The role of a family group conference in child foster care from a social work perspectiveHorvat, Gordana (Avtor) Mali, Jana (Mentor) Flaker, Vito (Komentor) deinstitutionalisationemancipationparticipationgroup workfamilyempowermentThe lack of methods for working with all participants in the foster care system and the bureaucratisation of the system show that social work has no answer to the complexity of the foster care system and the risk of increasing institutionalisation of children. The family group conference is based on the principles of participation and emancipation through the form of group work. The aim of the dissertation is to combine a family group conference with an analysis of the practise of foster care and the possibilities of this method's contribution to the non-institutional placement of children. The research was conducted using an action research approach in which an action group of social workers implemented changes in practise and regularly examined the problem. The results were analysed by triangulating the research methods and findings. The findings of the dissertation show that the method can be used in different stages of the foster care system and contributes to placing more children with relatives, transferring fewer children from the foster care system to an institution and returning the child to the primary family. Systemic changes are needed to introduce the method into the statutory framework or local authority services. In the practise of foster care in Croatia, participation and emancipation as well as group work are not sufficiently taken into account. A new grounded theory for working with the family, the theory of emancipation and inclusive participation in foster care, is based on the dissertation and involves all participants according to the principle of balance of power through joint work that respects the family's right to make decisions about their own lives.[G. Horvat]20242024-09-21 09:00:08Doktorsko delo/naloga162370sl