In this bachelor’s thesis, I research the use of social work concepts at centres of social work, where I focus on identifying which concepts the social workers still remember, how they use them, and what affects their use. In the research, I explore which fields of work enable a bigger use of concepts, how the working environment influences social workers, and which knowledge social workers believe is crucial for doing their job. In the theoretical part, I describe general social work concepts from the perspective of different authors, talk about centres of social work, and research the predicted use of concepts. I carried out a qualitative survey with non-probability convenience quota sampling, in which I included 11 social workers who helped me gather the answers to my research questions. Through my research, I discovered that social workers at centres of social work remember the working relationship concept and modern concepts the best. These are also the concepts that social workers use most often in their work and believe are the most useful. They decide to use certain concepts based on very different factors, such as spontaneous use, and adapting to their user and the case, they also observe nonverbal and verbal communication. Disuse is determined mostly by the social worker’s expectations of different negative impacts on users, such as the user’s increased sense of powerlessness or the social worker’s belief that the user is unstable, or rather, that the given situation is affecting the user too much for him to actively participate at the given moment. Besides that, social workers also decide not to use certain concepts when users are unmotivated or would not understand the social worker’s expectations. Social workers say the factors which encourage the use of social work concepts are connected with the feeling of safety; the sense that their work is done professionally and that they can rely on something tangible. The field of social welfare services and child and family welfare are the ones that enable the use of concepts the best; however, the field that does not enable the use of concepts as well is the field of welfare benefits. Social workers believe the reason for this lies in the manner of work in that field and the fact that they have less contact with users. Social workers need additional knowledge for doing their job, such as therapeutic knowledge, empowerment, a concrete course of action, communication with other institutions, and so on. The most useful concepts and those that enable better collaboration with users are also a working relationship concept and modern concepts of social work; the emphasis was also on the strength’s perspective. The working environment supports social workers mostly through the freedom they allow, their trust in them, and their support. However, it hinders social workers with staff shortages, a lack of time, and the amount of work they each have. My findings show indications of a possible connection between the use of concepts and working in different fields of work or the time that has passed since social workers received their degree; however, based on the information I have attained, I cannot with certainty claim that a connection between these factors exists.
For future research on this topic, I would recommend a bigger sample that would better represent all of the “age” groups and fields of work. For easier and more frequent use of social work concepts, I recommend hiring additional staff at centres of social work and providing a larger amount of education opportunities, which would enable a better quality of work with users and better use of social work concepts. I think it is important that management at centres of social work supports and encourages the use of concepts.
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