Aleknavičienė, Vaida

In 2022, children and youth fleeing the war in Ukraine began to move to Lithuania, which led to Lithuanian social workers facing new challenges in their work. The focus of this study is on exploring the challenges faced by these social workers in applying the hospitality concept and a psychosocial approach. The study is based on 15 in-depth interviews with social workers working with children and youth. The following research question is investigated: What kinds of challenges have social workers faced when working with children and youth fleeing war, and how do they cope with these challenges? Data-driven content analysis highlights three main challenges: tackling cultural and psychosocial barriers embedded in language and interaction; tolerating uncertainty regarding their work; and navigating the boundaries between professionalism and hospitality. These challenges require organizational support, comprehensive training, and a commitment to understanding the experiences of children and youth fleeing the war, which should be considered during the education of social workers. The psychosocial approach and the practice of hospitality enable help to be provided to children and young people that takes into account their psychological situation and social environment, while fostering inclusion and empowerment. The study concludes with implications for social work with children and youth fleeing war, highlighting the value of hospitality in this context.

The entire world faced a crisis associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The social impacts of the pandemic were severe, the movement of people was strictly limited, and schools, day care centres, and youth centres were closed. This affected social workers working with children and youth activities. The goal of this article is to analyse the memories of social workers working with children and youth during the COVID-19 pandemic in Lithuania. In order to explore the memories of social workers, a qualitative research methodology was used, and non-probability purposive sampling was applied for finding research participants. In-depth interviews were used for data collection, with each research participant facing one main question: describe your everyday activities during the pandemic. Qualitative content data analysis was applied. Three categories were formulated and are presented in the article: challenges of social work during the pandemic; positive factors of work during the pandemic; and ways of working during the pandemic. These were followed by seventeen subcategories: adaptation to restrictions; organizational work; teaching; cooperation with other institutions; filming; IT knowledge; psychological aspects; activeness and tension at work; spending more time together; improved competencies; closer communication with other institutions; closer communication among social workers; courses and seminars; volunteers; IT programmes; various types of consultations; and creativity. The challenges and positive aspects revealed show that social workers looked for ways to adapt to new working conditions and were ready to overcome challenges in order to help children and youth during the pandemic.