The Social Worker when Faced with New Emergencies. A Study in the Italian Context

• Author: Moretti, C.
• Position: Assistant professor at Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy; research member of Centre for Interdisciplinary Research and Service on Social and Health Integration (CRISS)
• Pages: 227-234

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov

Series VII: Social Sciences • Law • Vol. 6 (55) No. 2 - 2013

THE SOCIAL WORKER WHEN FACED

WITH NEW EMERGENCIES.

A STUDY IN THE ITALIAN CONTEXT

Carla MORETTI1

Abstract: This paper focuses on the interventions set up in different social

contexts by social workers, in the current service system and social policies

in Italy. Specifically, it looks at the results of a study carried out in the

Marche Region, which examined both critical elements and significant

strengths. In Italy, the reform of social assistance, Law no. 328/2000 laid a

strong emphasis on the creation of individualised interventions, which

integrate health and social care and are realised with the support of third

sector agencies. However, in recent years the social workers on the one hand

have had to deal with the growing problems of families and with increasingly

complex questions, on the other the economic crisis has led to a radical

reduction in social spending; this has had a profound effect on the

organisation of social services as well as on the interventions of those

operators who work in this field.

Key words: Social policies, social workers, new emergencies,

interventions, training.

1 Assistant professor at Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy; research member of Centre for

Interdisciplinary Research and Service on Social and Health Integration (CRISS).

1. Introduction

In the nineties, significant changes in

social policy and in relationships between

public bodies and the third sector took

place in Italy. Over time, the

Municipalities have come to play an

increasingly central role, as authorities

capable of implementing and managing

social policies. The public-private

relationships have evolved from a culture

of delegation to a new model of regulation

based on co-participation (Ascoli, 2005).

In Italy, the long-awaited social

assistance reform, approved in 2000,

represented an important stage in this

process, even though many regions had

already initiated their own reorganisation

of services. Law no. 328/2000 is a broad

piece of legislation; its multiple contents

are designed to build an integrated system

of social services and interventions,

combating the traditional marginalisation

of this sector in the Italian welfare system

and in society as a whole.

About a year after the proclamation of

the law, however, changes toFifth Title

of the Italian Constitution were approved,

transferring exclusive authority in the field

of social policies to the regions, and

therefore limiting the effect of the Act.

Over the past twenty years, in Italy, social

care policies have experienced a double

trend. In the first phase, increasing