The aim of this master’s thesis was to study the impact of assertiveness training on participants in the social inclusion programme and evaluate the intervention of the assertiveness training from the perspective of the participants and my own reflection. In the theoretical part, concepts related to and intertwining with said activity were presented. I portrayed the social inclusion programme involving the research participants who participated in the assertiveness training. The concept of empowerment as well as its development and importance for social work was discussed. I also presented the concept of assertiveness, concluding the theoretical part by describing certain basic characteristics of groups, group management and collaborative social work. The research part of the master’s thesis comprises a practical part, which consists of the preparation for the implementation and the implementation itself of the assertiveness training, a quantitative analysis based on surveys carried out before and after the assertiveness training and a qualitative analysis based on semi-structured interviews. I determined that the assertiveness training had an impact on the participants. They noticed changes in their behaviour and confirmed the satisfaction with the participation in the training. From their statements, I was able to deduct that they achieved important goals towards assertive behaviour. These goals were the recognition of different communication styles, insight into one’s own communication style, tendency to change non-assertive reactions. I perceive the assertiveness training, which I prepared and implemented for the participants in the social inclusion programme, as an activity offering support to its participants on the path to personal growth and internal empowerment. The assertiveness training proved to be an effective meth-od when working with participants in the social inclusion programme. Even though the results were applicable to a certain group of people in this research—and were not generalised to the entire population of participants in the social inclusion programme—the results of this research can act as incentive and guideline for the planning and implementation of work with a group and the organisation of workshops intended to develop and improve social competences of participants.
|