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Self-realization as the aim of social work is mentioned in the ethical codes of social workers and various acts, regulating the activity of social work in Lithuania and other countries. Self-realization is discussed as the essential virtue, defining social work, and as the objective, towards which the final goal of the practice, involving all areas of social work, must be oriented. Thus, the aim of research which is presented in this paper was to find out what conditions design premises for the clients to aim for the self-realization during the process of the assistance. Searching for what kind of attitudes towards social problems and the means and principles of assistance are important when endeavouring to design conditions for the self-realization of a client during the process of assistance, qualitative research was carried out: biographic interview with a client, interviews of 6 social workers and the analysis of the documents of 3 organizations, which work in the social field and clearly name self-realization of the clients as the goal. The results of the research revealed, that the system of the assistance, when aiming for this goal of social work, is composed of these elements: professional specialized assistance; the creation of material basis and conditions, which do not humiliate human dignity and do not stimulate the rise of *supply* mentality; the design of conditions for work and learning thru work; providing the possibilities for education; the design of the space for the development of the personality during leisure time; warranting the relationship, based on the confidence and belief in person during all the process of assistance. This system of assistance is based on 3 principles of design of natural environment: the principle of unterminated time of assistance; the principle of design of family environment; the principle of individual approach to person. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scavengers are people who recover recyclables from waste and use it for self consumption and/or trade. Though this group of society exists in many societies, the research in this area is scarce. There few research made in western world, more in developing countries. In Lithuania this area is quite uninvestigated. The paper present this paper the results of ethnographic research conducted in year 2006-2008 in Lithuanian dumps. The nature of this paper is descriptive. We introduce general characteristics of scavengers' work and their earnings in various countries as well as in Lithuania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this article is to analyze the challenges that arise from stigma and that relatives of people with Schizophrenia face in their relationships in primary social network. Schizophrenia does not only change everyday life and relationships of the ill but also of their relatives. This topic is not researched in Lithuania. Meanwhile in the international context, the biggest attention is paid to the subjective and objective burden that relatives of the people with Schizophrenia face, leaving aside the changes and dynamics in their relationships. Therefore, in this article the influence of the stigmatization on the relationships in the closest environment of patient is discussed. In order to achieve this goal, qualitative research has been completed and 15 half-structured interviews with the people who have relatives, who suffer from Schizophrenia, were carried out. The relation to the person with Schizophrenia varied according to the individual cases - some of them were spouses, some where children, parents, siblings or further relatives. The results of the research reveal that Schizophrenia causes complex emotional experiences of patient’s family members, and gives an effect on relationships within the family, as well as on relationships of the ill and his family members with further relatives, friends, neighbors and colleagues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]