Editorial

The current Social Work Review number (3/2018) is dedicated to the theme of “How to deal with trauma, loss and bereavement” and it was accomplished under the editorial coordination of two lecturers from Faculty of University of Bucharest, Sociology and Social Work, Social Work Department.

According to aforementioned thematic, the main focus in the area of social work is dealing with vulnerable people and those who have lived different traumatic experiences. The articles in this review, display open-mindedness in respect of the researches when dealing with the study of trauma, bereavement and loss, especially regarding the means of intervention in the case of these essential attributes for the social work domain.

Furthermore, we shall briefly present the papers accepted in this number where researches and academics from our country as well as other countries contributed.
The present number 3/2018 of Social Work Review opens up with the article Emergency Out-Of-Home Placements, a Comparison Between Child Welfare Practice in Germany and Norway - qualitative study where the author Arve Lerum from the University of Stavanger Norway, Institute of Social Work explored and compared the way the staff in the social work domain in Germany and Norway approach the situations where urgent placement is required.

The next article Alternative Care of Children without Family in Hungary written by Andrea Rácz, University of Eötvös Loránd, Department of Social Work, Budapest, Hungary analyses the present child protection system from Hungary and its future challenges.

Violence and Trauma in the Romanian Residential Child Protection is the next article coming from a team of researchers from Babeş-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work): Maria Roth, Imola Antal, Ágnes Dávid-Kacsó, Éva László-Bodrogi, Anca Mureşan. The authors discuss the traumatic consequences of residential child protection and highlight the importance of staff training in these centres with regards to a better support mechanism for the beneficiaries with regards to prevention and intervention.

Oana Mara Stan from the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work presents the article entitled Repro-preneurs: Surrogate Mothers as Vulnerable Group: Discursive Legitimation and Rationalization Practices across Media and Forums. The study analyses the insights regarding surrogate maternity form Romania and the UK from the perspective of media and legislative changes.
Transferring Aggression from Family to Social Life, article of Gabriel Pricină from the University of Craiova presents a discussion on traumatic experience of learnt aggression form an early age that has a significant influence on later on child behaviour.

The next three articles are dedicated to the domestic violence study: Family Violence: Definition Revisited), Aurel Bahnaru and Patricia-Luciana Runcan, from West University of Timişoara, Faculty of Sociology and Psychology; Personal and Community Resources for the Victims of Domestic Violence by Ana-Maria Dumitrescu from University of Piteşti, Department of Psychology, Communicational Sciences and Social Work; Aspects of violence against women in Roma families written by Adrian Dan, Social Work Department, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, University of Bucharest and Oana Banu from The Institute for Quality of Life. These articles indicate the increased level of the spread of domestic violence phenomena and the specialists’ (social workers, educators, jurists, medical doctors, policemen, psychiatrists, psychologist etc.) in depth understanding of its causes and effects, alongside the proper means of intervention in managing and solving these kind of cases. The authors highlight the need of information, increased degree of acknowledgement and sensitivity of the potential victims of domestic violence (be it the woman, child, teenager, elderly people, man) regarding their rights and tools they’ve got to deal with problems.

The following article is a Review of the Speciality Literature on the Programs Intended for Sexual Offenders and the Theories that Underlie their Implementation by Mioara Paraschiv, University of Bucharest, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work. An important aspect the authors make a reference to is the evaluation of the efficiency of these programs when it comes to crime recidivism.

The next article, Adaptability of the Elderly, Within the Residential Centre of the City of Arad by Alina Breaz and Edgar Demeter, The University „Aurel Vlaicu” Arad, investigates the means the elderly people adapt to the residential centre during the first six months and how do they interact and socialise with others as well as the staff interaction with the beneficiaries. Concluding with the fact that elderly people from the centre deeply feel uprooted, the authors also pinpoint the fact that there is a stringent need to invest more resources in the elderly care system.

Alina Simona Hoară, Ph. D student at the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work approaches the theme of loss trauma associated with the news of a serious diagnosis for people who suffer a terminal illness (health, physical and life integrity loss) and their families (loss of the significant other) as well as the roles of the social worker as a member of palliative team that offers assistance and support to the beneficiary as well to the family in the article entitled A Realistic Vision of the Practical and Social Needs of People with Terminal Diseases.
The present Social Work Review number ends with the article on The prevalence of Secondary Traumatic Stress among Romanian Social Workers: a Replication Study by Loreni Baciu and Delia Vîrgă, West University of Timişoara, Faculty of Sociology and Psychology. The authors open up the discussion with reference to the support for social workers suggesting programs of dealing with the associated risks in this job regarding protection from the work related stress, contact with human sufferance, loss, pain, trauma.

Accomplishing references to today’s theories and practices in Romania and abroad, the authors from the current number 3/2018 of Social Work Review highlight the importance of continuous adaptation to this domain and to the realities of a turbulent world in a continuous change.