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Every man’s life is a process of solving the problems he faces. Depending on the experiences that people have been exposed to during the socialization process, these problems can be perceived and understood as representing challenges, major difficulties, or personal failures. This perception is encountered in the crisis situations that the human being is experiencing. Hoff (1995) draws attention to the fact that, unfortunately, crisis situations are confused with emotional or mental disorders. These short duration episodes are nothing but extremely demanding moments for the individual in which he is forced, by circumstances, to make decisions that can greatly influence his life course. In Chinese, for instance, the concept of crisis is represented by means of two characters in which one signals danger and the other opportunity. Research conducted over time and focused on the analysis of crisis management, its effects and the role of different types of intervention and formal social support (Lindemann, 1944; Caplan, 1964; Prad, 1966; Halpern, 1973; Farberow, 1974; Baldwin. 1978; France, 1982; Belkin, 1984; Raskin, Rogers, 1995; Myer, 2000; Roberts, 2000; James, Gilliland, 2005; Roberts, Yeager, 2009) draw attention to the importance of the individual’s perception and his cognitive interpretation in relation to the stressful factors that fuel crisis situations and the problems they face. The major influence of inadequately managed emotions, the persistence and feeding of emotional states of discomfort in which fear and anxiety grow in intensity and are responsible for the formation of a fatalistic vision in relation to the event that the individual is going through, represent the aspects on which the specialists in the field (psychologists, therapists, social workers, psychiatrists) intervene and support individuals in order to restore psycho-emotional homeostasis and social functioning. The specific cognitive schemes of individuals, their resistance to change, the ability to manage their own emotions, the intrinsic and extrinsic resources at their disposal and the previous experience represent variables depending on which the intervention plan is made, and formal social support is granted.
The period we have gone through in the last two years has generated a deep crisis both at the macrosocial and microsocial levels. We are currently facing not only the effects generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also a succession of social, economic and political crises. From an evolutionary perspective, analyzing the present context, we can perceive and decode this period as a stage of segregation and sorting, in order to move on to another cycle of development. This metamorphosis also involves losses that, perceived in such an approach, become necessary and even important in the management of the chaos that many people’s face. However, the questions that arise fueled by the mechanisms of critical thinking, aim at aspects with multiple ethical and moral implications: do all these losses have a role and are they justified in this new stage of development and evolution? This new stage involves evolution or... on the contrary, the involution of the human species, especially if we refer to only one aspect: the desensitization of individuals and the return to a maladaptive egocentrism?
We learn to know our potential, to adapt and survive becoming resilient, only in the context of the problems we face and only when we go through crisis situations. But we need, in this endeavor, a set of skills that help us activate versatility and cause change in a positive sense. We are going through a period where survival becomes a solution for everyday life. Just through learning and by improving emotional flexibility, we develop a survival strategy suitable for these times. Let’s not forget that life represents about 10% of what happens to us. 90% is the way we perceive, understand, act, and react or not to what happens to us. In this context, the role of social work services, formal social support represents an extremely important resource. People who are unable to manage their problems on their own. Have maladaptively gone through a crisis and need specialized support. They must be guided to request an intervention that fits the needs they face and find the answers to the flood of questions: “Why now?” “Why is it happening to me?” “Could I have acted differently?” “Where did I go wrong?” “Why didn't I ask for help?”
The topics proposed in this issue of the Social Work Review address the above-mentioned aspects and draw attention to some areas of interest in the field of Social Work in which the human resource involved requires interdisciplinary training and the approach to cases is carried out in multidisciplinary teams. It is also important to note that some of the authors of the articles are academics and specialists, others are Social Work professionals and practitioners and, finally, there are also young researchers with a degree in the field of social work and who demonstrate good training through knowledge of academic literature and their ability to conduct exploratory micro-research.
The proposed themes address the vulnerabilities faced by children from different ethnicities in Bulgaria, and the author Zuliza Zordanova Pulova-Ganeva highlights the influence of cultural norms and values in the context of accessing social work services. The role of social work services and the importance of intervention in the crisis generated by COVID-19 is a topic approached by Patricia Runcan, Mihaela Gavrilă-Ardelean and Remus Runcan. Gheorghita Nistor presents the results of a research conducted in Romania which has asa topic the importance of social work services addressed to people who have an alcohol use disorder. Valentina Galbinaşu and Teodora Stanciu address an area of interest that, although abroad has been the subject of many studies, analyzes and researches, in Romania, it is a field studied for a short period of time: the benefits of human-animal interaction in the context of social work services and animal assisted therapy. Mihaela Simion and Kristina Kristoff propose two articles in which the causes and consequences of intimate partner violence and the importance of social support services provided to female victims of violence are explored. Gabriela Zaharia is the author of an article in which the topic addressed is of real interest, especially because we are facing an accelerated demographic aging: the importance of supporting informal caregivers of dependent elderly people in rural areas. Alina Costin carries out a review of the academic literature related to the effects that divorce generates on children. Social economy as a form of social protection for people with disabilities is analyzed by Diana Răduţ-Selişte.
Editor,
Valentina Rujoiu
References
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Belkin, G. S. (1984). Introduction to counseling (2nd ed.). Dubuque, IA: William C. Brown.
Caplan, G. (1964). Principles of preventive psychiatry. New York: Basic Books.
Farberow, N. L. (1974). Suicide. Morristown, N. J.: General Learning Press.
France, K. (1982). Crisis Intervention. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois.
Halpern, H. A. (1973). Crisis theory: a definitional study. community Mental health Journal, 9, 4, 342-349.
Hoff, L. A. (1995). People in crisis: understanding and helping, 4th Ed. Jossez-Bass Publications, San Francisco, CA.
James, R. K., Gilliland, B. E. (2005). Crisis intervention Strategies, 5th Ed. Thomson/Cole: Belmond, CA.
Lindemann, E. (1944). Symptomatology and management of acute grief. American Journal of Psychiatry, 101, 141-148.
Myer, R. A. (2000). Assessment for crisis intervention: a triage assessment model. Belmond: Brooks/Cole. CA.
Parad, H. J. (1966). Preventive casework. Problems and implications. În H. J. Parad (ed.), Crisis intervention: selected readings. Family Service Association of America. New York.
Raskin, N. J., Rogers, C. R. (1995). Person-centered therapy. În R. J. Corsini, D. Wedding (Eds.), Current psychotherapies (5th ed.). Itasca, IL: F. E. Peacock.
Roberts, A. R. (2000). Crisis intervention handbook: assessment, treatment and research. New York.
Roberts, A. R., Yeager, K. R. (2009). Pocket guide to crisis intervention, Oxford University Press, New York.
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