Digitizing Social Counseling—Insights for Workplace Health Management

Working digitally can lead to changes in work organization and social interactions, as well as work pace and workload. Online counseling is more and more integrated in social counseling. Research exists on employees’ and users’ attitudes towards online counseling as well as on the advantages and disadvantages of online counseling. There is a lack of studies on the stressors and strains caused by the increasing digitalization and the associated health consequences in this context. With an interview study, we investigated the general work situation of counselors, with a focus on stressors, strain, and resources caused by online counseling. Consecutively, we discuss the results in relation to their impact on workplace health management. Twenty-two explorative interviews with counselors from a German welfare organization were conducted in 2019 and 2020. Qualitative content analysis according to Mayring was used for analysis. Counselors’ use of online devices depends on their own digital affinity and is likely to be used when advantages for clients are seen. Difficulties were mentioned in establishing a relationship of trust with the clients. Good teamwork and regular informal exchanges among colleagues contribute to job satisfaction. Overall, we found only few health-related effects. Results of the study suggest that digitization can have positive effects on the job satisfaction of counselors, if the associated changes are supported by organizational measures.

Bargaining with social construction of gender identities: transgender realities in Cumilla, Bangladesh

Background: This study explored the agency of intention of transgender women within everyday forms of resistance (thought, desire, intension, and communication) against the rigorous binary biological composition and gender identities in Bangladesh's social context. Transgender women ask society to take distinct and subjective gender identities thoughtfully and uphold their right to make a transition. Transgender women go through the psychological narrative where a specific sex organ does not outline the intact gender identifications. They want to be accepted, understood and supported by establishing their inner gender identities endeavored to their agency and deconstruction of customary gender identities. Methods: The study was conducted at Kaptan Bazar, Cumilla Sadar in Cumilla, Bangladesh; twenty in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions were adopted to gather primary data. The study participants engaged with various projects and contributed health services and social counseling to other transgender and male sex workers.Results: The result considered transgender womans agency grounded in internal sharing, communication, daily activities, and viewpoints of identity position. Informal, undeclared thoughts, actions, and experiences portrayed numerous connections to their agency of intention. Encounters of participants presented a profound explanation of everyday resistance.Conclusions: The agency of intention of transgender women may create a dialogue against socio-cultural prejudice and structural injustice; simultaneously, it can intersect a better consequence in proper contexts.

Examining the predictors of prosocial behavior in young offenders and nonoffenders

Research on young offenders has primarily focused on identifying predictors of the maladaptive, aggressive behavior; there is a scarcity of evidence on factors that relate to prosocial behavior in these adolescents. The current study examined the link from parenting, emotional instability, and prosocial reasoning to prosocial behavior, while also examining the mediating roles of empathic concern (EC) and perspective taking (PT) in a sample of Spanish adolescent offenders compared to a sample of nonoffenders. Participants were 440 adolescents: 220 young offenders residing in four Youth Detention Centres of Valencia (67.3% men) and 220 enrolled in public and private schools within the metropolitan area of Valencia (65.9% men). The two subsamples were similar in age (15−18 years), gender, and social class. Analyses show differences in mother’s permissiveness with empathy (PT and EC), in emotional instability and internalized reasoning with PT in predicting prosocial behavior in offenders and nonoffenders adolescents. EC and PT are significative and positively related to prosocial behavior in both groups. These findings have implications for prevention and reeducation interventions oriented to social reinsertion of adolescent offenders and the development of family and social counseling programs that favor adaptive behavior.

Theories of Play and Their Relation to School Social Counseling

This research studies how play theories contribute to social counseling in schools through using methods and strategies of play according to those theories in school social counseling, and this study aims to identify the relationship between play theories and school social counseling, identify the concept of play, its importance, characteristics, and social dimensions, learning about play theories, and the use of play in school social counseling. The important finding of research is that the relationship of play theories with school social counseling appears between theory and practice applying play theories for school social counseling. The recommendations that the authors provide in this research for school social counseling are the necessity of activating the role of playing in school social counseling, increase the use of play counseling as an effective method, and increase the number of social counselors in primary schools to improve their performance in counseling.

Health Sector Interventions to address Gender Based Violence: in Sri Lanka

Gender Based Violence (GBV) is a common form of violence globally and includes physical, sexual, emotional and economic violence. GBV has serious consequences for women’s health and well-being and takes a high national cost for the treatment and rehabilitation. Prevalence of GBV is usually underestimated. GBV is addressed globally using good practices in justice, health, education and multi- sector. Health sector is in a valuable position to support survivors and change social attitudes. Interventions taken in the health sector should be targeted at all three levels; primary prevention, secondary prevention and tertiary prevention. There are different models used in health care settings in different countries. “Mithuru Piyasa (in Sinhalese) / Natpu Nilayam (in Tamil)” which is staffed with a medical officer and a nursing officer was introduced in Sri Lanka as a “One Stop Crisis Centre/One Stop Service Centre” for survivors within the health institutions. Its main functions are screening, medical care, befriending services, risk assessment and safety planning, referral to legal, social, counseling and rehabilitation services, advocacy and community mobilization. Services are provided adhering to its guiding principles of safety, confidentiality, respect, non - discrimination, responsibility, competence and compassion. Documentation, Information management, progress review and evaluation are carried out for the sustainability of the service. Still this opportunity is not fully utilized. Service provision is not uniform in quality, coverage, equity, efficiency and effectiveness. Administrators are expected to develop their interest and pay their attention with priority, in supporting the functioning of these centres established under outpatient department by proper operation, expanding country wide and marketing.

Theories of Play and Their Relation to School Social Counseling

This research studies how play theories contribute to social counseling in schools through using methods and strategies of play according to those theories in school social counseling, and this study aims to identify the relationship between play theories and school social counseling, identify the concept of play, its importance, characteristics, and social dimensions, learning about play theories, and the use of play in school social counseling. The important finding of research is that the relationship of play theories with school social counseling appears between theory and practice applying play theories for school social counseling. The recommendations that the authors provide in this research for school social counseling are the necessity of activating the role of playing in school social counseling, increase the use of play counseling as an effective method, and increase the number of social counselors in primary schools to improve their performance in counseling.

Effects of Social Counseling on Parents of a Child With Cancer

When a child is diagnosed with cancer, there can be serious consequences for the entire family. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between social counseling based on different social diagnostic methods and parent’s quality of life, psychosocial burden, and sense of coherence. Seventy-one parents of children with cancer were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups and were interviewed at three measurement times. Analysis of covariance was used for the data analysis. With respect to the effects of social counseling based on different social diagnostic methods, the results are somewhat mixed. We found only few significant effects between the intervention and control groups but a significant influence of moderating variables like the child’s health status. There were significant changes in parent’s quality of life and psychosocial burden, but the findings provided no evidence that one social diagnostic method works better than the other one. Methodological reasons concerning sample size and program integrity are discussed.

Konseling Lintas Budaya dan Agama (Nilai-Nilai pada Masyarakat Suku Batak dalam Melakukan Pendampingan terhadap Disabilitas)

This study aims to describe and analyze the values of life that "disability" occurs not because of a curse so that it experiences "disability." Through the use of social values in the Batak Tribe, acceptance and support for people with disabilities can build good relations. This research uses a qualitative-descriptive approach. Data was obtained through in-depth interviews from the municipal government and Central Tapanuli Sibolga District, religious leaders, elements of the Hepata Laguboti Panti Karya community institution and Sibolga RBM as sources and direct interviews with Disability families. The process of community social counseling occurs because of differences through perspective, mindset, and culture in reality. The counseling action towards the counselor is carried out through acceptance, respect and respect in accordance with the cultural elements in the existing community. Through Cross-Cultural and Religious Counseling it is necessary to provide assistance to Disability Welfare, especially for Bataks, where there is still an understanding that "Disability" is caused by curses. Through cross-cultural and religious counseling, Batak tribal values are used to humanize humans, because humanizing humans is part of justice in society

Application of social counseling technology for low-income families within the framework of a social project

We present statistical data on the number of low-income population and low-income families in the Russian Federation. The concepts of “low-income”, “low-income family”, “living wage” are characterized. The problematic field of low-income families is studied. The main reasons for the increase in the number of low-income families in the Russian Federation are revealed. The relevance of the research topic is substantiated. Measures are listed to improve the quality of life of low-income families within the framework of state social policy. The legal framework for social work with low-income families is studied. The essence, stages and principles of the social counseling technology are considered. We list the main personality traits that a specialist in social work should have. The need for social institutions to use the social counseling technology when working with low-income families is revealed and substantiated. The developed and implemented social project to inform low-income families using the social counseling technology is presented. The relevance is substantiated and the effectiveness of the implementation of this social project is proved. The novelty and practical significance of the project is revealed, which consists in the pos-sibility of increasing the level of awareness of low-income families on social and legal issues, in the cooperation of efforts of various social institutions in solving the problems of low-income fam-ilies, in attracting and training volunteers to acquire the necessary knowledge on social and legal issues.