engleski

Developing a model of working with families in crisis: empowerment through the family group conference model

Family group conference is a model that has been applied for many years in the social welfare system of individual countries and is based on the concept of empowerment of family members. It was created in response to stressful situations in family lives, and empowers the individual, family members, and the entire community. The family is given the right to choose the solutions and steps that need to be taken to make progress in the family. The family group conference seeks to make the family aware that decision-making is in her hands, that she has power. The biggest advantage of a family group conference is the participation of children or young people whose voice can be heard. Everyone is an expert on their own life, and the family becomes their own expert on problem solving (Pakura, 2005) as resource availability increases. The method can be modified and adapted to the needs of the family by introducing new dimensions into the work model, and the participation of members increases the future resistance of the family to go through difficulties more easily. Resilience can be viewed as an adaptation to a new situation, despite negative circumstances (Metze, Abma, & Kwekkeboom, 2015). Resilience is strongly associated with empowerment and is based on a person’s strength and capacity to overcome obstacles in life. Resilience is influenced by the personal characteristics of the individual but also by interpersonal factors such as family and community. In crisis situations, an empowered family more easily applies the concepts adopted through the family conference, more easily overcomes new difficulties and a customized model can help in emergencies when family coherence is important. The pandemic posed an exceptional challenge for families who faced difficulties of various kinds in extremely stressful conditions. Self-help models could be developed from available effective models of working with families that nurture values such as a family group conference, which is based on working with the whole family (Dijkstra, 2019).

family group conference, family, models in social work, resiliance

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