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Lithuanian Social Work’s Claim to Professional Autonomy vs. Authoritarianism in Popular and Political Culture

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European Social Work After 1989

Part of the book series: European Social Work Education and Practice ((ESWEP))

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Abstract

Social work in Lithuania is still very young as a profession. It emerged after 1990 from the Soviet institutionalised system of social security and social services that was statutory, centralised, segregating and stigmatising. The independence of Lithuania from the Soviet Union allowed for the establishment of a system that is decentralised, shared with nongovernmental service providers, professionalised and oriented towards international principles of human rights and inclusion. However, after 29 years of efforts to create a strong and emancipated profession using European networks, social work still has low status. It is a poorly paid profession and unable to advocate effectively for clients’ and its own rights. This chapter seeks explanations for the effects of both ‘path dependencies’ in services on authoritarian Soviet attitudes and of neoliberal policies that dismantle social solidarity structures. It concludes by exploring the possibilities of mobilising against these factors in collaboration with training centres in other countries facing similar challenges.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Ateitininkai is the Lithuanian catholic youth organisation founded in 1911; Kudirkaičiai is a patriotic youth organisation founded in 1988; Gediminaičiai is a youth organisation promoting Lithuanian history, ethnic culture and old religion founded in 1988.

  2. 2.

    This is the definition of social work which has been in force since the adoption of the law in 2006 (Lietuvos respublikos Seimas 2006): ‘Social work is an activity that helps the individual, the family, to solve their social problems according to their capabilities and participation, without violating human dignity and increasing their responsibility based on the cooperation of the individual, family and society’.

  3. 3.

    Social pedagogy was originally part of social work programmes but later was incorporated into education departments and developed its own specialisation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania

    Jolita Buzaitytė Kašalynienė

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  1. Jolita Buzaitytė Kašalynienė
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Correspondence to Jolita Buzaitytė Kašalynienė .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management and Supervision in Social and Health Care Organisations, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Walter Lorenz

  2. Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague 8, Czech Republic

    Zuzana Havrdová

  3. Faculty of Philosophy, Charles University, Prague 1, Czech Republic

    Oldřich Matoušek

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Buzaitytė Kašalynienė, J. (2021). Lithuanian Social Work’s Claim to Professional Autonomy vs. Authoritarianism in Popular and Political Culture. In: Lorenz, W., Havrdová, Z., Matoušek, O. (eds) European Social Work After 1989. European Social Work Education and Practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45811-9_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45811-9_5

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