Unaccompanied minors (UAMs) have received significant attention in scholarly debates related to transit migration, child migration and social work. However, less consideration has been given to the social work practice with UAMs during their transit phase. Drawing on qualitative interviews with field practitioners in Belgrade, I explore the interactions between social workers and UAM transit migrants on their way to Western Europe but stopped in Serbia. I analyse the complexity of social work practice with distressed adolescents 'on the move'. I examine practitioners' perceptions about UAMs' trajectories and how UAMs' agency is understood by those caring for them. In doing so, I demonstrate that field practitioners become actors of the transit stage, navigating in their practice between a 'caring' and a 'mobile' approach.
An important aspect of the Albanian public debate on the exposure of religious symbols concerned minors. In fact, the proposed government law of 2011 was addressed to a category of public school education, that is, regarding students from kindergarten to secondary school. The Islamic veil was always at the center of the debate, but in this case the prohibition was justified as it was aimed at an age group that did not have the ability to make decisions and make choices independently, as in Muslim religion it is expected that a post-pubertal girl must wear a headscarf. In fact, in this case the decision-making passes to the parents, who have the right to educate their children according to the dictates of his own conscience. It is stressed that the same circumstance also applies to other religions, where the decision is always made by parents, such as baptism in the Catholic religion. In particular, the Article 24 of the Albanian Constitution, explicitly sanctions the freedom of each person to choose their belief and the prohibition that no one should be forced to participate in the life of a religious community or its practices. The question that arises in this case is whether this constitutional article also protects this category of subjects or only those who have reached the age of majority? The answer is complex and delicate, even to date the Albanian legislator has not remedied it since no one has appealed.Keyword: Albanian constitution, freedom of religion, religious symbols, Islamic headscarf, the right to educate your own children.
ABSTRACT: The prevention of juvenile delinquency represents an important part of preventing criminality in a community, so that the legislative system had to adopt humane activities and orientations with respect to young persons for the purpose of developing non-criminal attitudes. The pursuit to prevent juvenile delinquency materialized in a series of international legal measures to ensure a balanced development of teenagers, with respect for their personalities, which have been largely taken over in national legislation, as a series of plans and programs for the young, with funds, resources and services for their treatment. In concrete terms, Romania took a series of measures in accordance with international conventions, that were inserted in the Romanian Constitution, in the Criminal Code, in special procedures of the Criminal Procedure Code, and also in special legislation for the protection and promotion of children's rights. KEYWORDS: juvenile delinquency, prevention of crime, deviant conduct, minor, educational measures
Reparative Therapy is a controversial Psychological practice designed to "cure" subjects, many of whom are minors, of their homo/bisexuality. These attempts to alter sexual orientation are not only generally met with failure, but also frequently involve the use of therapy methods that provide no medical benefit and carry a great risk of harm. Most troubling about this practice though is that for years, there have been persistent reports of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual (LGB) minors being forcibly subjected to this therapy by their parents. It is known that providers of Reparative Therapy, who maintain that homosexuality is a treatable mental disorder, often mislead parents about the risks of the treatment and the therapy's likelihood of success. This Note proposes a state ban on Reparative Therapy, which would prohibit Reparative Therapy Practitioners from using psychological methodologies to attempt to alter the sexual orientation of minors. Modeled off the statutes of New Jersey and California, this ban would protect LGB minors from ineffective and harmful therapies, and do so in a way that does not violate patients, parents, or practitioners' rights under the 1st and 14th Amendments. Key Points for the Family Court Community: Therapeutic attempts to "cure" homosexuality, collectively referred to as "Reparative Therapy," are widely condemned by most mental health organizations as dangerous and ineffective. There have been many problematic reports of LGB minors being forced into Reparative Therapy, often by parents who have been misled or left unaware of the numerous potential harms that have been associated with the practice like depression, self‐harm, and suicide. State Bans on Reparative Therapy as applied to minors, as seen in New Jersey and California, are an efficient way to protect minors from being subjected to this practice without penalizing parents, who in most cases are acting in good faith.
