Innovative technologies of social work with adolescents
Students Name: Chyryban Anhelina Vitaliivna
Qualification Level: magister
Speciality: Social work
Institute: Institute of the Humanities and Social Sciences
Mode of Study: full
Academic Year: 2023-2024 н.р.
Language of Defence: ukrainian
Abstract: The use of innovative technologies in social work has a long history. As early as the beginning of the 20th century, Mary Richmond recommended the telegraph and the telephone to social workers as means of communication for professional purposes (Richmond, 1917). In modern foreign literature on social work, the issue of using innovative technologies has been actively discussed over the past twenty years. In the early 2000s, scholars discussed the apprehensions of social workers regarding the use of innovations, particularly information and computer technologies and online technologies. Subsequently, in the publications of 2013-2016, positive rhetoric appeared regarding the use of innovative approaches, in particular social work interventions based on information and computer technologies, telesocial work (Kupenko, 2020) and digital psychosocial counseling (Lavretskyi, Loza, 2017 ). The object is social work with teenagers, and the subject is trends and results of the use of innovative technologies. The purpose of the master’s qualification work is to research and study the trends and results of the impact of innovative technologies in professional interaction with teenagers at the current stage. Ukrainian researchers Vasylieva and Romanova (2021) noted that in Ukraine, one of the priority directions of the development of the market for the provision of social services is the use of a remote form of work with clients thanks to modern digital resources. The state is actively implementing digitalization, creating registers and e-services for social assistance. The pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine emphasized the importance of remote interaction in other aspects of social work, in particular with youth. This forced the development of ways to provide social services remotely, especially considering the vulnerability of the social sphere and the urgency of providing services. One of the most vulnerable categories in need of professional psychosocial help at this stage are children and adolescents. Modern teenagers face the influence of negative factors in the conditions of rapid transformations of society and its state of war. This opens up an opportunity not only to overcome the difficulties that arise in this context, but also to ensure the quality performance of professional functions, taking into account all aspects of the needs and psychological well-being of young people. In our work, we consider the impact of innovative technologies on the effectiveness of interaction between social workers and adolescents. Various aspects of the use of innovative tools to improve the quality and effectiveness of work are analyzed. The positive and negative aspects of using innovations in social work with adolescents are considered, and the ethical aspects of this process are also taken into account. We offer practical recommendations for social workers and organizations aimed at optimizing the use of innovative technologies in work with adolescents and increasing the effectiveness of social support for the target audience. Research results. In accordance with the goal we set at the beginning of the master’s qualification work, we investigated such aspects of the impact of digital innovations in the direction of providing professional social services to adolescents as: positive and negative consequences of online counseling, analysis of trends in the use of specific tools and formats such as chatbots, challenges and potential of digital technologies, ethical issues of using innovative technologies, legal aspects of using digital technologies. We found out that the advantages of the chatbot are: its novelty; anonymity; positive perception by the target audience (teenagers); strategic use; personal approach; focus on the client’s problems; diagnostic monitoring, preventive, therapeutic and adaptive functions; adequate combination with traditional methods of social work; breadth of audience coverage, social and psychological support and accompaniment of a young person. Among the disadvantages of using a chat-bot are: the impossibility of diagnosing the psycho-emotional state of a teenager; difficulty of empathic communication; limited expression of emotions; the impossibility of establishing a quick emotional contact, and the client’s trust is a unique resource of a social worker Summing up, modern social work requires flexibility and innovation in working with young people, taking into account their unique needs and challenges in wartime conditions. The results of our scientific research will be useful: for state and non-state structures that work with different categories and groups of clients, vulnerable target communities - youth, children, IDPs, the elderly; for institutions of higher education and educational programs of the "Social Work" specialty. Keywords: teenagers, innovative technologies of social work, online social work, digital technologies, crisis social work. The master’s thesis consists of an introduction, 3 chapters, conclusions, a list of scientific literature and sources, totaling 52 items. The number of pages of the main text is 64 pages. References Vasylieva M. P., & Romanova, I. A. (2021). Practices of providing social services remotely. Karkach, A. V., & Semigina, T. V. (2019). Overcoming digital inequality as a challenge for modern social work with older people. O. V. Kupenko (2019). Social work: from theory to practice. Sumy: Sumy State University. Lavretskyi R.V., & Loza A.S. (2017). Ethical dilemmas in social work. Richmond M. E. (1917). Social Diagnosis. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.