Perceptions of professional identity and its formation during education at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Ljubljana
Professional identity in social work can be described as a collection of identifiable and enduring professional qualities of social workers that bind them together as a professional group and make them different and unique compared to other professional groups. As the social work profession is devalued and stigmatized around the world, exploring the processes involved in developing a strong and positive professional identity is of great importance. The need to explore social work professional identity has been recognized in some places abroad and has mainly focused on researching professional identity formation during social work education. This paper presents findings on the definition and role of professional identity in social work, focusing on professional identity formation during education at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Ljubljana. Qualitative research on social work students' perceptions of professional identity is presented, as well as suggestions for a more frequent and discrete treatment of the topic during the education of future social workers.
Identity of people with dementia: Opportunity for empowerment Human identity is dynamic, fleeting, and changeable and is formed in social contexts. People with dementia are considered a vulnerable group with a less stable identity due to the nature of the disease, often causing their individuality to be disregarded. Systematic review of the literature shows that the living and social environments play an important role in the consolidation, maintenance, and reconstruction of the identity of people with dementia. Interactions of people with dementia with their living and social environments enable them to learn new strategies for expressing their identity, while social capital remains a valuable source of power in the process of identity expression, consolidation, or reconstruction. The narratives of people with dementia contribute to the preservation of their personal identity and enable reviving memories. The opportunity to share experiences and participate in social interactions serves as recognition of their uniqueness and provides them a sense of worth and value. People with dementia want to participate and engage in activities, as many are an essential building block of their identity. Successful completion of activities also helps maintain a positive self-image and experience their own worth.
V knjigi se prepletajo trije tematski prameni: - kritični razmisleki o Slovencih - identitetni, socialni, kulturni in politični vidik. Z velikani svetovne književnosti in filozofije povezani razmisleki o človekovi identiteti ter smiselnosti njegovega bivanja in delovanja v svetu, ki ga obdaja; - razmišljanja o potrošniški družbi 21. stoletja, o zabrisani meji med vlogama moškega in ženske v njej ter o mladih, ki so "izgubljena generacija" v praznini brez prihodnosti.
Older gays and lesbians are one of the most invisible social groups as they experience "double invisibility": in Western societies that celebrate youth, they are invisible as older and as older homosexuals. Existing research shows a different structure of social networks of older gays and lesbians compared to older heterosexuals, it points to fears of discrimination in care activities and feelings of exclusion from the LGBT community, which, like society at large, is defined by youth. This exploratory study for Slovenia identifies similar trends, with the key problem being the tension between an individual's stigmatized homosexual identity, which the elderly still mostly hide, and the LGBT community, which is not inclusive for older gays and lesbians. The purpose of the research was to identify key characteristics of everyday life of older gays and lesbians in the period before the existence of activism in Slovenia and the characteristics of the current position of older gays and lesbians in the LGBTIQ + community and society at large.
The Covid-19 epidemic and associated changes in everyday life have exacerbated existing inequalities between people, particularly in the case of many invisible, vulnerable, and marginalised groups, and exposed systemic weaknesses in addressing their needs. The study "The needs of LGBTQ+ people over 50 during the Covid-19 epidemic" explored the impact of emergencies on the daily lives of LGBTQ+ people. In the interviews, interviewees highlighted the hardships of those LGBTQ+ people who have a small social network and/or are not in a partnership, as well as limited access to shared events and safe spaces where people can live according to their identity. Interviewees had both positive and negative experiences with health and other services and emphasised the importance of having access to services and the need for aware and trained providers who are able to accommodate to the unique circumstances of LGBTQ+ people. The findings highlight the importance of researching the experiences and life trajectories of people in times of emergencies in order to better respond to identified needs.
Konferenca o razvoju organizacijskih znanosti je konferenca z najdaljšo tradicijo na Univerzi v Mariboru in vsako leto poveže študente, raziskovalce, gospodarstvenike in predstavnike javne uprave, ki delujejo na področju organizacije in managementa. Tema letošnje, že 36. mednarodne konference o razvoju organizacijskih znanosti, je Odgovorna organizacija in se nanaša na širino organizacije v njenem notranjem in zunanjem okolju. Odgovornost do zaposlenih, poslanstva, strategije, procesov, tehnologije, razvoja so samo nekatera izmed področij, ki jim mora organizacija slediti. Identiteta organizacije se izkazuje z njenim vsestransko odgovornim ravnanjem in kaže vrednost navzven pri kupcih ali uporabnikih storitev. V času, ki ga živimo, smo vpeti v preplet tehnološkega in socialnega napredka, ki nenazadnje rezultira v posamezniku in družbi nasploh. Ravnanje organizacije se ravno tako ne veže samo na delovanje v lokalnem okolju temveč zaradi globalnih razsežnosti učinkuje tudi v mednarodnih dimenzijah. S temo konference želimo odpreti polje vprašanj in poiskati odgovore, ki bodo doprinesli k napredku organizacijskih ved. Materialni vplivi, komuniciranje, znanje in poštenje ter nenazadnje ideal odgovornega ravnanja lahko kot pomembni dejavniki obvladujejo pogosto nemirne situacije v in izven okolja naših organizacij. Ker smo časovno in prostorsko vpeti v vzorce, ki mnogokrat ne sledijo več našim preteklim izkušnjam, je naša želja, da s srečanjem na konferenci stopimo v korak s časom in prepoznamo dobre prakse, izoblikujemo nove metode in se seznanimo z aktualnimi trendi, ki jih organizacije vsakodnevno živijo. ; The conference on Organizational Sciences Development is a conference with the longest tradition at the University of Maribor. Each year, the conference brings together students, researchers, businessmen and public administration representatives, who are active in the area of organization and management. The theme of this year's 36th international conference on Organizational Sciences Development is Responsible Organization referring to the wideness of an organization in its internal and external environment. The responsibility of the organization towards its employees, mission, strategy, processes, technology, and development are just a few areas in which the organization needs to follow the principles of responsibility. The identity of the organization is recognized through its versatile responsible activities, showing its value externally to the customers or recipients of the services offered by the organization. The concurrent mixture of technological and social progress influences individuals as well as the society. The impact of the organization is therefore not only local but global, making a mark on the international level. With this conference theme, we are opening new questions and seeking answers which could contribute to the progress of organizational sciences. Material influence, communications, knowledge, fairness, and nevertheless the ideal of responsible behaviour can be seen as influential factors which can contribute to occasional turbulent situations inside and outside our organizations. Since we are all caught up in moulded mind-sets, not following our experiences anymore, our wish was to keep up with the times and identify best practices, form new methods, and become familiar with the contemporary trends in organizations.
