Social Practices in Providing Social Services for Families in Lithuania: Day Care Centers Approach

Abstract

Despite the considerable number of scientific papers on the importance of interactions between social workers and children in world literature, there are only a few studies and scientific papers in Lithuania that focus on the experience of social workers to interact with vulnerable children. The aim of this article is therefore to analyze the methods of interacting social workers with vulnerable children in daycare centers. Two research questions were formulated: what are the most effective and the least effective methods of interacting with sensitive children in the Vilnius daycare centers. The qualitative methodological approach was applied in the study. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed using thematic analysis, which allowed for the separation of three main categories: common interaction methods, the most effective methods, and the least effective methods. The qualitative analysis of the data enabled, in turn, to indicate within the subcategories of the various activities to be able to rule on the effectiveness and functionality of group and individual therapy.