Purpose: This study examined the impact of community service on latent deprivation and mental health of long-term unemployed receiving social assistance by using a two-wave quasi-experimental design ...with an untreated control group. According to the latent deprivation model, we hypothesized that unpaid participation in community service for the period of three months would alleviate the participants’ experience of latent deprivation and improve their mental health. Method: A total of 209 participants (105 in intervention and 104 in the control group; Mage = 44.7, SD = 10.47, 58.9% males) completed pretest and posttest measures. Results: Multivariate analysis of variance, followed by the analysis of variances and post-hoc group comparisons, revealed significant effects of the intervention on several dimensions of perceived latent deprivation, but not on the mental health of social assistance recipients. Conclusion: Community service might mitigate the lack of latent benefits of work associated with unemployment by enhancing time structure, regular social contacts, status, and collective purpose.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Jahodin model latentne deprivacije najčešće je teorijsko polazište za ispitivanje povezanosti nezaposlenosti i mentalnoga zdravlja. Prema tome modelu zaposlenje, osim što osigurava redovite prihode i ...financijsku sigurnost, omogućuje zadovoljenje duboko ukorijenjenih psiholoških potreba koje u suvremenome društvu nije moguće drugačije osigurati. Cilj je ovoga rada provjeriti konstruktnu valjanost Upitnika latentne i manifestne dobrobiti (Muller i sur., 2005), njegovu pouzdanost te prediktivnu valjanost u objašnjenju interindividualnih razlika u mentalnome zdravlju. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 209 nezaposlenih korisnika zajamčene minimalne naknade (Mdob = 44.9; SD = 10.45; 58.9 % muškoga spola). Provedene statističke analize i provjera latentne strukture skale potvrdili su da je šestfaktorska struktura Upitnika LAMB replicirana na hrvatskome uzorku siromašnih osoba. Prema dobivenim rezultatima podacima najbolje pristaje model ESEM (χ2 = 771.050; df = 429; CFI = .902; TLI = .856; SRMR = .039; RMSEA = .062 .055 – .069). Upitnik LAMB pouzdan je i valjan mjerni instrument čijih svih šest dimenzija u smislu konvergentne valjanosti značajno pozitivno koreliraju s mentalnim zdravljem. Rezultati analize traga s manifestnim varijablama pokazali su da su doživljaj svrhe, društveni status i razina aktivnosti značajni prediktori mentalnoga zdravlja nezaposlenih korisnika zajamčene minimalne naknade. Radom je potvrđen konceptualni model latentne deprivacije na uzorku teško zapošljivih osoba te je utvrđena valjanost Upitnika LAMB za korištenje u hrvatskome istraživačkom prostoru. Rezultati istraživanja impliciraju da je podršku korisnicima zajamčene minimalne naknade važno usmjeriti na njihovo mentalno zdravlje i latentnu deprivaciju.
Jahodaʼs latent deprivation model is the most common framework for examining the relationship between unemployment and mental health. According to this model, in modern society, employment provides a regular income and financial security and enables psychological needs that cannot be satisfied in any other way. The paper aims to test the construct validity of the Latent and Manifest Benefits scale (Muller et al., 2005), its reliability, and predictive validity in mental health. A total of 209 unemployed social assistance recipients participated in this study (Mage = 44.9; SD = 10.45; 58.9% men). The performed statistical analysis and verification of the latent structure confirmed the assumed six-factor structure of the LAMB scale on a Croatian sample of unemployed social assistance recipients. According to the results, the best fit is the ESEM model (χ2 = 771.050; df = 429; CFI = .902; TLI = .856; SRMR = .039; RMSEA = .062 .055-.069). The LAMB scale is a reliable and valid instrument, and each of its six dimensions has a significant positive correlation with mental health. The results of the path analysis with manifest variables show that the sense of purpose, social status, and level of activity are significant predictors of mental health. This paper confirmed the conceptual latent deprivation model on a sample of hard-to-employ people and determined the validity of the LAMB scale for use in the Croatian context. The results highlight the importance of expanding support for people living in poverty by providing them with mental health support and addressing latent deprivation.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
In this paper we explore the transitions of social assistance beneficiaries to employment in Croatia. Data was sourced from the social welfare register for 208 persons from the 2015 cohort of new, ...unemployed social assistance recipients in one Centre for Social Welfare, their outcomes tracked until June 2017. About a quarter of the recipients became employed within one year, in most cases with wages slightly higher than the statutory minimum. Out of them, about a quarter relapsed into social assistance status within a year. Following the World Bank Employment Barriers approach, we examine whether outcomes are associated with disincentives to work (inactivity trap), lack of work-related capabilities, or gendered engagement with in-household work. We found the average participation tax rate (PTR) for recipients to stand at 57%, yet no effect of PTR, benefit level, debt or PTR level on transition to employment was identified. With respect to capabilities, the role of human capital (vocational in particular), work experience and age turned out to be consistent with prior research. Substitution of inhouse work is consistent with the finding that women are less likely to get employed if living in a household with dependents.
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CEKLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, UL, UM, UPUK
Jahodin model latentne deprivacije najčešće je teorijsko polazište za ispitivanje povezanosti nezaposlenosti i mentalnoga zdravlja. Prema tome modelu zaposlenje, osim što osigurava redovite prihode i ...financijsku sigurnost, omogućuje zadovoljenje duboko ukorijenjenih psiholoških potreba koje u suvremenome društvu nije moguće drugačije osigurati. Cilj je ovoga rada provjeriti konstruktnu valjanost Upitnika latentne i manifestne dobrobiti (Muller i sur., 2005), njegovu pouzdanost te prediktivnu valjanost u objašnjenju interindividualnih razlika u mentalnome zdravlju. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 209 nezaposlenih korisnika zajamčene minimalne naknade (Mdob = 44.9; SD = 10.45; 58.9 % muškoga spola). Provedene statističke analize i provjera latentne strukture skale potvrdili su da je šestfaktorska struktura Upitnika LAMB replicirana na hrvatskome uzorku siromašnih osoba. Prema dobivenim rezultatima podacima najbolje pristaje model ESEM (χ2 = 771.050; df = 429; CFI = .902; TLI = .856; SRMR = .039; RMSEA = .062 .055 – .069). Upitnik LAMB pouzdan je i valjan mjerni instrument čijih svih šest dimenzija u smislu konvergentne valjanosti značajno pozitivno koreliraju s mentalnim zdravljem. Rezultati analize traga s manifestnim varijablama pokazali su da su doživljaj svrhe, društveni status i razina aktivnosti značajni prediktori mentalnoga zdravlja nezaposlenih korisnika zajamčene minimalne naknade. Radom je potvrđen konceptualni model latentne deprivacije na uzorku teško zapošljivih osoba te je utvrđena valjanost Upitnika LAMB za korištenje u hrvatskome istraživačkom prostoru. Rezultati istraživanja impliciraju da je podršku korisnicima zajamčene minimalne naknade važno usmjeriti na njihovo mentalno zdravlje i latentnu deprivaciju.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Drug use is a phenomenon which seriously disturbs the health and the ability to function socially and in a balanced manner for a large number of young people in Croatia who are at the most sensitive ...stage of their individual development (Petrović, 1983; as cited in Bouillet, 2007). The perspective of developmental psychopathology helps to create all-encompassing theoretical models that explain the development of problems related to drug abuse, identify the groups that have the highest risk and guide the creation of logical models for prevention programs. This paper offers a hypothesized model of development of addiction problems in adolescence from the perspective of developmental psychopathology and uses it as a tool to analyse the current state of selective prevention practice in Croatia. The national focal point for drugs and drug addiction is located within the Office for Combating Drug Abuse of the Government of the Republic of Croatia. This Office also runs a Database of projects and programs administered in the field of drug demand reduction. According to the database review performed by the authors on June 26th 2016, 57 selective prevention programs were identified that fit the criteria for being “selective” (according to the definition by Mrazek & Haggerty, 1994). Among these, 15 selective prevention programs were identified as matching the criteria of “program” used by the US Department of Health and Human Services (US DHHS, 2013a & 2013b). The suggested theoretical model was subsequently compared to the goals and activities of these programs.
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NUK, ODKLJ, PRFLJ, UL, UM, UPUK
In this paper we explore the transitions of social assistance beneficiaries to employment in Croatia. Data was sourced from the social welfare register for 208 persons from the 2015 cohort of new, ...unemployed social assistance recipients in one Centre for Social Welfare, their outcomes tracked until June 2017. About a quarter of the recipients became employed within one year, in most cases with wages slightly higher than the statutory minimum. Out of them, about a quarter relapsed into social assistance status within a year. Following the World Bank Employment Barriers approach, we examine whether outcomes are associated with disincentives to work (inactivity trap), lack of work-related capabilities, or gendered engagement with in-household work. We found the average participation tax rate (PTR) for recipients to stand at 57%, yet no effect of PTR, benefit level, debt or PTR level on transition to employment was identified. With respect to capabilities, the role of human capital (vocational in particular), work experience and age turned out to be consistent with prior research. Substitution of inhouse work is consistent with the finding that women are less likely to get employed if living in a household with dependents.
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CEKLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, UL, UM, UPUK
Welfare reforms during the last few decades shifted towards implementing many variants of enforced labor market participation, condition- and obligation-based benefits intended to promote ...employability, individual responsibility and activation of the unemployed workers, particularly welfare clients. Typical elements of such reforms are ?welfare to work? programs, mandatory community activities, training programs, individual action plans and job placements. An ongoing debate follows this conversion whether such conditionality is advancing inclusion by bringing marginalized groups into economy and society or emphasizing project of commodification by marketizing citizenship (Brodkin, 2015). While debate and research about the advantages and disadvantages of introducing mandated activities are ongoing, trend of conditioning benefits is increasingly common. The success of reforms is dependent on highly variable policy design of activational dimensions and policy implementation. Due to potentially adverse outcomes, it is necessary to explore the possibilities to enhance determinants of mental healt in mandated components of activating labor market policy and to set guidelines for attentive design of such welfare policies. While not considering ethical nature of such policy decisions, this paper explores determinants that foster wellbeing in enforced work requirements. By paralleling determinants of mental health to workfare programs we can foster wellbeing of welfare clients, create more inclusive practice and set more appropriate measurable outcomes. Consequently, this research keeps pace with trends that emphasize the need to redefine policy efficiency and intervention effect by focusing away from economic measures towards psychosocial goals (Coutts, Stuckler & Cann, 2014). Paper suggests further direction of planning workfare and enabling policies in order to enhance activation, quality of life, mental health and employability of welfare clients.
This paper considers guidelines for selecting teaching methods and activities in social work education. Changing economic and social conditions create contemporary challenges for different actors, ...from state governments to community residents. These increasing challenges raise educational expectations to foster competent and engaged professionals that are responsible to specific clients‘ needs and capacities, who plan and organize appropriate intervention that are responsive to local challenges and have generic and transversal skills. Additionally, for social work education this contemporary educational requirements need to be considered within its professions interdisciplinary and ecological perspective, so students are thought to respond to clients‘ needs on individual, local and global level. To nourish this educational pillar, contemporary social work curriculums often integrate active learning, extensive hours of field education and service-learning programs. These perspectives are important to retain during whole higher education. In this paper we explore benefits of implementing active learning during early years of social work education as a powerful way of learning. First step during this process was to select activities that support both local community development and specific educational outcomes. State-of-the art insight on local resources and service providers was identified as important prerequisite to deliver responsible social services and plan further community development. Assessment of current local services and activities is important for planning effective programs for all residents and mobilizing local government. Since city of Osijek lacks data and organizational capacities to systematically monitor local services, the content of first year field education was to map out these services. In this paper we present outcomes of active learning through mapping of social services. The mapping project included observation, analyses of secondary data and interviews with civil society representatives, all of which required prolonged student involvement, high level of activity and constant adaptation. Multiple methods provided better insight on services and activities of civil society organizations in Osijek and facilitated experiential learning. To answer our research questions, we conducted group interviews with students after which we differentiated learning outcomes related to communication within the classrooms, communication with social work professionals, understanding of their future professional field and accessibility of services provided through civil society organizations. Practicing various generic and transversal skills produced range of different experiences but similar learning outcomes. Results confirmed our expectations and benefits of this type of activities for student professional and personal development
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