and inequality on society are described. To address social injustice and inequality, the participants suggested combining interventions at both a personal and societal level. This study provides fresh insight into how social work students perceive social justice and equality and contributes to expanding both the empirical and conceptual understanding of these concepts among social work students. The study also gives clear guidelines to social work educators about the importance of focused training in preparing future social work practitioners by promoting critical consciousness to stand up against social injustice and inequality and advocate for policy change.
Biography
Dr Poppy Masinga – Head of Faculty of Social Work and Community Development at South African College of Applied Psychology. Obtained a DPhil degree in Social Work from the University of Pretoria. She has practiced in various fields both in Government and the NGO sector prior to joining the academia since 2008 where she started teaching Community Development and Social Policy at the University of Pretoria. She has special interest in youth development, community development programme design and management and intervention research. She is a social, economic and environmental justice advocate, fighting for the rights of vulnerable groups, including immigrants. She is passionate about green social work, fighting for the protection of plants and animals.
Prof Edmarie Pretorius
Associate Professor
University Of The Witwatersrand
Social Injustice and Inequality: Perspectives of social work students from a University in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.
Biography
Edmarie Pretorius, PhD, is a social worker by profession and an associate professor in the Department of Social Work in the School of Human and Community Development at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her professional experience, fields of teaching and research are mental health, community and social development, school social work, supervision, research methodology and education.
Ms Amanda McKinley
MSW
Doctoral Student School of Social Work Indiana University
Together Alone: A Cross Country Study of Young Adults’ Loneliness
Abstract Narrative
Young adulthood is a time for transitions, with many starting careers, college, training, and civic engagement. Additionally, this is a time for many young adults to find long-term romantic partners and transition friend groups, which can lead to exclusion and vulnerability. Social media is used by most adults who have access to the internet. While many studies have found that social media use can breed loneliness, much of this depends on how it is used. When social media is used to connect with real-world relationships, most users are less lonely. To these writers’ knowledge, there has been no cross-country study regarding young adults’ use of social media and loneliness. Young adults between the ages of 18-24 who use social media from the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Bangladesh were asked questions about their levels of loneliness using the UCLA Loneliness Scale Version 2. The total sample size of the study was 189 whereas 37% of respondents are from Bangladesh, 36% of respondents are from Saudi Arabia, and 22% of respondents are from the United States. Five percent of respondents did not prefer to answer or were from other countries. A cross tabs analysis found Bangladesh respondents to be the loneliest, which may be attributed to many young adults living away from their families in large cities response to a question “I have nobody to talk to”, about 17% of the respondents felt often that way, 30% of the respondents felt sometimes that way, 23% of the respondents felt rarely that way, and 28% of the respondents felt never that way. Likewise, in response to the question, “I lack companionship”, about 14% respondents responded “often”, 30% responded “sometimes”, 26% responded “rarely”, and 24% of responded “never”. Findings also revealed that about 17% respondents often felt completely alone and about 21% respondents sometimes felt completely alone. Future studies would benefit from further cross-country comparisons of loneliness among young adults, especially measuring individualistic versus collectivistic orientations. While young adults can vary from country to country, loneliness appears to be a universal phenomenon for further study.
Keyword: adolescent, youth, young adult, loneliness, social media
Biography
Amanda is a full-time Ph.D. student at the Indiana University School of Social Work in the United States. She has over 12 years experience in various settings as a clinical social worker and currently teaches international social work at the Indiana University Indianapolis campus. She is currently serving on a board for a new NGO, Auguste Community Aid Project, partnering Namibian and U.S. based social workers to help children in informal settlement areas in Namibia.
Ms Ruby Whitelaw
Quality And Safeguarding Manager
Kibble Education And Care Centre
Learning From Young People Who Have Experienced Residential Care In Scotland
Abstract Narrative
Scotland has long been recognised as a progressive innovative country in their approach to the welfare of children and young people. Their participatory and rights based approach is embedded in child care legislation and enshrined in the Children’s Hearing system, established in 1971, which is the envy of countries across the world (Partners in Advocacy, 2020). Mechanisms that promote and support needs and manage risks associated with children and young people who are identified as potentially vulnerable are evident throughout the child care system. Scotland’s bill to adopt the UNCRC into legislation and the conclusion of the Independent Care Review promoting ‘The Promise’ (2020) will help in the commitment of Government to make Scotland the best place in the world for children to grow up. But like many other systems it is not without it’s contradictions in relation to holding children and young people accountable. In 2020 the age of criminal responsibility was increased from 8 years old to 12 years old still leaving Scotland lagging behind other countries in the Global North.
This presentation will look at experiences of being taken into care in Scotland, by listening to the voices of 13 young adults who spent up to 15 years in a variety of care placements including residential care. It shows the hidden transitions many young people may face before going into ‘care’ as they move between family members or friends affecting their ability to form secure and stable trusting relationships. The PhD study explores what supports effective transitions for residential care experienced young people in Scotland. Similar to other experiences of disadvantage such as race, poverty and gender; narratives passed from generation to generation about institutional care have a lasting impact on the stigma associated with this provision affecting participants anxieties before being placed and continuing to affect their day to day experiences as they try to overcome feelings of being different and inadequate in comparison to peers and non-care experienced family members. The role of the residential setting in repairing and restoring damaged attachments, providing opportunities for development and growth and promoting normative childhoods were experienced alongside preparation for a premature adulthood and intensity relating to learning new skills and tools designed to support a smoother transition to adult life. But the expectation that young people who may have experienced significant adversity can dust themselves down and compete with their peers in the market place may be unrealistic despite many of the group achieving excellent academic qualifications.
Despite considerable obstacles the study has found that small changes could make a significant difference; including early and effective intervention, greater education around why young people enter care; therapeutic trauma informed models of practice, emotional resilience building opportunities throughout childhood, greater integration into mainstream society, better approaches to independent living promotion, supportive lasting relationships, combined with societal mechanisms to ensure that no young person falls through the cracks.
Biography
I am a final year part time PhD student with more than 25 years experience of working with children and young people in the residential child care sector within Scotland. My particular areas of interest include: trauma informed care, participation and agency, throughcare and aftercare, the measurement of outcomes, staff support and supervision mechanisms, grounded theory and social constructionism.
Ms Ziyao Zhou
Phd Student
The Chinese University Of Hong Kong
Relationship between online social support and adolescents’ mental health: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Abstract Narrative
Introduction: Social networking sites have become popular interpersonal communication platforms for adolescents. The potential benefits of supportive interactions on such sites on adolescents’ mental health are promising; however, no systematic evaluation has been conducted on this topic. This review examined empirical research on the relationship between social support derived from social networking sites and adolescents’ mental health both theoretically and empirically.
Methods: Followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRSIMA) guidelines, we conducted a systematic literature search on 6 English and 3 Chinese databases in February 2020. Meta-analysis was conducted with the “meta” and “metafor” packages in R.
Results: 14 studies (5 English, 9 Chinese) were identified, with total sample of 11,616 adolescents (age: 10–19 years; females: 42.7% to 56.3%). 13 studies were found to be of fair quality, and one was found to be of poor quality and excluded from synthesis. Quality was restricted by the cross-sectional design, inconsistent conceptualization, and measurement tools. Results showed online social support not only promotes mental health directly or indirectly by buffering the negative impact of stress and cyberbullying but also mediates the impact of internet use on adolescents’ mental health. The correlation of online social support with self-esteem was moderate and significant (r=0.29), and with depression was small and insignificant (r=-0.09). Sensitivity analysis results indicated that social support from acquaintances on the internet may not be as beneficial as from real-life acquaintances.
Conclusions: Current literature generally supports social augmentation theory and extends Cohen’s social support theory into online worlds. The mediators and moderators in the relationship between online social support and adolescents’ mental health much remained unknown. Future studies should further explore this topic and examine different types of online social support in a more diverse social networking service context. Moreover, longitudinal or experimental design and improved measurement of online social support can overcome the limitations of the current evidence to some extent.
Biography
Zhou Ziyao is a PhD student in the Social Work Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, majored in social welfare. My research focuses on how the internet influence adolescents, and especially how computer-mediated communication influences adolescents’ wellbeing.
Mr Kudzai Mwapaura
Mwapaura
Reformed Church University of Zimbabwe
The Potential of Youth-led programmes for Inclusion in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic: An Ubuntu Approach.
Abstract Narrative
The present article seeks to disrupt dominant discourses of victimhood related youth inclusion. Drawing on an Ubuntu framework, i present data from in-depth interviews held with 20 youths sampled in Zimbabwe. I discuss how participants engaged in positive income generating schemes, building social capital and human capital development. Given the current COVID-19 pandemic as well as inter sectorial injustices youth face, the strengths youths drew on their lives is worth noticing. The study concludes by lobbying and advocating for full implementation of youth empowerment laws and policies that strengthen the new narrative created by youths for themselves beyond a pathological one.
Biography
Kudzai Mwapaura is a fulltime Lecturer at the Reformed Church University (RCU) Department of Social Work. He received a masters and bachelor’s degree in Social Work from University of Zimbabwe (UZ). He is interested in youth development, sustainable livelihoods, and vulnerable communities.