In my diploma thesis, I present the Safety of social workers in case of service user violence at Postojna Social Work Center. In the overview of the issue, I have defined aggression and/or aggressiveness and violence, and from here on I looked in more detail at the violence suffered by social workers in the workplace at the hands of service users, and I also touched upon the security system and recommendations to ensure greater security in the workplace. In my diploma thesis, I explore the current formal system of security at Postojna Social Work Center and how it is experienced by social workers. I have researched what forms of service user violence social workers at Postojna Social Work Center are exposed to, how often do they experience violence from service users, what are their skills in dealing with violent behaviour from service users, and whether they have received any special training in dealing with possible violent behaviour from service users. I will also present what informal forms of dealing with violent behaviour of service users are used by social workers at Postojna Social Work Center, where do they see shortcomings in ensuring their safety at work, and what changes they would like to see in this area in the future.
As a part of the problem formulation, I have constructed five research questions. My research is qualitative. As part of the data collection, I interviewed 7 social workers employed at the Centre for Social Work Postojna. There is an attrition in the research, which in my case is a little over a third of the population. To help myself conduct the interviews, I have drawn up an interview guide with the most important topics. The method of data collection was oral, individual and one-off questioning. I recorded the data obtained and coded it openly and axially. The data is attached in the appendices. The research showed that the formal system of protection at Postojna Social Work Center is mainly based on mutual support and assistance between social workers and on assistance from the police. Social workers perceive a need for additional protection and would particularly like to see new premises, internal meetings about the security system, regular training on violence and service users who behave violently, and the installation of security devices such as »panic buttons«. They mostly report negative attitude from the management towards their safety and feel that they are left to fend for themselves. On the other hand, they do see a lot of support in the Assistant Director. Through their work in practice and various other voluntary courses, they have developed many verbal and non-verbal skills that they use in their work when confronted with violence from service users. Social workers at Postojna Social Work Center have never been specifically trained to deal with violent behaviour of service users and would like additional training and education. They also attribute a large role in their training for practice to the Faculty of Social Work, where they believe the curriculum should be changed so that the Faculty would address topics related to violence against social workers. During their work they also use informal ways of dealing with violent behaviour of service users. Those vary according to the working environment. All of the social workers have been victims of violence and report that psychological and verbal violence is predominant. For them, job security is all about having the support and protection of management and the help of colleagues in times of need. Most social workers feel safe at work, but they also report systemic weaknesses that need to be addressed in the future.
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