Internationale Defintion von Sozialer Arbeit

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Kategorie: Organisation

Veröffentlicht am Freitag, 29. Juni 2012 20:38

Zugriffe: 1635

International Federation of Social Workers IFSW - Neue Definition von Sozialarbeit

Definition¹

Soziale Arbeit als Beruf fördert den sozialen Wandel und die Lösung von Problemen in zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen, und sie befähigt die Menschen, in freier Entschei­dung ihr Leben besser zu gestalten. Gestützt auf wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse über menschliches Verhalten und soziale Systeme greift soziale Arbeit dort ein, wo Menschen mit ihrer Umwelt in Interaktion treten. Grundlagen der Sozialen Arbeit sind die Prinzipien der Menschenrechte und der sozialen Gerechtigkeit.

Kommentar

Professionelle Soziale Arbeit in ihren verschiedenen Formen richtet sich an die vielfältigen und komplexen Beziehungen zwischen Menschen und ihrer Umwelt. Die Aufgabe ist es, Menschen zu befähigen ihre gesamten Möglichkeiten zu entwickeln, ihr Leben zu berei­chern und Dysfunktionen vorzubeugen. Professionelle Soziale Arbeit arbeitet schwer­punktmäßig auf Problemlösung und Veränderung hin. Daher sind Sozialarbeiterinnen An- wältlnnen für Veränderung, die dazu dem/der Einzelnen ein Angebot unterbreiten. Profes­sionelle Soziale Arbeit ist ein Netzwerk von Werten, Theorien und Praxis.

Werte

Soziale Arbeit basiert auf humanitären und demokratischen Idealen, und diese Werte re­sultieren aus dem Respekt vor der Gleichheit und Würde aller Menschen. Seit ihrem Be­ginn vor einem Jahrhundert hat die professionelle Soziale Arbeit sich auf die menschlichen Bedürfnisse konzentriert und die Entwicklung der Stärken der Menschen vorrangig unter­stützt. Menschenrechte und soziale Gerechtigkeit dienen als Motivation für sozialarbeiterisches Handeln. Professionelle Soziale Arbeit ist bemüht, Armut zu lindern, verletzte ausgestossene und unterdrückte Menschen zu befreien, so wie die Stärken der Menschen zu erkennen und Integration zu fördern. Die Werte von Sozialer Arbeit sind in den "Codes of Ethics" in aller Welt enthalten.

Theorie

Die Arbeitsweise der professionellen Sozialen Arbeit beruht auf einem systemischen Wis­sen, das sich herleitet aus Forschung und Praxis. Es wird die Kompliziertheit der Bezie­hungen der Menschen untereinander und ihrer Umwelt erkannt, so wie die Fähigkeit der Menschen davon berührt zu sein, und die Möglichkeit die vielfältigen Einflüsse auf sie zu verändern. Die professionelle Soziale Arbeit bedient sich der Wissenschaften über menschliche Entwicklung, Verhalten und Soziologie, um schwierige Situationen zu analy­sieren, und um individuelle, organisatorische, soziale und kulturelle Veränderungen zu er­leichtern.

Praxis

Professionelle Soziale Arbeit benennt die Grenzen, Ungleichheit und Ungerechtigkeit, die in der Gesellschaft existieren. Sie antwortet auf Krisen und Gefahren ebenso, wie auf all­täglich auftretende persönliche und soziale Probleme. Professionelle Soziale Arbeit verfügt über eine Vielfalt von Methoden und Techniken so wie Handlungsmöglichkeiten, die sich sowohl auf den einzelnen Menschen wie auf die Umwelt konzentrieren. Die Intervention von professioneller Sozialer Arbeit reicht von rein personenbezogenen psychosozialen Prozessen, bis zur Beteiligung an sozialer Gesetzgebung, Planung und Entwicklung. Dies bezieht mit ein, Beratung, klinische Sozialarbeit, Gruppenarbeit, sozialpädagogische Ar­beit, Familienberatung und -therapie. Ferner sollen Menschen unterstützt werden, Soziale Dienste in Anspruch zu nehmen. Auch Verwaltungstätigkeiten, so wie soziale Aktionen bedeuten Einmischung, um soziale Gesetzgebung und wirtschaftliche Entwicklung eng miteinander zu verknüpfen. Der Schwerpunkt von professioneller Sozialer Arbeit wird von Land zu Land, von Zeit zu Zeit variieren, dies hängt mit den kulturellen, historischen und sozialwirtschaftlichen Bedingungen zusammen.

Quelle: www.dbsh.de/internationale.pdf

International Federation of Social Workers Definition of Social Work

DEFINITION²

The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work.

COMMENTARY

Social work in its various forms addresses the multiple, complex transactions between people and their environments. Its mission is to enable all people to develop their full potential, enrich their lives, and prevent dysfunction. Professional social work is focused on problem solving and change. As such, social workers are change agents in society and in the lives of the individuals, families and communities they serve. Social work is an interrelated system of values, theory and practice.

Values

Social work grew out of humanitarian and democratic ideals, and its values are based on respect for the equality, worth, and dignity of all people. Since its beginnings over a century ago, social work practice has focused on meeting human needs and developing human potential. Human rights and social justice serve as the motivation and justification for social work action. In solidarity with those who are dis-advantaged, the profession strives to alleviate poverty and to liberate vulnerable and oppressed people in order to promote social inclusion. Social work values are embodied in the profession’s national and international codes of ethics.

Theory

Social work bases its methodology on a systematic body of evidence-based knowledge derived from research and practice evaluation, including local and indigenous knowledge specific to its context. It recognises the complexity of interactions between human beings and their environment, and the capacity of people both to be affected by and to alter the multiple influences upon them including bio-psychosocial factors. The social work profession draws on theories of human development and behaviour and social systems to analyse complex situations and to facilitate individual, organisational, social and cultural changes.

Practice

Social work addresses the barriers, inequities and injustices that exist in society. It responds to crises and emergencies as well as to everyday personal and social problems. Social work utilises a variety of skills, techniques, and activities consistent with its holistic focus on persons and their environments. Social work interventions range from primarily person-focused psychosocial processes to involvement in social policy, planning and development. These include counselling, clinical social work, group work, social pedagogical work, and family treatment and therapy as well as efforts to help people obtain services and resources in the community. Interventions also include agency administration, community organisation and engaging in social and political action to impact social policy and economic development. The holistic focus of social work is universal, but the priorities of social work practice will vary from country to country and from time to time depending on cultural, historical, and socio-economic conditions.

Schneider, Stefan: Summary of previos research. 2012

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Kategorie: Organisation

Veröffentlicht am Freitag, 02. März 2012 17:20

Zugriffe: 1292

Phase 1 – Subject-Orientated Research (-1990)

Already during my studies of education with a focus on social education/ social work I was interested in the social framework conditions and the theoretical approaches of personality theory. An important issue in that was the development of the individual ability to act. My diploma thesis with the title Wohnungslose sind gesellschaftliche Subjekte / (homeless people are social subjects) was based on the activity theory reflection of the historical-cultural school in the Soviet Union around Leont'ev and Vygotsky. I examined an open homeless service. Not, as usually happens, from the focus on how this facility works, but from the viewpoint of what relevance this drop-in point will have for the ability to act of its users. The result was quite disillusioning. Homeless people in a service are – briefly speaking – reduced to be passive, handout-taking users of the offers. This awareness had a massive effect on my research work in phase 4 (see there)

Reference:

• Schneider, Stefan: Wohnungslose sind gesellschaftliche Subjekte. Gesellschaftliche Bedingungen und individuelle Tätigkeiten am Beispiel der Besucher der Wärmestube Warmer Otto in Berlin - Moabit. Berlin 1990 (= Diplomarbeit am Fachbereich Erziehungswissenschaften der TU Berlin)

Phase 2 – Biographical- and condition of life-related research (1990-1993)

Within the scope of an empirical field research project I was able to explore the biographies and the conditions of life of homeless people on a point of time shortly after the peaceful revolution 1989 and the German Reunification. In these years the number of homeless people was significantly increasing and the structure of this group was essentially more differentiated and complex. In the course of this I was able to clarify the following: Traditionally the services for underprivileged and excluded people are orientated on their weak points. They try to comprehend the individual weak points very exactly and to get rid of them step by step. For a not small number homeless people this is exactly the reason they reject these services. They are not yet willing to expose themselves with their weak points. On the basis of the survey of several different biographies I was able to work out, that instead of this it will be more reasonable to focus on the strength of the respective personalities: The deciding factor are not the deficits, but the competencies, skills and attainments, which should be addressed, activated and sensible promoted to support a positive experience of personality and to support the development of the individual ability to act.

Reference:

• Schneider, Stefan: Wohnungslosigkeit und Subjektentwicklung. Biografien, Lebenslagen und Perspektiven Wohnungsloser in Berlin. Ergebnisse einer empirischen Untersuchung. Mit Fotos von Karin Powser. Berlin 1997 (= Dissertation, vorgelegt am Fachbereich Erziehungs- und Gesellschaftswissenschaften der Hochschule der Künste Berlin)

Phase 3 Computer & Education, Educating & Society (1993 – 1998)

In difference to an automaton, a computer is a programmable machine. As a programmable and, with hyperlinks, globally interconnected unit, it could do what mankind has always been able to do, but very much faster. But it could be, that technology will turn against humankind, even if it is used in the context of authority relations. This way or in a similar manner, the hypotheses I was working with were formulated at the Institut für Systematische Pädagogik Institut für Systematische Pädagogik /Institute of Systematic Pedagogy at the University of the Arts. Even in the computer and education workshop group I tried to measure the impact of the upcoming word-wide-web. At that time we were pioneers, who used email addresses at university (with a maximum of 8 characters before the @, that was the technical limit at that time) and we programmed our first website by hand <html>Stefans Homepage<head></head><body>Hallo, here I am </body></html>. We compared the impact of new media with the dramatic changes resulting from the rediscovery of letterpress printing by Johannes Gutenberg in the Middle Ages. One important thing that remains from these debates is the intention to bring also poor and underprivileged groups to the internet.

Another focus point of this phase was considering the basics of the science of education. Part of it included working with emancipatory classicists of education like Pestalozzi, Makarenkow, Freire and the confirming the basic terms of education and its principles.

Reference:

• Schneider, Stefan: motz & Co - Jetzt weltweit im Internet. In: wohnungslos. Aktuelles aus Theorie und Praxis zur Armut und Wohnungslosigkeit. 37. Jahrgang, 3/95. Bielefeld 1995, S. 115 – 11.

Phase 4 – Self-help, Self-Organisation, Empowerment, Sustainability, Emancipatory Practice (1995 – 2007)

In a strategically difficult phase of social work after the expansion of the ambulant services in the middle of the 1980s, the appearance of street papers and food banks around 1995 marked a essential new stage of social work with underprivileged groups of the society. The mail point of the innovation was, that element of self-help, self-determination and empowerment systematically have been integrated in conceptional considerations of social work. At this time I was able to develop my theoretical basics together with the people concerned in some concrete emancipatory projects. Part of it was the setting up of a street paper in Berlin, which was hardly orientated towards grassroots-movement principles. The creation of publicity and the implementation of campaigns to produce some attention as important elements of an aggressive practice of confrontation. After a first stabilisation it was possible to set up some more projects like a self-organized emergency shelter, a drop-in-centre with an integrated food supply, with offers of culture and counselling and a canteen, which was organized by the idea of food banks (donations of foods and its further processing). In a step further establishing and consolidating this approach it was even possible to run bigger projects of integration in the labour market - opening an second-hand-stuff-market, to establish a biweekly radio show, to install an internet presence, to ensure a permanent open and free internet access to the poor and homeless users of our services and also to realize a extensive and ambitious housebuilding project with 18 housing units.

Parallel to this step followed the theoretical assurance (history of self-organisation) and the scientific reflection of the different aspects of these work on the topic of the slogan chaotic professionalism.

References:

• Schneider, Stefan: Life on the Streets. Homeless in Germany (Lecture). Berlin/ Osaka 2006,

• Schneider, Stefan: self – help project promoted by poor homeless people. Berlin/ Barcelona 2004 (Group of projects and actions that dignify the life of the homeless: From marginalization to citizenship. World Urban Forum – UN Habitat, in the Universal Forum of Cultures Barcelona)

• Herbst, Kerstin / Schneider, Stefan: Selbsthilfe: Chaotische Professionalität. In: wohnungslos. Aktuelles aus Theorie und Praxis zur Armut und Wohnungslosigkeit. 45. Jahrgang, 3/2003. Bielefeld 2003, S. 9.

Phase 5 Social Policy, Community Politics (2001 - 2011)

In the phase the involvement with the different methodical and conceptional approaches of the social work was the central point, but also issues of the socio-political realisation of ideas, of quality development and -control, of financing and billing and cost control. The focus of the exercise include such important spheres of activity as child and youth services, family services, elderly care services and also the spheres of activity migration, integration and intercultural work. Also important was the debate in the political space beginning with the lobby work of concerned people on the organisation of services in welfare companies and organisations on the agenda of the authorities and the commissioning through the politics in the context of processes of negotiations.

Selected References

• Schneider, Stefan: Armut per Gesetz? / Poverty by reason of law. Ein kurzer Blick auf die Situation von JobCenter Kunden in Pankow. / A short view of the situation of clients of the job center in pankow. Berlin 2008

Phase 6 Generalization, Contextualization (2007 -)

The nucleus of the scientific work at the present phase since 2007 is reflecting on more intensive current developments on the level of theory and progress of conceptions, to merge positions and to recognize, illuminate and encourage the development of tendencies on these levels. An important element is the awareness of globalization and its social effects. Simply the integration of more countries inside the European Union brought the aspect of intercultural social work an important task and it is absolutely necessary to reflect about migration and integration inside of the science of social work. The other side of this perspective is also to foreground the causes of the clients and users of social work even at international level. Issues of participation, of empowerment and self-organisation to the backdrop of fundamental changes of society should be attended on the level of scientific reflection and also by compiling some concrete recommendations for action. The internet is also confronted with an increase in its functions and has obtained interactive qualities. To adopt all of these tendencies and to survey their relevance to the field of the social work and the socio-political conditions is another emphasis of scientific work.

In the year 2008 the (small) European Institute of Social Science and Participation (eisop) was founded to organize the work more systematically. This institute is in the first place a dynamic, mobile and flexible network with the task of running bigger and smaller projects.

Through the perception of the works of the post-operationists around Hardt, Negri, Virno et al the analysis once more reached a new level, because now – as well on the theoretical level of terms as on empirical surveys of current tendencies – social theoretical ideas as the one of the multitude or the commons-production could be connected with positions of the internet theory as a loss of control, post-privacy, feedback generating- And these debates could also be connected with concrete questions and tasks of the future of social work.

Within my personal research approach the perspectives of the discriminated, disadvantaged, disenfranchised, excluded, poor and homeless are mandatory and also the objective to raise more capacity to act, participation, empowerment and changings together with the concerned people.

Selected References:

• Schneider, Stefan: Immaterielle Arbeit - eine Perspektive 'Guter Arbeit'? / Immaterial labour – a perspective of "Good work" Schwerte 2011

• Schneider, Stefan: Multitude. Where the term comes from and what we can do with it. Berlin 2010

Last update: March 2012

Herzlich Willkommen

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Kategorie: Struktur

Veröffentlicht am Donnerstag, 13. Mai 2010 17:34

Zugriffe: 4680

Herzlich willkommen auf der Homepage vom Europa-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften und Partizipation (EISOP). Das EISOP ist ein gemeinnütziges non-profit Institut mit Sitz in Berlin.

Der Name ist Programm. Es geht uns um eine sozialpolitische und sozialwissenschaftliche Betrachtung und Analyse gegenwärtiger Entwicklungen und ihre konkreten Konsequenzen für die Menschen und ihre Lebenswirklichkeit. Wir bleiben aber nicht im Abstrakten stehen und führen keine Studien um ihrer selbst willen durch und entwickeln keine Thesen im Elfenbeinturm. Das direkte und parteiliche Engagement für und vor allem mit Menschen, die arm, wohnungslos, arbeitslos, diskriminiert und ausgegrenzt werden, ist zentraler Bestandteil unserer Arbeit.

Theoretisch wie praktisch befassen wir uns mit Strukturen der Selbsthilfe, Selbstorganisation, Partizipation und des Empowerment. Der  Sitz dieses Instituts ist Berlin, aber unsere Arbeit könnte überall stattfinden. Wir haben an uns selbst den Anspruch, eine Europäische Perspektive zu entwickeln und sind mit zahlreichen Korrespondentinnen und Partnern in ganz Europa und darüber hinaus verbunden. Wir verbinden Konzepte, Theorien und Methoden aus den Sozialwissenschaften mit konkreten gewaltfreien Aktionen und haben keine Berührungsängste. Wir sind demokratisch, basisorientiert, transparent & parteilich für Arme, Benachteiligte und Ausgegrenzte. Wir sind das  EISOP, das Europa-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften & Partizipation.

Für Hinweise, Anregungen, Kritik und Rückmeldungen sind wir jederzeit dankbar. Sie können gerne mit uns Kontakt aufnehmen. Danke!

Dr. Stefan Schneider
stefan.schneider at eisop.org

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