International Conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION Vol. XXIII No 2 2017 INVESTIGATION ON THE PROFILE OF SOCIAL WORKER OCCUPATION IN BULGARIA Venelin TERZIEV, Preslava DIMITROVA “Vasil Levski” National Military University, Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria [email protected] Abstract: This paper presents the research interest to the occupation of the social worker in international scope and analyzes the essence of the social work in Bulgaria. The profile of the social worker rendering social services in Bulgaria is discussed and conclusions are made considering the need of building professional competences. The study poses important questions and puts the basics of further research in identification and monitoring of the needs of training of social activities experts. Keywords: social worker, occupational training, social activities. 1. INTRODUCTION change and development, social cohesion The research interest to the occupation of and the empowerment and liberation of the social worker manifests from the people. The principles of social justice, insufficiently clear profile in Bulgaria at the human rights, collective responsibility and moment, according to the dynamic needs of respect to the differences are central for the population. Issues are discussed mainly social work. Based on the theories of social related to what professionals the social work, social science, humanitarian studies activity experts are in essence, what are and knowledge of the native population, their rights, duties, responsibilities, which social work engages people and structures are the areas of realization, what are the for dealing with the challenges of life and models of occupational activity which shall improvement of wellbeing. The be performed according to the example of aforementioned definition may be extended other countries where the occupation of the at national and/or regional level. social worker has traditions and According to the recent editing of the Social accumulated good practices [1-3]. Assistance Act (amended and completed In July 2014 in Melbourne the Executive Official Gazette issue No 8 dated 29 Committee of International Federation of January 2016) in Bulgaria the social work is Social Workers (IFSW) and International defined as follows [8]: Social work is an Association of Schools of Social Work occupational activity for improvement of (IASSW) reached consent that the review of mutual adaptation of people, families, the social worker’s global definition has groups and environment they live in. It is a ended and a new definition for the complex of supporting activities, directed occupation of the „social work” was towards achieving better quality of life, suggested [4], namely: Social work is dignity and responsibility in people on the occupation, based on the practice and grounds of their individual abilities, inter- academic discipline promoting social DOI: 10.1515/kbo-2017-0146 © 2017. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License. 381 personal relations and resources of services in Europe is complex having in community. mind that the European Union countries Many structures and taxonomies have been name in various ways experts, engaged with established in order to assist the workers to social work [5, 7, 9-24]. In the American get oriented in the social work theories. In and European literature sources attempts are its fundament many of the classifications made concluding the general occupational reach to human nature discussions, the characteristics of the social worker [1-3, relative significance of biological, culture 25]. and experience in human development and Most generally at descriptive level, the social movements, defining and forming the social worker’s occupational profile human society [6]. One of the greatest includes three components: professional divisions in social work theory creates two skills; professional roles; professional large academic disciplines - psychology and competences. sociology through the prism of inter- Social work in Bulgaria is not closed for structural and psychological explanations of „foreign impacts”. It is affected by personal issues. With the structural universalized and unified tendencies of perspectives the focus is on political, globalization. International organizations economic and material environment where related to professional community of social people are - poverty and inequality, social workers and social work schools are very injustice and the so-called „bad social attractive in professional exchange. Their functioning”. In the practice most social contribution is the adoption of the work theories are strongly affected by the international definition of social work (as psychological perspective towards human discussed above) as well as the initiative for behavior - the ways we develop, study and fabricating and establishing work react. Attention is paid to the emotional side qualification standards. of people’s lives and quality of their In the Eastern European countries relations with children, parents and European-American theories and applied partners. Understanding, support, meeting methods of social work are introduced. emotional needs, control on experiences are With this conditions are established for accepted as approach to settling the renewing the bureaucratized state social problem. This approach includes several assistance systems. At the same time a stages: cultural and professional exchange is . identification, description and performed which places the practice in measurement of the problem; those countries on new grounds. Through . analysis of factors, including the financial and methodic assistance behavior of other people creating the received according to various projects and problem; programs the countries of Eastern Europe . selecting objectives to solve modernize their systems by adopting the problem; western models in social assistance. determining and performing European Union promotes the efforts of those actions through which reached will be those countries suggesting mechanisms for the objectives and solved will be the institutional construction of their problems. administrations. It funds the internal reforms by giving them opportunities to 2. PROFILE OF THE SOCIAL create certain or transform already existing WORKER RENDERING SOCIAL structures which to obtain support through SERVICES IN BULGARIA access to practices - experts with experience Identification of social worker’s in the respective field. This way, for professional profile rendering various social example, in the beginning of 2002 an 382 agreement was signed between Bulgaria and views on the nature and content of social Austria for institutional construction of work and general profession values Child Protection State Agency and (confidentiality, non-discrimination, municipals child protection divisions. solidarity, legality, loyalty to the In the last years in Bulgaria experts are organization, colleagues, customers, working from the USA, Great Britain, society, profession and so on). On this basis Scotland, France, Denmark, Austria, a profile is set - a model in which Germany. Undoubtedly the pluralism of professionally significant features of the ideas is useful but also confusing in cases social worker are a function of social when there is no clear view of what shall be practice in Bulgaria. achieved. The suggested social work Merdzhanova and Gospodinov [6] maintain models require careful analysis by taking the first approach in their research on into consideration the differences in professional peculiarities of social workers. societies with regards to ethnic cultural They synthesize a descriptive model based traditions and life philosophy. Models on psychological estimates of several suggest different than local social, occupations that are modern in Bulgaria economic and institutional conditions. They during recent years and western researches can be hardly used without material on work of social workers. The model modification and adaptation to the described the social worker with: Bulgarian environment, observing the . professional roles: traditions, experience and training of social consultant, intermediary for obtaining social workers. services, advocate, intermediary for The aforementioned underlines the obtaining social assistance, activist, topicality of the questions: What expert/ communication intermediary, proxy, professional the social worker in Bulgaria teacher, imitator, coordinator, researcher, is? What are the needs of continuous organizer of work with groups, public professional training with the purpose of spokesman. increasing the quality and efficiency of . professional competences: social work as a whole? direct intervention when working with Outlining the professional profile of the individual clients, social worker in Bulgaria is a research . main groups of professional problem with two possible approaches. abilities: scientific and scientific and They are preconditioned on the specific applicable, diagnostic, methodic, peculiarities of the country. They report the communication, information, management, fact that social work exists in Bulgaria work with documentation. recently and this is why, even though to a The second approach is adopted in this different extend, seek specific cross points paper. Attempting to construct the between the practices and existing theoretic professional profile of the social worker settings. Inevitably in both approaches here established is a descriptive model