Social work with vulnerable families and children in 11 Russian regions

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of the study was to describe and analyse how key actors in the social sector in Russian regions identify problems, objectives and social work achievements in connection with vulnerable families and children.

Methods. University personnel conducted 209 interviews using semi-structured questionnaires.

Results. Family problems were reported to be related to poverty, parents’ alcohol abuse, the child's behaviour, the child's lack of social skills, domestic conflicts and problems getting adequate housing. The view of the majority of the respondents was that social orphanhood depends on poverty, alcohol abuse and the family's diminished role in society. Family incomes have improved but services have become more expensive. The social workers mostly put the child, not the family, in focus. Alcohol abuse was considered to be a greater problem in wealthier regions. Analyses between key groups showed that the respondents ranked problems differently, had similar ways of defining important objectives, but had divergent opinions on what social work could achieve concerning, for example, re-establishing the child's contacts with his/her biological parents.

Conclusions. The respondents seem to be highly ambivalent toward alcohol abuse as a social problem and toward biological parents in vulnerable families. Social work in the regions is a profession in the process of formation.

Syftet. Syftet med studien var att beskriva och analysera hur olika professionella nyckelgrupper i ryska regioner identifierar problem, önskvärda mål för verksamheten och vad som är möjligt att uppnå i det sociala arbetet med utsatta barn och familjer.

Metod. Olika regionala universitet utförde sammanlagt 209 halvstrukturerade intervjuer.

Resultat. Enligt frågeformulären hänger familjeproblem samman med fattigdom, föräldrars alkoholmissbruk, barnens brist på sociala färdigheter, familjekonflikter samt otillfredsställande boende. Orsakerna till social föräldralöshet anses vara fattigdom, missbruk och familjens minskade betydelse. Familjeinkomsterna har ökat, men den sociala servicen har blivit dyrare. Socialarbetarna har ofta barnet, inte hela familjen i fokus. Alkoholproblem ansågs som ett större problem i relativt sett rikare regioner. En jämförelse mellan olika professionella grupper visade att det fanns skillnader i problembeskrivningen, man hade en likartad uppfattning av vad som var önskvärda mål, men synen skilde sig i vad som var möjligt att åstadkomma, till exempel möjligheten av att återupprätta kontakten med barnets biologiska föräldrar.

Slutsatser. De svarande föreföll ha en ambivalent inställning till alkohol som ett socialt problem och gentemot de biologiska föräldrarna i utsatta familjer. Det sociala arbetet i regionerna är under utveckling.

Keywords:

• social work
• family support
• professionals
• Russia

Nyckelord:

• socialt arbete
• familjestöd
• Ryssland

Acknowledgements

The collection of data was supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The article was written with support from the SAREC grant Developing international child care research. (SAREC is Sida's sector Department for Research Cooperation.) The author wishes to thank Britta Holmberg for comments and suggestions about social rehabilitation centres and about parental rights (based on Russian sources). The author also wishes to thank Ravinder Mahoon for drawing the map showing the region, and the reviewers of a previous version of this article for valuable comments.

Notes

1. Sven Trygged, Britta Holmberg (Stockholm University), Vladimir Torokhtiy and Olga Gaganova (Moscow City University of Psychology and Education).

2. Starting in year 2000, Stockholm University and the state institution, the Social-Rehabilitation Centre for Minors ‘Otradnoe’ in Moscow worked in a joint project aiming to develop social work for children and families in difficult life situations. The project was supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). One of the results of the project was that the Russian Federation's Ministry wanted to disseminate these experiences to the regions. This mapping is done before the realisation of this dissemination phase. The regions were selected by the Ministry for Social Development and Healthcare. A previous report from the project concerns social networking and was published in Holmberg and Trygged (2007).