Exploring Social Work in Italy: The Case of University Training of ‘Social Health Educators’

Abstract

This paper introduces the Italian ‘social health educator’, exploring aspects that could be particularly interesting for an international audience, while placing such aspects within the ‘international definition of social work’. In fact, the field of social work in Italy has been divided, since the 1980s, into two main helping professions following two university courses: ‘assistente sociale’ (or a social worker in public social services, such as local administrations) and ‘educatore professionale’ (or a social health educator in non-profit or public organizations in the health and social sector). The article describes the Italian situation of university training for social health educators, with a focus on the Universities of Trento and Ferrara, their degree course characteristics and the major reasons that may explain this specific didactic structure. Finally, the paper talks about the risk of the legal acknowledgment of the degree in Italy, which although necessary, may undermine the quality of education in the helping relationships for future social health workers and, consequently, also the well-being of the weak.

Keywords:

• Italy
• Social Health Educator
• Social Worker
• Social Services
• Personal and Relational Competence
• University Training
• Empowerment and Prestige

Notes

^[1] In Italy the most common current name is ‘educatore professionale’, while in the rest of Europe there are other names, like ‘Educateur Spécialisé’ or ‘Educateur social’ in France, Belgium and Portugal; ‘Educador Social’ in Spain; ‘Youth and community social worker’ in Great Britain and Ireland; ‘Pedagogic social worker’ in the Netherlands; ‘Social Pëdagogisk’, ‘Sozialpedagog’ in Sweden, Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark and Germany; and ‘Graduated educator’ in Luxembourg (Scarpa and Corrente, 2007; cf. Table A1).

^[2] ‘Social educator’ is the international term used by the AIEJI (International Association of Social Educators).

^[3] According to the Italian Decree of the Ministry of Health no. 520/1998 (Art. 1).

^[4] Trentino is a small Special Autonomous Province in the North East of Italy, where one of the first Italian training courses for social health educators was set up (in 1987).

^[5] There are nearly 230,000 institutions, where almost five million people operate in different ways. These institutions include, according to the Italian Institute of Statistics (ISTAT): associations (about 202,000), employing around 281,000 people who are paid and over three million volunteers; volunteer organizations (about 26,000), where there are about 50,000 paid workers, plus around one million volunteers; social cooperatives (about 7,000) distributed throughout Italy, made up of 196,000 ordinary members and 16,000 volunteers; banking foundations (3,000), to which about 100,000 people refer to; NGOs, non-governmental organizations (170 units) with over 15,000 volunteers; other organizations and institutions, within this area, which gather about 200,000 ordinary members and about 16,000 volunteers; disadvantaged people working in these organizations are estimated to be 22,000; social enterprises, developing within the network of associations and non-profit organizations, that show considerable vitality.

There is also a widespread solidarity across regions, represented by networks of non-organized gifts and informal aid. Currently, 231 million hours of help are provided in various ways to people not living together and this represents a world of mutual aid, which involves about 20,000 people.

^[6] The Italian dictionary does not refer specifically to the school field. According to Devoto and Oli (2011) ‘educazione’ (education) is: ‘Metodico conferimento o apprendimento di principi intellettuali e morali, validi a determinati fini, in accordo con le esigenze dell'individuo e della società’ [‘The systematic transfer or learning of intellectual and moral principles, with specific goals, according to the needs of the individual and of the society’]. For this reason, in this paper we mainly use the term ‘training’ when we want to refer to contents and didactic methods used for theory, practice and laboratories in the universities.

^[7] The English dictionary adds to the original Latin meaning of ‘education’ the following explanation: ‘The systematic instruction, schooling or training given to the young in preparation for the work of life’. Later on, the meaning is narrowed: ‘Often with limiting words denoting the nature or the predominant subject of the instruction or kind of life for which it prepares, as classical education, legal education, medical education, technical education, commercial education, art education’ (from Oxford English Dictionary, 2010).

^[8] Like the dilemmas of identity and loyalty as regards different rationalities in professional social work, such as the rationality of caring and the technical–economic rationality (Solberg, 2010).

^[9] ENSACT (European Network of Social Action) is an umbrella organization representing: EASSW (European Association of Schools of Social Work); FESET (Formation d'Educateurs Sociaux Européens/European Social Educator Training); AIEJI (International Association of Social Educators); FICE (Federation Internationale des Communautés Educatives); IFSW (International Federations of Social Workers European Region); ICSW (International Council on Social Welfare European Region).

^[10] There are interesting similarities with the situation in Spain, as described by Noell et al. (2009).

^[11] As a main example, we can cite the law L.833/1978, concerning the reform of the National Health Service, which implemented the famous so-called ‘Basaglia’ law (L. 180/1978 ‘Accertamenti e trattamenti sanitari volontari e obbligatori’), from the name of the psychiatrist who headed a movement for the closing down of asylums or ‘places of madness’ (Pantozzi, 1989). The law aimed at eliminating any form of coercion against the will of the person and offered social and alternative forms of treatment that gave more dignity to the person and his/her self-determination, such as ‘intermediate structures’ (small houses with only a few patients), day centres, social cooperatives and support to the families.

^[12] Here we refer to the wide world of religious and lay persons who have tried to apply the principles stated by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council.

^[13] Current situation:

1987Legal acknowledgment of the degree for social workers; qualification of the diploma for social workers.

1993Definition and regulation of the social worker profession and approval of a National Register.

1996First National Council of the Association of Social Workers.

1998Introduction of the code of ethics; setting up of experimental degree courses in social services at the University of Trieste and at ‘LUMSA’ in Rome.

2000Setting up of the degree course in social services and of the master's degree, with the subsequent introduction of sections for social workers and social worker specialists in the Professional Register of the Association (2001)

^[14] See the ministerial source: http://cercauniversita.cineca.it/corsi/ricerca.html?lingua = it&tpl = googol&livelloLauree = 1&classi = 44&_aree = on&_aree = on&_aree = on&_aree = on&citta = &universita = &facolta = &anniAccademici = 2009&espressioneParoleChiave = educatore&Invia = Cerca.

^[15] ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) is a student-centred system based on the student workload required to achieve the objectives of a programme, objectives preferably specified in terms of learning outcomes and competences to be acquired. ECTS was introduced in 1989 and is the only credit system which has been successfully tested and used across Europe. Recently ECTS has been developing into an accumulation system to be implemented at institutional, regional, national and European level. This is one of the key objectives of the Bologna Declaration of June 1999.

ECTS is based on the convention that 60 credits measure the workload of a full-time student during one academic year. The student workload of a full-time study programme in Europe amounts in most cases to 36/40 weeks per year and in those cases one credit stands for 25–30 working hours (cf. Table 1). For further information, see European Commission (2003).

^[16] The data were difficult to interpret, but showed some significant results that we have reported here.

^[17] Permanent Conference of Degree Courses for Health Professions (Conferenza Permanente dei Corsi di Laurea delle Professioni Sanitarie, 2010): ‘Principles and standards of the professional traineeship in the degree courses for health professions’ (my translation).

^[18] From American Journal of Health Promotion, available at: http://www.healthpromotionjournal.com/:

Health Promotion is the art and science of helping people discover the synergies between their core passions and optimal health, and become motivated to strive for optimal health. Optimal health is a dynamic balance of physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual health. Lifestyle change can be facilitated through a combination of learning experiences that enhance awareness, increase motivation, and build skills and most importantly, through creating supportive environments that provide opportunities for positive health practices. (O'Donnell, 2009)

^[20] Budapest–Vienna Declaration on the European Higher Education Area (Bologna process), 12 March 2010, n.9/10, available at: http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/bologna/2010_conference/documents/Budapest-Vienna_Declaration.pdf.

^[19] The Bologna declaration, 19 June 1999, Space for higher education, Joint Declaration of the European Ministers for Higher Education, convened in Bologna on 19 June 1999, available at: http://www.processodibologna.it/content/index.php?action = read_cnt&id_cnt = 6069.

^[21] Decree of 22 October 2004, n.270 published in the Italian Official Gazette of 12 November 2004, n. 266: ‘Amendments to the regulation concerning the universities’ didactic autonomy, approved with the Decree of the Minister of University, Scientific and Technological Research of 3 November 1999', n. 509, Art. 1. Definitions.

^[22] The functions identified by the research are: ‘Planning of the educational intervention aimed at communities–groups’; ‘Planning of the educational intervention aimed at the single person’; ‘Education and rehabilitation’; ‘Organization, coordination and management of structures and resources’; ‘Training’; and ‘Research’.

^[23] Cf. Guilbert (1987).