LTLietuvoje kasmet šimtai vaikų praranda tėvų globą. Didžioji dalis vaikų netenka tėvų globos dėl tėvų netinkamo elgesio, nesirūpinimo vaikais, netinkamos vaikų priežiūros bei nesugebėjimo savo vaikams sukurti saugią aplinką. Todėl, kai tėvai negali arba nenori užtikrinti vaiko teisių, šios prievolės imasi valstybė, pirmiausia teisinio reguliavimo priemonėmis garantuodama globos teikimą kiekvienam be tėvų likusiam vaikui. Šimtai vaikų atsiduria vaikų globos namuose. Pasak psichologų, jauni žmonės turi turėti suaugusį žmogų, į kurį norėtų lygiuotis, kad galėtų atrasti savo identitetą ir vidinę harmoniją su savimi. Šio straipsnio tikslas – išanalizuoti socialinių darbuotojų požiūrį į globos namuose augančių vaikų ryšius su biologiniais tėvais. Straipsnyje tiriami vaikų ir tėvų santykiai remiantis socialinio kapitalo teorija. Pirmiausia analizuojama globos namuose gyvenančių vaikų padėtis visuomenėje, apžvelgiama socialinio darbuotojo pagalba į globos namus patekusiam vaikui ir jo tėvams. Taip pat gilinamasi į socialinio kapitalo teorijos esmę, išskiriant vieną socialinių ryšių tipą – tarpasmeninius ryšius; nagrinėjami globos namuose augančių vaikų ryšiai su biologiniais tėvais, socialinių darbuotojų požiūriu. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Biologiniai tėvai; Socialinių darbuotojų požiūris; Vaikai; Vaikų globos namai; Vaikų globos namuose augančių vaikų ryšiai su biologiniais tėvais; Attitudes of social workers; Between foster home children and their families; Biological parents; Children; Children care home; Orphanages; Realationship; Relationships of children living in orphanages with biological parents; Social workers approach.
ENRelevance of the topic. Every year several hundred of children lose their parents’ care in Lithuania. The majority of children lose care because of their parents’ inappropriate behaviour, negligence, inappropriate child care, and inability to create a safe environment for the children. Therefore, when parents are unable or unwilling to accommodate the rights of the child, the government assumes this responsibility by first and foremost guaranteeing care for every child left without their parents by legislative regulations. Hundreds of children occur in foster homes. According to psychologists, young people need to have an adult person, whom they could take after so that to discover their identity and inner harmony with themselves. In the best case, parents should be these people. However, when a child is taken away from the family and the familiar environment, s/he finds him/herself in completely new surroundings, and thus, his/ her social and biological connections with parents change. The aim of the current article is to analyse the attitude of social workers towards the relationships of children growing in foster homes with their parents. The article focuses on the relationship between foster children and their parents in terms of social capital theory. Firstly, the social position of children growing in foster homes is analysed, as well as the support provided by a social worker to a child taken to a foster home and his/her parents is examined. The article also deals with the essence of social capital theory, distinguishing one of the types of social relationships – interpersonal relationships. Finally, the research findings on the biological relationships of foster home children with their parents are analysed from the point of view of social workers.Conclusions: 1. The child’s right to family ties is perceived as a child’s right to continuous and direct contact with both parents and other relatives. The child’s relationship with the family is considered an integral part of his/her identity. The children’s relationship with their biological parents is an integral part of children’s psychosocial development. 2. The main concern of the social worker working in a foster home is the child’s welfare, security, socialisation and integration into the society. Counselling and developing social skills make it possible to help the biological family of the child to strengthen the ties with the child and strengthen the family itself. 3. The analysis of the survey data indicates that the social relationships of a child in a foster home with their biological parents are weakened or totally lost. The children express their expectations to communicate with their biological parents, yet the parents show no concern about their children, stop communicating with them, or the communication is irregular and incidental. The foster home staff provides proper conditions to facilitate the relationship between the child and his/ her biological family; however, parents do not take the chance. [From the publication]