»Zašto djeca nisu oduzeta na vrijeme? «: Analiza medijskih izvještaja o socijalnim radnicima povodom medijski eksponiranih slučajeva zlostavljanja djeteta

Abstract

During the last several years, the Croatian public has been shaken by tragic violent events involving children within the family. In 2017 a mother killed her threeyear-old son, and in 2019 a father attempted to murder his four minor children. When such things occur, the media and the public try to determine why they were not prevented and who is responsible for their prevention, and the ones who are most frequently considered as responsible are social workers. The aim of this research is to analyse discursive constructions (narratives, rhetorical techniques) within media articles on social workers on the occasion of high-profile cases of child abuse. Discursive psychology was used as an analysis method. 76 articles published on the most frequented news portals in Croatia were analysed. The portals were selected on the basis of the number of actual users according to the data by Gemius Rating and a Reuters survey of users’ self-reports about visiting web sites. The analysed articles were published in the period from May 24, 2017 to October24, 2018 and in the period from February 28, 2019 to July 1, 2019. Results indicate that in reporting on critical events of child abuse the most frequent narrative in the media is “inadequate action of social workers”. In that narrative the media and the public criticise social workers for failure to provide adequate protection to children and consider that they are not professional enough. In response to that narrative, there are narratives about “social workers as the victims of inadequate system”, “social welfare system in crisis”, and “positive attitude towards social workers”. Within these narratives, social workers and professional organisations educate the public on shortcomings and difficulties within the social welfare system that hinder the work of social workers, which can lead to violations of the users’ rights. They also call upon relevant authorities to undertake necessary reforms. Social workers are characterised as professional and committed to their work. Two additional narratives also appear: “problems in public services” and “a call for making changes”. In the narrative about problems in public services, lawyers and judges mention problems in court proceedings related to the protection of the rights of children, but they also question the knowledge and professionalism of social workers. In the narrative about the need to make changes, professional organisations demand that the authorities and the public turn towards reforms instead of criticism of social workers. Key words: social work; media; child abuse; discursive psychology

Social Work and Domestic Violence in Croatia Through a Gendered Lens

“…With the state no longer interested in the collective protection of workers' (especially women's) rights and its prioritisation of austerity policies, the problem of domestic violence is positioned as an individual responsibility. At the same time, the burden of preventing domestic violence is placed solely on the social welfare sector by the media on the occasion of tragic incidents involving either women or children (Rajter, 2015;Stanić, 2021).…”

“…However, a more recent analysis of media articles on social workers regarding media-exposed cases of child abuse has shown that the most common narrative is that of "inappropriate behaviour of social workers" (Stanić, 2021). In this narrative, the media and the public criticise social workers for not providing adequate child protection and consider them insufficiently professional.…”

“…In this narrative, the media and the public criticise social workers for not providing adequate child protection and consider them insufficiently professional. In response to this narrative, the narratives "social workers as victims of an inadequate system", "social welfare system in crisis" and "positive attitude towards social workers" appear (Stanić, 2021). Within them, social workers and professional organisations inform the public about the shortcomings and difficulties within the social welfare system that make it difficult for social workers to work, which can lead to violations of clients' rights.…”

Proces Uparivanja I Pripreme Udomitelja I Djeteta Na Smještaj − U Koju Udomiteljsku Obitelj Smjestiti Dijete?

“…Navedeno je dovelo do smanjenja smještajnih kapaciteta u ustanovama, no nije dovelo do očekivanog porasta broja udomiteljskih obitelji unatoč donošenju novog Zakona o udomiteljstvu (kojim je među ostalim omogućeno bavljenje udomiteljstvom kao zanimanjem). Nadalje, u nekoliko posljednjih godina svjedočili smo nekolicini tragičnih slučajeva ubojstava ili teškog ozljeđivanja djece od strane roditelja, što je dovelo do povećanja broja prijava centrima za socijalnu skrb, ali i povećanja broja izdvajanja djece iz obitelji (Stanić, 2021.). Stanić (2021.)…”

Percepcija Studenata I Studentkinja O Profesiji Socijalnog Rada

“…Informativna i edukativna uloga medija na ovom planu čini se da često nije dovoljno zastupljena i da preovladava senzacionalistička potraga za pričama koje ne nude moguća rešenja, već pozivaju sistem na proglašavanje krivca, te na kažnjavanje. Takva atmosfera dalje vodi većem oprezu onih koji obavljaju ovu profesiju i sveukupnoj rigidnosti sistema (Stanić, 2021). Rezultati ove studije pokazuju najveći stepen slaganja studenata i studentkinja socijalne politike i socijalnog rada sa tvrdnjom da je slika koju mediji stvaraju o socijalnim radnicima/cama negativna.…”