Search results

The aim of the paper is to provide an overview of the results of contemporary research and practices linked to foster care placement matching and the preparation of foster parents and children for their placement world-wide, with special reference to the existing practice in the Republic of Croatia. The success of foster care outcomes is closely related to and depends on, among other things, the quality of the conducted assessment and selection of the most appropriate form of alternative placement concerning the child's needs, quality of preparatory process and matching, i.e. adjustment of the characteristics of the child and potential foster parents. Matching is a complex process that comprises a series of actions and making a number of decisions which are influenced by various organisational and external factors, as well as those related to the characteristics of an individual case and to the decision-makers. All these factors are described and explained in the paper. Furthermore, the paper emphasises the importance of the timely preparation of the child and the foster family for the arrival of the child for whom it was determined on the basis of the matching process that the placement in that family is in their best interest, but also of the preparation of the parents and family of the child for the experience of removal of the child and entrusting the child to another family. There is no defined model of the foster care placement matching process in the Republic of Croatia. Therefore the author intends to draw attention to it and to arouse scientific and professional interest in this topic in the Republic of Croatia. Key words: alternative childcare; foster care; foster care placement matching; process of preparing for placement

Cilj rada je pružiti uvid u specifične izazove vezane uz međunarodno posvojenje te ukazati na situacije kršenja prava djeteta u kontekstu međudržavnog posvojenja. Iako se međunarodnom posvojenju pribjegava tek u okolnostima kada djetetu nije moguće pružiti skrb u državi porijekla, nerijetko u tom procesu dolazi do zloupotrebe instituta međunarodnog posvojenja. Posebice u vremenima kriza kao što su ekonomske i političke krize, ratovi i prirodne katastrofe, kada su zakonske kontrole oslabljene. Nadalje, stvarnost međunarodno posvojene djece karakterizira proživljavanje mnogih gubitaka, emocionalnih i kulturalnih, te je velik izazov s kojim se susreću međunarodni posvojenici formiranje identiteta kao kombinacije kulturalnog nasljeđa države iz koje potječu i države u koju se dijete posvaja. Kako će taj proces teći uvelike ovisi o posvojiteljima i njihovom prihvaćanju različitosti, te spremnosti i vještinama komuniciranja o djetetovoj povijesti i porijeklu, ali i o podršci sustava socijalne skrbi koji ima važnu ulogu u zaštiti prava djeteta. ; The aim of this paper is to provide insight in the specific challenges of international adoption, and to point to situations of violation of the rights of the child in the context of international adoption. Although international adoption is used only in circumstances where a child cannot be cared for in a country of origin, in that process abuses of this institute often occur. Especially in times of crisis such as economic and political crises, wars and natural disasters when legal controls are weak. Furthermore, the great challenge facing all international adoptees is the formation of identity as a combination of the cultural heritage of the country of origin and the country they actually live in. How will this process going on depend not only on adoptive parents and their acceptance of diversity, their willingness to communicate about child history and origin and communication skill they have, but also on the support of the social welfare system, which have an important role in protecting the rights of the child.

FACTORS' STRUCTURE OF CROATIAN VERSION OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE »BOUNDARY FLEXIBILITY OF WORK AND FAMILY ROLE The aim of this paper was to verify the factor structure and metric characteristics of the Croatian version of the questionnaire »Boundary Flexibility« (Matthews & Barnes-Farrell, 2010.). The survey was conducted on a convenient sample of 187 employed parents of underage children. In the data analysis, factor analysis and Spearman correlation coefficient were used. The three-factor structure of the questionnaire was obtained: the first factor »Family plans adjustment to the job requirements« contains six items (Cronbach alfa = 0.891), indicating readiness of respondents to adjust family plans to job requirements. The second factor in »Job requirements adjustment to the family role« (Cronbach alpha = 0.814) contains eight items, which point out the ability and willingness of respondents to adjust their job requirements to family obligations. The third factor, »Possibility of increased engagement at work without major difficulties in performing family obligations«, contains four items (Cronbach alpha = 0.784), and refers to the respondents' ability to meet increased demands at work, without adverse effects and significant difficulties in the family role. Given that the extracted sub-scales are not fully matched to the factor structure of the original questionnaire, the obtained results point out to certain specifics in the application of the Croatian version of this questionnaire. Verification of the metric characteristics has shown the satisfactory reliability of the obtained sub-scales and the possibility of further application of this instrument. Key words: work-family role balance, boundary flexibility, metric characteristics of the questionnaire.

Cilj je rada opisati konstrukcijske i psihometrijske karakteristike upitnika "Suočavanje s negativnim ponašanjima na radnom mjestu" na uzorku policijskih službenika i službenica te utvrditi je li upitnik prikladan za korištenje u daljnjim istraživanjima. U istraživanju je korištena modificirana verzija upitnika Coping with bullying (Lee i Brotheridge, 2006). Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku 209 policijskih službenika i službenica Policijske uprave splitsko-dalmatinske. U obradi podataka korištene su statističke analize deskriptivne statistike, faktorske analize i Spearmanov koeficijent korelacije. Rezultati su pokazali da policijski službenici pri suočavanju s negativnim ponašanjima na radnom mjestu najčešće koriste strategiju usmjerenost na smirivanje situacije i izbjegavanja problema (M = 2,43, SD = 0,88), zatim slijedi usmjerenost na aktivno rješavanje problema (M = 1,61, SD = 0,72) te usmjerenost na vlastite emocije i ublažavanje simptoma stresa (M = 1,56, SD = 0,63). Utvrđena je trofaktorska struktura upitnika, a pouzdanost ekstrahiranih subskala pokazala se zadovoljavajućom: (1) usmjerenost na vlastite emocije i olakšavanje simptoma stresa (sastoji se od 10 čestica, Cronbachov alfa = 0,83); (2) usmjerenost na smirivanje situacije i izbjegavanje problema (sastoji se od 8 čestica, Cronbachov alfa = 0,84); (3) usmjerenost na aktivno rješavanje problema (sastoji se od 5 čestica, Cronbachov alfa = 0,72). Rezultati su pokazali da je predložena verzija upitnika pouzdan instrument koji se može koristiti u daljnjim istraživanjima načina suočavanja s negativnim ponašanjima u okviru policijske profesije, ali i šire, čime se potiče daljnja primjena i razvoj upitnika.