Political Dimension of Croatian- -Muslim/Bosnian Relations in 1992

Politička dimenzija hrvatsko-muslimanskih/bošnjačkih odnosa tijekom 1992. godine

Author(s): Saša Mrduljaš / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 96+97/2008

Keywords: war in B&H; relations between Bosnian--Herzegovinian Croats and Muslim/Bosnians; international community; Serbs in B&H

International recognition of the independence of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) and the outbreak of intensive Serbian military aggression in April 1992 was the beginning of a new period of Croatian-Muslim/Bosnian relations. In this paper the author describes and analyses the political dimension of the said relations during the year 1992. Thus it is stressed that the international political action towards B&H at the time as well as exposure to very strong Serbian military aggression influenced a certain integration of the political and defensive efforts of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Croats and Muslims/Bosnians. However, in the same year a decisive influence on the character of the Croatian-Muslim/Bosnian relations were the opposed goals (of the leaderships) of the two nations with regard to the internal constitution of B&H and a contradictory attitude of the international community towards that issue. While the leadership of the Croatian people strived towards the organisation of B&H as a complex state consisting of three, tentatively speaking, national territorial units, the political leaders of the Muslim/Bosnian community promoted the transformation of the same country into a unitarian, ethnically non-decentralised entity. The inability to coordinate the mentioned constitutional options in a particular set of circumstances could have easily caused the eruption of the Croatian-Muslim/Bosnian military aggression in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Especially having in mind the encouragement of certain parties that would have profited from such a conflict.

Media Rhetoric in the 2007 Pre-Election Period. Analysis of Daily Newspapers

Medijska retorika u predizbornom razdoblju 2007. Analiza dnevnoga tiska

Author(s): Ivan Balabanić,Marko Mustapić / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 96+97/2008

Keywords: content analysis; election campaign; daily newspapers; political communication; political parties

By means of content analysis in six daily newspapers during the 2007 parliamentary election campaign there was an attempt to determine the main characteristics of political media coverage in the pre-election period and major forms of political rhetoric in the election campaign. The results indicate that a huge bipolarisation of the political scene with an emphasis on the two political parties HDZ and SDP occurred in the media. The election campaign passed without accentuating particular social problems, and the main topic of political media coverage as well as of political communication was the election itself and the pre-election party activities. As regards the rhetoric of political party representatives an affirmative rhetoric was dominant, i.e. reports containing statements in which party representatives commented upon their work, gave various promises or generally spoke positively about themselves or their party. In approximately one third of the reports containing politicians’ statements, the party actors spoke in a negative context about other parties (emphasised their faults or spoke adversely towards another party in general). There was a complete lack of solutions to particular problems and the most frequent were statements in which politicians gave only general promises. Such results indicate that in the current state of political communication in Croatia trends can be identified in accordance with theories of "packaging politics", constructing "the political spectacle" and "colonisation of politics by the media".

Personal Values as a Determinant of Dominant Political Preferences

Sustav vrijednosti kao odrednica dominantnih političkih preferencija

Author(s): Ivana Ferić / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 96+97/2008

Keywords: personal values; value systems; political preferences; voting intentions

The work analyses the role of basic personal values in the political choice of Croatian voters. From a probability sample of 1130 citizens, 436 potential voters of the two strongest Croatian political parties were selected (HDZ and SDP). The relative contribution of personal values to political choice was assessed by means of binary logistic regression. Demographic variables (sex, age, education and household income) were entered in the analyses as a separate block of predictors. The study revealed that the analysed predictors have a rather moderate explanatory power in predicting the intention to vote. Both sets of predictors accounted for approximately 20% of the variability in political choice. However, the importance attributed to personal values (namely, values of tradition and universalism) demonstrated stronger associations with voters’ political preferences than did the background variables, accounting therefore for the significantly larger proportion of variance in future voting.

Case Study: Analysis of the Puls Agency Exit Poll Methodology

Studij slučaja: Analiza metodologije izlaznih anketa agencije Puls

Author(s): Vesna Lamza Posavec,Dragan Bagić / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 96+97/2008

Keywords: exit polls; public opinion research; survey methodology

In an attempt to improve exit polls in Croatia, a detailed analysis was carried out of the exit poll methodology used by the agency Puls in the last few elections. The results of the analysis showed that the main biases of the applied methodological approaches were related to the coverage of potential respondents, mostly due to survey non-response, biased sampling procedures and, consequently to inefficient statistical correction procedures aimed at reducing such research biases. In addition to a more cautious interpretation and public presentation of results, it would be best in the future to improve the existing and develop some new methodological solutions, especially predictive models of election outcomes in which the exit polls data would be one of its constituent elements.

Determinants of Online Political Participation in Croatia

Determinants of Online Political Participation in Croatia

Author(s): Božidar Kliček,Mirta Galešić,Mihael Bošnjak / Language(s): English / Issue: 96+97/2008

Keywords: political participation; e-democracy; online research

In this paper we study variables associated with online political participation in Croatia from two perspectives. First, we explain past online political participation using variables implied as important by sociological and political research literatures. Among them are sociodemographic characteristics, political values, past participation in offline political activities, and Internet usage variables. While all these factors were substantially correlated with the past online political participation, political values and past offline political participation were its most important determinants. Second, we study the propensity for future online political participation using an extended version of Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior. The determinants of online political participation within this model are attitude toward participating, internalized social pressure, perceived behavioral control, and moral obligation. Three variables – attitudes, internalized social pressure, and moral obligation – contributed almost equally to the predictive power of the model, covering almost a 50% share of variance in the propensity for online political participation. By including past online political participation, the predictive power was further increased to a 65% share of explained variance. A number of open questions remain, pointing to several avenues for future research.

Moral Emotions and Polarization of Voters

Moralne emocije i polarizacija birača

Author(s): Stanko Rihtar,Ivana Ferić / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 96+97/2008

Keywords: morality; competence; moral emotions; voting behavior

The role of moral emotions in polarization of voters was examined in a public opinion research, conducted prior to the Parliamentary Elections in 2007 on a nationally representative sample of adults in Croatia. The used measures included questions on the salience of morality and competence as criteria of political choice, as well as short (three-item) scales of positive and negative moral emotions elicited by the two major political parties in the election. Contrary to the results of previous studies, where moral emotions and perceived morality and competence were found to be equally strong predictors of political choice, this research has shown moral emotions to be more significant in the identification of extreme groups of voters. Such results are mostly in agreement with the numerous findings stating that, in the area of morality, "evil is stronger than good", or that the negative issues more frequently draw voters’ attention and elicit more intense reactions.

Reviews

Recenzije i prikazi

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 96+97/2008

Stjepan Matković - Zlatko Hasanbegović, MUSLIMANI U ZAGREBU 1878.-1945.: DOBA UTEMELJENJA Marija Geiger -Ivan Cifrić, BIOETIČKA EKUMENA Odgovornost za život susvijeta Ivan Markešić - Peter SloterdijkGOTTES EIFER. VOM KAMPF DER DREI MONOTHEISMEN Krešimir Peračković - Antun Šundalić i Božidar Petrač, (ur.) - GLOBALIZACIJA I REGIONALNI IDENTITET Jasenka Kranjčević Znanstveni skup 10. MÜNCHENSKI DANI UREĐENJA ZEMLJIŠTA I RURALNOG RAZVITKA

Self-Esteem in Early Adolescence: The Importance of Parental Behavior and School Success

Samopoštovanje u ranoj adolescenciji: Važnost uloge roditeljskog ponašanja i školskog dostignuća

Author(s): Anita Vulić-Prtorić,Ivana Macuka,Izabela Sorić,Irena Burić / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 96+97/2008

Keywords: self-esteem; dimensions of parental behavior; school success

Many researches have demonstrated the importance of selfesteem in explaining wide psychological and social outcomes among children and adolescents. Certainly, parents play a major role in the development of their children's self-esteem. Although many studies examine the sources of self-esteem socialization, the contribution of the unique and differential influence of mothers and fathers on children's self-esteem was largely neglected. The purpose of this study was to examine the unique contribution of mother's and father's parental behavior and school success, in explaining the self-esteem among pupils in early adolescence. Research was conducted on a sample of 102 schoolchildren aged 12 to 15 (66 girls and 36 boys). Hierarchical regression analysis indicated the importance of distinct and unique aspects of maternal and paternal parenting in explaining children's self-esteem. Maternal and paternal emotionality were significant positive predictors of children's self- -esteem. In addition, maternal psychological control negatively predicted children's self-esteem. After controlling the contribution of child's gender and parental behavior variables, school success was unrelated to self-esteem.

Socila Class Position As a Determinant of Educational Acheivement

Social Class Position As a Determinant of Educational Acheivement

Author(s): Marko Ferjan,Eva Jereb,Olga Šušteršić / Language(s): English / Issue: 96+97/2008

Keywords: social classes; education; Slovenia

The objective of the study was to research the correlations between dependent variables: (i) formal education, (ii) education achievement in elementary school, (iii) education achievement in secondary school and independent variables (i) parents’ formal education, (ii) the social class individuals originated in and (iii) the financial and material circumstances of their families. A total of 1,980 adult employees in Slovenia participated in the study. Identified were correlations between formal education and all independent variables. There is also a positive correlation between the parents’ formal education and the formal education of their children (father’s education r=0.396 at p=0.01 and mother’s education r=0.370 at p=0.01). The study confirmed positive correlation between parents’ education and the educational achievement of their children in elementary school. Quite different results were obtained for educational achievement in secondary school. The correlation between educational achievement in secondary school and all the independent variables is less than 0.150.

Slammed Door: Empirical Analysis of Survey Refusal Reasons

Zalupljena vrata: Empirijska analiza iskazanih razloga odbijanja ankete

Author(s): Goran Milas,Jelena Šoša / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 96+97/2008

Keywords: survey refusal; survey turnout; sample; bias

Recently the frequent refusal of participation in surveys represents a growing problem because it is threatening the probabilistic nature of the sample, and thus the validity of the data gathered in the survey. In this paper the authors attempted to examine the reasons for accepting or refusing participation in surveys by analysing and comparing the answers given by the persons who agreed to participate in the survey against those who refused to do so. The theories used so far in attempts of interpreting survey refusal served as a referential framework. A questionnaire about participation/non-participation in surveys was used to examine a sample of 408 citizens of Zagreb, 293 of which agreed to while 115 refused to do the survey. It was proved that among the reasons offered for participation in the survey the most significant ones were those connected with the interviewers, while the most frequent reasons for survey non-participation were a lack of time or momentary indisposition. A comparison between persons who refused to and those who agreed to participate in the survey showed that the decision of the latter is predominantly influenced by the wish to assist the interviewer and generally by the interviewer’s assessment, as well as by a greater belief in the importance of surveys and a stronger need to express one’s own opinion. The reasons for refusing a survey are grouped into two factors, momentary indisposition and dislike of interviewer. The research indicates that participation or nonparticipation in questionnaires in conditions of typical surveys can best be explained by the theory of pro-social behaviour and assistance.

Constructs of Slovenianness in Slovenian Partisan Films

Constructs of Slovenianness in Slovenian Partisan Films

Author(s): Peter Stankovič / Language(s): English / Issue: 96+97/2008

Keywords: representation; constructivism; national identity; Slovene partisan film; Slovenianness

The article addresses the question, whether there could be identified a consistent pattern of representations of Slovenianness in Slovenian partisan films, the film genre about communist-led guerrilla fighters (so-called 'partisans'), and their struggle against the German and Italian occupying forces during WW II. The analysis of all feature films made in this genre shows that the official communist discourse on Slovenian national identity, at least as revealed in the partisan films, was in Slovenia in many respects not really along the orthodox Marxist lines of understanding national identity as an essentially disposable bourgeois ideological construct, since it actively encouraged it, to a large extent even in terms of the established, conservative construct of Slovenianness as something that in its essence is likened to a simple, rustic life in the midst of unspoiled nature. In the films made after the late 1960s, however, the pattern changes and the Slovenian partisan films with their new, distinctive urban character turn into a medium of restructuring of national identity.

The Romanian Caregivers in Italy on the Edge of Mental Illness. The „Syndrome of Italy”

Îngrijitoarele de bătrâni din Italia – între normalitate şi tulburare mintală sau „Sindromul Italia”

Author(s): Daniela Sîrghie / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 1/2012

Keywords: Syndrome; migration; social work; Romanian women; psychological condition

The present work throws light upon a complicated matter: the social and psychological condition of the Romanian women who choose the way of migration for taking care of old persons in order to bring a solution to their financial difficulties. But, which is the tribute of choosing this way?! It seems that the most fragile people will pay with their own mental health. This is what the subjects of the present study call it the Syndrome of Italy.

Social Rehabilitation of the Elderly: a Challenge for the Contemporary World

Reinserţia socială a vârstnicilor: o provocare pentru lumea contemporană

Author(s): Adrian Daniel Subaşu / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 1/2012

Keywords: ageing; education; social programs; social worker; supervision

The current article is aimed at highlighting the general aspects of the relationship between the ageing process and non-formal education. The global context, described as presenting various challenges, does not seem favorable at all to the elderly who are forced by specific circumstances to develop into important social actors for the next half of the century. With demographic ageing reaching an escalating level, it is widely agreed the fact that feasible solutions are to be introduced in our discussion. Therefore, adequate social programs meant to raise awareness while minimizing the risk of societies’ malfunctions proved to be our uppermost concern. Many characteristics of social assistance contribute to answering the needs of certain social categories, but with respect to the present situation, a single attribute comes to proeminence: that of proactively using the educational function. Pursuing our objective, we advocate shaping the lifestyle of the, generally speaking, old person through lifelong education and in this case the role of the social worker is marked by his catalysis dimension to ensure a subtle transition from the methodology centered on the professional to “elder” target. Furthermore, we are trying to provide an insight into the main roles played by the social worker in what regards the process of education. At the end of the article, we cast light on essential elements considering the professional supervision of the social worker in their relationship with the beneficiary. All points considered, the information provided by the paper is issued on the basis of the author’s previous practical experience.

Social Work Practice with Disability: Moving from the Perpetuation of a Client Category to Local through Global Human Rights and Social Justice

Social Work Practice with Disability: Moving from the Perpetuation of a Client Category to Local through Global Human Rights and Social Justice

Author(s): Elizabeth DePoy,Stephen Gilson / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2012

Keywords: Disjuncture theory; disability; human rights; diversity

Over the past several decades, disability and social work have become increasingly strange bed fellows, in large part due to the espousal of the medical model of disability on the part of social workers. This approach locates disability with the body as a deficit in need of repair, revision or ongoing professional scrutiny. In opposition to this embodied approach, disability scholars and activists have proposed the social model, which holds negative stereotyping and oppression as the disabling factors, thereby creating a binary debate on cause and appropriate response to disability. We suggest that this binary is not useful in guiding social work to consider disability as a complex phenomenon which requires multifaceted action responses. We therefore propose disability as disjuncture. This interactive theoretical framework draws on and synthesizes a wealth of interdisciplinary fields to inform social work analysis and response to disability that meets the multi-level goals of advancing individual function, locating disability within a broad diversity dialog, and thus promoting equivalence of rights, choice, and opportunity for full participation for those who fit within the disability category. We conclude with exemplars of the thinking and action processes, guided by disjuncture theory, that illustrate the potency of this framework and its guiding properties for progressive social work disability practice.

Humanistic Paradigm of Social Work or Brief Introduction in Humanistic Social Work

Paradigma umanistă a asistenţei sociale sau scurtă introducere în asistenţa socială umanistă

Author(s): Petru Stefăroi / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 1/2012

Keywords: human rights; personality; socio-human context; self-determination; humanistic social worker

Fundamental humanistic values and categories as human rights, social justice, human complexity, self-determination of person, personality, socio-human context, creativity and spirituality are, also, the values/principles, of contemporary social work theory and practice. The „humanistic social work” concept comes to organize, epistemological-methodological, into system, giving to theory and practice in social work both an unitary theoretical and methodological framework and a forum for debate and professional or scientific innovation. The article presents the essential resources of humanistic social work, personality and socio-human context, and philosophical and scientific sources of the concept, with emphasis on existentialism, humanistic psychology and sociology. Personal and socio-human development, participation, action, attachment, empathy and happiness theories, appreciative methods, humanistic psychotherapies and existential analysis is theoretical and methodological bases of policy and practice in the humanistic social work.

Educating the New Practitioner: the Building of Professional Identities in European Social Work

Educating the New Practitioner: the Building of Professional Identities in European Social Work

Author(s): Annamaria Campanini,Liz Frost,Staffan Höjer / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2012

Keywords: social work education; professional identity; social work in Europe; fit for practice

This article sets out to consider the tentative findings that have emerged from a comparative pilot study of the value given to their social work education by newly qualified social workers in England, Sweden and Italy. The overall aim of the research was to examine the subjective views of students from 3 contrasting welfare systems and three different degree programmes as to their preparedness for practice. The specific aim of this paper is to describe and analyse if and how a sense of professional identity is being developed and if perceptions of this differ between students coming from different welfare regimes. The project recorded and analysed the students’ views on the cusp of starting their professional lives, and after 1 year of undertaking social work occupations. Further aims were to examine the role of theory teaching, placement opportunities, personal/professional ‘growth’ and evaluative capacity in making these students ‘fit for practice’ in specific welfare systems. The paper contextualises the research with discussion of the contemporary literature of professional identity in social work in Europe.

Long-term Implications for Widowhood of Romania’s Decree No. 770

Long-term Implications for Widowhood of Romania’s Decree No. 770

Author(s): Stephen J. Cutler / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2012

Keywords: Romania; disordered cohort flow; marriage; age differences; widowhood

Romania’s Decree No. 770, issued in 1966 with little warning and banning most abortions, had the effect of creating a sudden and dramatic, but short-lived baby boom. An eventual outcome of the major disjuncture in the size of adjacent cohorts was an abrupt disruption in the supply of normatively defined, age appropriate mates. Some Romanian women born in the immediate post-decree years responded by marrying men the same age or younger, while some men responded by marrying women the same age or older. This article documents these changes and argues that a long-term dividend of the overall downward shift in age differences between spouses is likely to be a reduction in the magnitude of some of the social and economic problems associated with widowhood.

Clinical Supervizing and the Burnout in Assisting the Persons Infected with HIV/AIDS

Supervizarea clinică şi burnout-ul în asistenţa persoanelor infectate HIV/SIDA

Author(s): Valeria Guliman / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 1/2012

Keywords: clinical supervision; burnout; HIV/AIDS; clinical professionals; plead

From what we know in clinical practice, supervision is either missing or, where it exists; it is inefficient, being assimilated to the bureaucratic control system. The existence of clinical supervision as a specialization, the very experience of working with the patient as a professional, a good knowledge of the administrative and organizational policies of the institution, a good knowledge of the resources of the local community, are just a few of the elements which should characterize an efficient and good supervisor. It is not unusual for the clinical, administrative and supportive supervision to all be done at the same time. In this case, the supervision has to focus on the work performances of the supervised professional, and at the same time on the emotions, feelings and the way the professional perceives and copes with all of them. Moreover, it is well known and proven that in clinical supervision, the actual work with the patients exposes the professional to the risk of apparition of frustration and negative emotions caused, for example, by the suicide or the death of the patient or by the chronic disease of the latter. This thing can be better observed in working with patients with HIV/AIDS, where the particulars of the disease, the socio-psychological particularities of the clients, the big emotional stress, accelerate all these processes. As a conclusion, the present article wishes to be a pleading, “an alarm signal” for promoting an efficient clinical supervision (in general), especially in the work with the HIV/AIDS infected clients, for professionals like doctors, social assistants, and psychologists. This will offer them the emotional and know-how support, thus preventing the apparition of the burnout. This fact translates in equilibrate a functioning and high standard quality services.

The Human Trafficking a Global Phenomenon. Comparative Study Romania-Italy

Traficul de persoane un fenomen global. Studiu comparativ Romania-Italia

Author(s): Luminița Monica Alexandru / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 1/2012

Keywords: human trafficking; slavery; migration; prostitution; victims’ assistance

The human trafficking is a current phenomenon which is undergoing continuous transformation and rapid expansion while it is affecting countries and communities all over the world. The phenomenon is considered a form of modern slavery with severe repercussions both at micro-and macro- social level. The article presents is presenting a comparative analysis of the phenomenon in Romania& Italy with a focus on national legislation, inter-institutional cooperation between organizations from both countries and support services offered in order to re-insert victims.

Cognitive-Behavioral Techniques in the Rehabilitation of Offenders

Tehnici cognitiv-comportamentale în reabilitarea infractorilor

Author(s): Gabriel Oancea,Doina Ştefana Săucan,Mihai Ioan Micle / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 1/2012

Keywords: Nothingworks; whatworks; cognitive-behavioral; rehabilitation; Romanian probation system

Introduction of cognitive-behavioral approaches in the practice of correctional services has opened new perspectives for the rehabilitation of offender’s process. After several decades of stagnation, when under the impact of nothing works movement the ideal of rehabilitation has been placed on the background, a series of research would demonstrate that cognitive-behavioral interventions may have results in efforts focused on the rehabilitation of persons who break the law criminal. This article discusses both the context that characterized the emergence of movement What works, the main features of social reintegration approach based on structured programs working with offenders, and steps taken to include them in the practice of probation services in Romania.