Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.3935/rsp.v12i3.96
Women and First Organized Forms of Practical Social Work in Croatia
Sandra Prlenda
; Centar za ženske studije
Abstract
The paper gives the overview of the history of charity and social work carried out by women on the Croatian territory from the end of the 19th century until World War II. It describes socio-economic preconditions for the entrance of women into the public sphere, where they found the prolongation of their traditional role of caregivers in charity work. In the end of the 19th century, the upper class members were active in charity, humanitarian and cultural work organised in ladies’ societies. Later on, women’s organisations gradually became more democratic and narrowed their scope. The second part of the paper presents the results of the research based on the archival materials on some of the first forms of modern social work. The Friends of Young Girls (1927-1947) was a civil organisation based on feminist principles, with the aim of fighting against prostitution. In co-operation with the international federations of Friends of Young Girls and similar civil initiatives in Croatia, they tried to apply social work methods with their clients, primarily prevention, counselling, support and education. The first professional social workers employed by the municipal authorities of Zagreb were nurse aides and teachers of city shelters for children. These two groups had different training and working conditions, and therefore the level of their professional identity was also different.
Keywords
history of social work; women; charity organisations; women’s organisations; methods of social work in history
Hrčak ID:
30243
URI
Publication date:
8.12.2005.
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