This thesis is based on an action project, the purpose of which was to expand the social network of Boris Punek,
an institutional care user of VDC Tončke Hočevar. In the theoretical introduction, we saw what total institutions
are, when they started to appear and how they were affected by the process of deinstitutionalization. In the
formulation of the problem, the purpose of the research was stated, which was to find out how living in various
institutions affected Boris's social network, what effects the expansion of his social newtwork had on him, how
the people around him reacted to his integration into society and what methods of social work professionals can
rely on when helping service users meet their social needs. In the methodology section, the type of research was
defined as qualitative with elements of action research. The research population consisted of individuals who have
been in institutional care for at least five years and who wished to expand their social network beyond the walls of
the institution in which they reside in. As the research is based on an action project in which one user participated,
the sample consisted of one unit. The method of data collection was questioning which included semi-standardized,
oral and individual. The research instrument were the interview guidelines. Other sources of data were journal
entries that I created during the project, Boris's institutional documentation, an eco-map and a personal plan. The
data collection was described in the methodology section, where the processing and analysis of this data was also
explained with the description of open and axinal coding.
The results of the research showed that life in different institutions had shrunk Boris's social network. Today,
various factors make it difficult for him to meet his social needs and expand his social network outside the
institutional context, namely the desire and need to be accompanied on longer excursions, the limited number of
such companions and city architecture which hinders his accessbility. His enrollment in 24-hour institutional care
excludes him from personal assistance and social integration services for the disabled, two different services that
would help him meet his social needs. Consequently, he is dependent on the employees of the institution who are
understaffed and volunteers who have proven to be unreliable in the past. The results of the research showed that
it is necessary to develop services that will not exclude users of 24-hour institutional care or they must be integrated
into already existing services, as the institution cannot fulfil all of their users's needs.
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