Social work education in Albania: a developing landscape of challenges and opportunities

ABSTRACT

The social work profession in Albania is relatively young and social services in the country continue to develop. But over the past three decades, Albania has experienced significant growth and transformation in its social work education programmes. Nevertheless, there is very little published work on the Albanian social work education system and its implementation on the ground. Currently, the main sources of social work graduates are three Schools of Social Work in Tirana, Shkodra, and Elbasan. Programmes at the bachelor's and master's level all incorporate policy, research, and practice education. The social work curriculum, originally transplanted from the United States, has gone through reforms following the Bologna process and continues to be revised to meet local needs. Drawing from a multi-country study of the social service workforce in southeast Europe, this paper presents baseline data on social work education in Albania. 62 participants were interviewed using semi-structured interviews, case stories, and focus group discussions with consensus-building exercises. The findings highlight both the opportunities and challenges of this relatively young profession in Albania. Besides increasing understandings of social work education in Albania, this research adds to emerging regional and global themes in the development of social work education and practice.

Abstrakt

Puna sociale në Shqipëri është relativisht e re dhe shërbimet sociale në zhvillim e sipër. Gjatë tri dekadave të fundit, Shqipëria ka parë një rritje dhe transformim në programet e arsimimit të punonjësve socialë, por pak është botuar mbi sistemin arsimor të tyre në Shqipëri dhe zbatimin e tij. Burimet kryesore të të diplomuarve në fushë janë tri shkollat e punës sociale në vend – Tiranë, Shkodër,Elbasan. Programet ‘baçelor' dhe ‘master’ përfshijnë të gjitha komponentë të politikave, kërkimit dhe praktikës. Fillimisht të transplantuar nga Sh.B.A, ato kanë kaluar në procese reformimi, sidomos pas procesit të Bolonjës, dhe vazhdojnë të përshtaten me nevojat lokale. Nisur nga një studim i forcës së punës të shërbimeve sociale në Europën Juglindore, ky artikull prezanton të dhëna bazë mbi arsimimin e punonjësve social në Shqipëri. 62 pjesëmarrës u pyetën përmes intervistave gjysmë-të-strukturuara, historive të rastit, si dhe diskutimeve në fokusgrupe (përfshi ushtrimin e ndërtimit të konsensusit). Gjetjet venë në pah mundësitë dhe sfidat që përball ky profesion relativisht i ri në Shqipëri. Përveçse rrit kuptueshmërinë mbi arsimimin e punonjësve socialë në Shiqpëri, ky kërkim kontribuon edhe në diskutimin e tematikave të reja rajonale dhe globale mbi zhvillimin e arsimimit dhe praktikës së punës sociale.

KEYWORDS:

• Social work education
• Southeastern Europe
• social service workforce

FJALËT KyÇ:

• arsimimi i punonjësve socialë
• Europa Juglindore
• forca e punës së shërbimeve sociale

Acknowledgements

The research reported on in this article is part of Terre des Hommes' Child Protection Hub for Southeast Europe project, in collaboration with University of Tirana's Department of Social Work and Social Policy. The authors would like to thank Sendrine Constant and Judit Almasi for their helpful administrative support throughout the project; Amy Bess and Mark Canavera for their valuable feedback on the research methodology; Eleanor McGrath for assistance with data analysis; Maria Bray and Stephanie Delaney for their insightful comments the research findings.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Elona Dhembo is a full-time lecturer of research methods and social policy at University of Tirana. Her main areas of interest include social research and evidence-based policy-making, gender and social policy, social protection and migration. She has published in Albania and internationally and is an active member of professional networks and civil society agencies.

Bree Akesson is an Associate Professor at Wilfrid Laurier University's Faculty of Social Work, where she has been involved in several research initiatives to better understand ways to strengthen social work systems including an eight-country study of social service workers in southeast Europe and a Delphi review of expert understandings of approaches to strengthen the social service workforce globally.

Lirondel Hazineh is PhD student at Wilfrid Laurier University. Her interests include international social work and community practice with immigrants and refugees. She has previously published in the areas of child welfare and children's mental health.

Notes

1 See Section V on ‘Social objectives’: http://www.pp.gov.al/web/kushtetuta_2016_1082.pdf

2 The Social Worker Order is the professional organisation of social workers in Albania that sets the criteria for practice in the country (Law No. 163/2014): https://tinyurl.com/y5urxzm3.

3 Paraprofessional social workers are those who do not fit into the strict and formalised educational criteria set out for professional social service workers (i.e. professional social workers). Paraprofessionals may include non-governmental organization (NGO) workers, community-based organization (CBO) workers, community health workers, or volunteers who have not received formal social service training through a regulatory body, but still greatly contribute to the social service workforce.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Austrian Development Agency (8309-00/2014), The Oak Foundation (OCAY-13-494), and the European Commission Directorate-General Justice (JUST/2013/DAP/AG/5754).