Social workers hold
their First National
Workshop on Crime Prevention
By:
Marianela Martín y Rocío Tujillo
E-mail:
digital@jrebelde.cip.cu
November 7, 2008 - 00:02:37 GMT
A CubaNews
translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.
«Our
social workers must strive to change the attitude of those who neither
work nor go to school», Program director Enrique Gómez Cabezas remarked
«We often deal
with young people who refuse to get a job on the grounds that they don’t
need one; however, as social beings they certainly need to get involved,
and society needs them too. Changing their attitude is therefore our
prime challenge and a top priority», Social Workers Program director
Enrique Gómez Cabezas said in reference to the preventive action
expected from more than 30,000 Cuban social workers engaged in this
nationwide task.
On Thursday, In
his opening speech for the First National Workshop on Crime Prevention,
to be held until Saturday in the Pedagogic Conference Center of the town
of Cojímar, Gómez Cabezas said that a social worker must strive to
change the attitude of those unwilling to get a job or an education and
make society as a whole feel responsible for any deviant behavior and
help those who have lost their bearings redeem themselves.
In the presence
of several entities involved in crime prevention and experts on child
and juvenile conduct, Dr. Patricia Arés, a psychologist from the
University of Havana, made it a point that there are always determining
and predisposing factors to any at-risk situation, and pointed out the
lack of communication and emotional bonds needed to instill proper
values and norms in our children as a major cause of offending attitudes
and social indiscipline.
Nowadays, 60% of
Cuban couples who get married end up divorced, and 70% of our children
are born out of wedlock, either to common-law marriages or single
mothers.
According to the
expert, several family-and-crime studies have it that a number of things
are likely to have failed for a minor to become a criminal, regardless
of their living conditions. Excessive tolerance, physical abuse and
other traumatic experiences are also conducive to offending behavior.
Organizers of the
1st. National Workshop on Crime Prevention said the purpose was to
foster prevention work and place it high on the long list of social
work-related activities.
This first
meeting intends to fuel creativity, encourage research on problems like
crime, child and youth misbehavior and social exclusion, and promote
further efforts to prevent improper social conducts in order to tackle
the risk factors that cause them.
original:
http://www.juventudrebelde.cu/cuba/2008-11-07/inauguran-primer-taller-
nacional-de-los-trabajadores-sociales-en-la-prevencion-del-delito/
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Social workers’ First National Workshop
on Crime Prevention successfully
held
In his closing speech, Carlos Lage appealed for practical, specific
measures to work with our youth.
By:
Rocío Trujillo Olivares
E-mail:
digital@jrebelde.cip.cu
November 9, 2008 - 00:16:54 GMT
A CubaNews
translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.
«We must not carry on with crime prevention thinking that it’s a problem
we can simply solve by visiting someone or finding them a job. We must
fulfill this and other tasks assigned to the Social Workers program in
the firm belief that these problems have deeply rooted, complex causes».
Thus were Council
of Ministers’ Executive Committee secretary Carlos Lage Dávila’s words
yesterday to close the 1st. National Workshop on Crime Prevention held
by our social workers, whom he urged to reflect on the role they can
play in this connection.
Lage, who is also
a Political Bureau member, stressed the need for practical, specific
steps to work with our youth, even if changing anyone takes a long time
and highly qualified people to do it.
Some measures
have been taken by the government to help make our social workers’
mission more effective and solve any problem these ‘doctors of the soul’
dig out which must be dealt with by other sectors of society.
«A method has
been approved to provide unfettered economic assistance», he added,
«because as a rule this kind of solution is time-consuming and
bothersome, much like it used to happen whenever material supplies were
allocated. So a new procedure has been designed based on guidelines put
forward by the social workers themselves.
«Individuals and
whole families alike have already joined the food-provision programs
organized by every People’s Council, and the systems to distribute
special food diets have been improved, but we must see to it that
everything runs smoothly, since we can count on these resources today
without affecting the minimum indispensable stocks kept by each
territory for the use of patients who suffer from low-prevalence
illnesses», he underscored.
On the last day
of the Workshop, in light of the high number of issues and concerns
among the participants, Social Workers’ program director Enrique Gómez
Cabezas requested a continuation of the ordinary sessions of previous
days.
ORIGINAL:
http://www.juventudrebelde.cu/cuba/2008-11-09/concluyo-el-primer-taller-nacional-de-trabajadores-sociales-en-la-prevencion-del-delito/
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