only abstract and keywords in English; full article, abstract and keywords in Lithuanian]
This article presents a scientific literature review of foreign and Lithuanian publications revealing the specifics of women's homelessness. The concept of homelessness, types of homelessness, general homelessness and the causes why women are becoming homeless are discussed. The peculiarities of women's homelessness are analyzed, revealing the vulnerability of homeless women and the victimization they experience, and describes the various consequences that homelessness has for physical and mental health. The article also presents a summary of strategies applied by homeless women that help them survive on the street: they involve having an intimate partner as a protector, changing their image according to particular circumstances, strategies of invisibility and breaking the rules of public space as well as using alcohol as a means of reconciliation with homelessness. We discuss the services provided by the Special Help Centers in Lithuania, which are provided for victims of domestic violence, other specialized forms of assistance for women and social assistance measures provided by the Vilnius and Kaunas municipalities to homeless people and social risk persons. Finally, we suggest directions for future empirical research. The analysis shows that homeless women are more stigmatized and more socially excluded, and that they are more vulnerable to the effects that homelessness has on health. Violence is both a common cause of women becoming homelessness and a "companion" in during periods of homelessness. Studies conducted in foreign countries show that homeless women apply various survival strategies and tactics that increase the physical safety of women, reduce the opportunities for violence and abuse, and allow them not to feel as if they are excluded from society. The use of alcohol as a measure of reconciliation with a given situation (and often the cause of homelessness) is very widespread among homeless men and women, which, on the one hand, helps to keep in touch with other homeless people but otherwise hinders reintegration into the society. The state and its municipalities are increasingly focusing on improving social assistance and services for homeless people and social risk groups. Municipalities should carry out regular assessments of how much social assistance is focused on the individual needs of homeless women, what part of this social group it has managed to reach out to and how to measure the effectiveness/adequacy of the assistance provided.
The results of the research show that political participation of women in both analysed countries is relatively low due to social attitudes and difficulties experienced in reconciling political activities with family life and lack of education. Participation of women in the labour market in both countries is characterised by high level of employment and deep horizontal professional segregation. The high level of employment of women is partially related to the necessity determined by the economical situation to contribute to the family's maintenance. Though, for Lithuanian women jobs are also a sphere of self-realization, but the family is a smaller obstacle for participation in the labour market and for making a professional career. In Lithuania professional segregation is much lower. The article comes to the conclusion that existing differences of the status of gender in both countries are related to the influence of patriarchal attitudes, still prevailing gender role stereotypes and practical problems of reconciling work and family life. The better status of Lithuanian women in all the analysed spheres, first of all, is related to the weaker expression of the above-mentioned attitudes and stereotypes. The investigation shows that the main obstacles which impede implementation of gender equality in practice lie in Islamic cultural traditions, which are more favourable for the prevalence of patriarchal attitudes. In order to improve the status of women, it is suggested that more attention be given to education on gender equality and to special means applied at the national level, inducing equal opportunities for both genders.
The results of the research show that political participation of women in both analysed countries is relatively low due to social attitudes and difficulties experienced in reconciling political activities with family life and lack of education. Participation of women in the labour market in both countries is characterised by high level of employment and deep horizontal professional segregation. The high level of employment of women is partially related to the necessity determined by the economical situation to contribute to the family's maintenance. Though, for Lithuanian women jobs are also a sphere of self-realization, but the family is a smaller obstacle for participation in the labour market and for making a professional career. In Lithuania professional segregation is much lower. The article comes to the conclusion that existing differences of the status of gender in both countries are related to the influence of patriarchal attitudes, still prevailing gender role stereotypes and practical problems of reconciling work and family life. The better status of Lithuanian women in all the analysed spheres, first of all, is related to the weaker expression of the above-mentioned attitudes and stereotypes. The investigation shows that the main obstacles which impede implementation of gender equality in practice lie in Islamic cultural traditions, which are more favourable for the prevalence of patriarchal attitudes. In order to improve the status of women, it is suggested that more attention be given to education on gender equality and to special means applied at the national level, inducing equal opportunities for both genders.
The article focuses on the care arrangements for children left behind and interaction with social support services from the perspective of guardians and experts. The global migration trends are discussed, revealing that economic, social and political reasons in combination with perceived solutions and future prospects motivate parents to emigrate. Family and parental crisis before the act of emigration, restrictions and uncertainty in destination countries, support parents' decisions to leave children behind. Care and protection of children left behind are analysed with focus on concepts of transnational care arrangements and emphasis on the role and functions of guardians as an alternative care form. Rationale and selected examples of innovative practices of provided social support services and assistance are presented. Empirical research focuses on guardians' subjective perspectives on assuming the role and interaction with social environment providing services and assistance and on experts' attitudes towards interventions applied and on what social services are necessary and how available and accessible they are. Qualitative research approach was chosen; there were accomplished 12 semi-structured in-depth interviews with the guardians, experts and social mentors, selected using purposeful sampling strategy. The data has been analysed using thematic content analysis method. The results revealed that the guardians seem to prefer informal social support over state organized groups, while professionals value all support groups. Experts and social mentors see social mentoring as effective form of support for adolescents and affirm young people's testimonials of gained trusting relationship with the mentor and new social ties to peers. The experts pointed out inequality in access to social services and differences in social assistance nation-wide in Latvia.
The article focuses on the care arrangements for children left behind and interaction with social support services from the perspective of guardians and experts. The global migration trends are discussed, revealing that economic, social and political reasons in combination with perceived solutions and future prospects motivate parents to emigrate. Family and parental crisis before the act of emigration, restrictions and uncertainty in destination countries, support parents' decisions to leave children behind. Care and protection of children left behind are analysed with focus on concepts of transnational care arrangements and emphasis on the role and functions of guardians as an alternative care form. Rationale and selected examples of innovative practices of provided social support services and assistance are presented. Empirical research focuses on guardians' subjective perspectives on assuming the role and interaction with social environment providing services and assistance and on experts' attitudes towards interventions applied and on what social services are necessary and how available and accessible they are. Qualitative research approach was chosen; there were accomplished 12 semi-structured in-depth interviews with the guardians, experts and social mentors, selected using purposeful sampling strategy. The data has been analysed using thematic content analysis method. The results revealed that the guardians seem to prefer informal social support over state organized groups, while professionals value all support groups. Experts and social mentors see social mentoring as effective form of support for adolescents and affirm young people's testimonials of gained trusting relationship with the mentor and new social ties to peers. The experts pointed out inequality in access to social services and differences in social assistance nation-wide in Latvia.
The article focuses on the care arrangements for children left behind and interaction with social support services from the perspective of guardians and experts. The global migration trends are discussed, revealing that economic, social and political reasons in combination with perceived solutions and future prospects motivate parents to emigrate. Family and parental crisis before the act of emigration, restrictions and uncertainty in destination countries, support parents' decisions to leave children behind. Care and protection of children left behind are analysed with focus on concepts of transnational care arrangements and emphasis on the role and functions of guardians as an alternative care form. Rationale and selected examples of innovative practices of provided social support services and assistance are presented. Empirical research focuses on guardians' subjective perspectives on assuming the role and interaction with social environment providing services and assistance and on experts' attitudes towards interventions applied and on what social services are necessary and how available and accessible they are. Qualitative research approach was chosen; there were accomplished 12 semi-structured in-depth interviews with the guardians, experts and social mentors, selected using purposeful sampling strategy. The data has been analysed using thematic content analysis method. The results revealed that the guardians seem to prefer informal social support over state organized groups, while professionals value all support groups. Experts and social mentors see social mentoring as effective form of support for adolescents and affirm young people's testimonials of gained trusting relationship with the mentor and new social ties to peers. The experts pointed out inequality in access to social services and differences in social assistance nation-wide in Latvia. ; Tėvų emigracijos pasekmės paliktiems vaikams yra plačiai tyrinėtos įvairių mokslininkų įvairiais aspektais: analizuota tėvų emigracijos įtaka vaiko raidai, elgsenai, psichologinei gerovei, psichosocialinei sveikatai, ir įvairūs kiti aspektai, tačiau ženkliai mažiau dėmesio buvo skiriama formalių ir neformalių paliktų vaikų globėjų situacijos analizei, globėjų požiūriams į globos santykių sudėtingumą, profesionalių paslaugų ir socialinės pagalbos tiekėjus, siekiančius prisidėti prie vaiko gerovės užtikrinimo. Tyrimo objektas- globėjų, teikiančių paramą emigravusių tėvų vaikams, ir ekspertų, teikiančių atitinkamas socialines paslaugas, požiūriai. Tyrimo tikslas – išanalizuoti socialines paslaugas ir paramą, teikiamą be tėvų priežiūros likusiems vaikams iš jų globėjų ir ekspertų pozicijų. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1) Išanalizuoti priežiūros formas ir teikiamas inovatyvias socialines paslaugas bei pagalbą vaikui ir globėjams Latvijoje; 2) Atskleisti globėjų ir ekspertų požiūrius į teikiamų socialinės paramos paslaugų ir pagalbos tėvų paliktiems vaikams praktikas. Tyrimo metodai: teoriniai - mokslinės literatūros ir teisinių dokumentų analizė; empiriniai- pusiau struktūruoti interviu. Atlikta 12 giluminių interviu su: 6 ekspertais, dirbančiais su globėjais, vaikais ir šeimomis; socialiniu mentoriumi ir mentoriumi-koordinatoriumi bei su 4 globėjais, susijusiais ir nesusijusiais giminystės ryšiais su paliktais vaikais. Empirinių duomenų analizės metodas- teminė turinio analizė. Literatūros analizė parodė, kad tarptautinė migracija vis intensyvėja, ją skatina ekonominės nelygybės, konfliktai ir gamtinės nelaimės. Baltijos šalys, ypač Lietuva ir Latvija, ir toliau pasižymi dideliais emigracijos mastais; tėvų emigracijos priežastys- ekonominės, politinės ir socialinės, tačiau dominuoja ekonominės priežastys. Emigravusių tėvų vaikai yra paliekami tiek oficialiems, tiek neoficialiems globėjams- ir giminaičiams, ir nesusijusiems kraujo ryšiais. Oficialus globėjo statusas Latvijoje gali būti "teisėtas globėjas", "globėjas" arba "atsakingas vaiko globėjas nesant tėvų". Neoficialios alternatyvios globos kokybė ir vaiko apsauga išlieka rūpesčiu daugelyje šalių, įskaitant Latviją. Viena iš nustatytų problemų yra su globa susijusių įstatymų įgyvendinimo spragos, nors teisės aktuose ir įtvirtinti tarptautiniai vaikų apsaugos principai. Teorinė analizė rodo, kad globėjams ir vaikams siūlomos ir prieinamos įvairios ilgalaikės paslaugos, pritaikytos individualiems poreikiams. Straipsnyje apžvelgtos socialinės paslaugos ir programos atskleidžia naujas iniciatyvas transnacionalinėms šeimoms ir jaunimui. Globėjai ir palikti vaikai, tikėtina, galėtų būti motyvuoti dalyvauti kūrybiškose NVO siūlomose paramos programose, prieinamose dėl jų neformalios aplinkos ir narystės, tuo tarpu oficiali sistema taikoma profesionalioms konsultavimo paslaugoms ir pagalbai šeimai teikti. Socialinė mentorystė traktuojama kaip efektyvi paramos forma tėvų paliktiems paaugliams. NVO programų trūkumas- programų tęstinumo užtikrinimo sunkumai, kylantys dėl finansavimo tik projekto įgyvendinimo laikotarpiui ir priklausomybės nuo gerovės politikos pokyčių. Empirinio tyrimo duomenų analizė atskleidė, kad globėjai teikia prioritetą neformaliems socialinės paramos tinklams ir savipagalbos ir paramos grupėms, o ne valstybės organizuotoms grupėms, tuo tarpu profesionalai vertina visas paramos grupes, orientuotas į pagalbą šiai klientų grupei. Ekspertai pabrėžia, kad Latvijoje egzistuoja nelygybė socialinių paslaugų prieinamumo ir paslaugų spektro atžvilgiu. Ekspertai ir socialiniai mentoriai laikosi nuostatos, kad socialinė mentorystė yra efektyvi suaugusiųjų paramos forma paaugliams, kurie stokoja tėvų paramos dėl jų emigracijos ar nebuvimo dėl kitų priežasčių; jie tvirtina, kad jauni žmonės užmezga pasitikėjimu paremtus santykius su mentoriumi ir naujus socialinius ryšius su bendraamžiais.
The paper presents the activities of one of many Lithuanian NGOs—the Lithuanian Red Cross Society (hereinafter—"LRCS"). The goal of the study to analyse: the contribution of the LRCS to the reduction of poverty and social exclusion in Lithuania. To reach this goal, the following tasks have been presented: to study the spread of poverty and social segregation in Lithuania; to analyse the role of the NGO in social care provisioning aimed towards alleviating poverty and social segregation; to identify the practical LRCS activity problems; to state the target LRCS activity groups, i.e. care takers' specifics. The problem of research: LRCS activity does not satisfy the care takers' needs. The methods of the analysis are research literature, statistical data, sociological studies results; multiple reports analysis have been applied in the paper, while targeting to scrutinize the spread of poverty and social exclusion in Lithuania; to analyse the role of the NGO in social care provisioning, aimed towards alleviating poverty and social segregation. Quantitative study results have allowed the identification of the problems of the main practical activities of LRCS and the target groups for the activities of LRCS, namely: the specifics of recipients of services. Also efforts were made to find the answer as to why LRCS is unable to satisfy the needs of the recipients of their services. The interview method for information acquisition has been applied: questionnaires have been designed for both LRCS employees and recipients of LRCS services. Research literature analysis and statistical data show that the level of poverty and social exclusion in the recent decade has not been reduced. Recent studies prove that poverty and social segregation is one of the top social problems, and that the role of NGOs in poverty reduction and alleviation of social segregation, by providing social services, is unconditionally essential. During the quantitative analysis, it was found that uncertainty on the activities of LRCS and a lack of professional knowledge was possessed by its employees. Also, both cooperation with governmental organizations and the lack of support from them compounded the main problems on the activity of LRCS. The following specifics of the recipients of services are defined: low education, passivity, unemployment, lack of income, begging LRCS for financial help. ; Nemažėjantis, o priešingai, nuolat augantis skurdas – Lietuvoje 2000 m. skurdo apie 16 proc. žmonių, o 2010 m. – jau 20,2 proc. – leidžia daryti prielaidą, kad, nepaisant visų valstybės priemonių, skurdo problema vis dar neefektyviai sprendžiama ir reikalauja visos visuomenės sutelktų pastangų. Valstybės teikiamų paslaugų nepakankamumas skatina įtraukti į socialinių paslaugų teikimą nevyriausybines organizacijas (NVO), nes tiesiogiai iš žmonių poreikių kylanti jų veikla pasižymi lankstumu ir partneryste. Jos dažnai sprendžia tokias nepopuliarias socialines problemas, kurioms viešoji valdžia ir politikai skiria nepakankamai arba visai neskiria jokio dėmesio. Sraipsnio tyrimo objektas – vienos seniausių Lietuvos NVO – Lietuvos Raudonojo Kryžiaus draugijos (LRKD) veikla. Tyrimo tikslas – ištirti LRKD veiklą prisidedant prie skurdo ir socialinės atskirties mažinimo Lietuvoje. Tyrimo metodai: mokslinės literatūros, dokumentų ir statistinių duomenų analizė, anketinė apklausa. Tyrimas atliktas 2011 m. Apklausoje dalyvavo 53 LRKD darbuotojai ir 333 paslaugų gavėjai. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad LRKD neabejotinai prisideda prie skurdo ir atskirties mažinimo, ir padėjo identifikuoti pagrindines draugijos veiklos problemas: LRKD darbuotojų teorinių žinių trūkumą, veiklos neapibrėžtumą, individualizuotų veiklos planų skyriuose nebuvimą, lėšų trūkumą, mažą draugijos narių skaičių, bendradarbiavimo su kitomis organizacijomis ir valstybinių institucijų palaikymo stoką. LRKD paslaugų gavėjų anketinės apklausos rezultatai leido nustatyti šios tikslinės grupės dominuojančius ypatumus: vidurinį ir žemesnį išsilavinimą, nedalyvavimą darbo rinkoje, pasyvumą, nepasitikėjimą, neigiamas asmenines nuostatas; žinių apie LRKD bei jos teikiamas paslaugas trūkumą; pajamų šaltinio neturėjimą arba gaunamų pašalpų nepakankamumą. LRKD pagrindinių praktinės veiklos problemų atskleidimas bei paslaugų gavėjų ypatumų nustatymas leidžia ieškoti efektyvių problemų sprendimo būdų, padidinti LRKD socialinių paslaugų teikimo veiksmingumą bei kokybę.
