Austrian professional association of social workers

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The Austrian Professional Association of Social Workers (obds) is the interest group of social workers in Austria . It is a registered association (ZVR 275736079) and umbrella organization for the nine autonomous regional obds groups.

The association has its seat in Vienna and extends its activities to the whole of Germany. Its purpose is to merge the professional associations of social workers in Austria and to protect and promote their professional and class interests. The obds is responsible for all nationwide relevant topics and matters. Its task is to do public relations work throughout Austria and to promote the profession of social worker throughout Austria. The work of the association focuses on occupational and social policy. The main concern of the obd is the legal protection of the activities of social workers, the promotion and implementation of quality standards in professional practice, professional ethics and the observation of and compliance with human rights, children's rights and client rights in social work. The association is non-denominational, does not pursue any party political goals and is not geared towards profit.

history

The first foundation of an Austria-wide umbrella organization took place on March 31, 1919 in Vienna as the “Reich Association of Welfare Women Austria” (today obds regional group Vienna). The establishment of a nationwide and regional professional representation went hand in hand with the establishment of training facilities for social workers, which at the time were known as welfare workers . Right from the start, the Reichsverband had to struggle with different training courses, classification problems, missing posts, precarious employment relationships (so-called “internship positions”) and different salaries. Caregivers (at the beginning this was a purely female profession) worked mainly in the public sector. Their employers were mostly local governments, especially in youth welfare and health care. In the private sector, it was church institutions.

After the annexation of Austria in 1938, all professional representations in Austria were dissolved and forcibly transferred to the “Reichsbund der Deutschen Officials” in the public sector. There is little research and hardly any documents about the work of social workers during the Nazi era .

After 1945, the umbrella organization was re-established on January 26, 1950 as the “Association of Graduated Welfare Women in Austria”. The name of the umbrella organization has also changed over the years, parallel to the upgrading of the training qualifications. Since 2006 the name has been: "Austrian Professional Association of Social Workers".

Social worker training in Austria

In 1912 Ilse Arlt founded the first training center for welfare workers, “The United Specialized Courses for People Care”. In 1930 there were already seven forms of training, all of which were private training institutions except for the “Academy of Welfare Women in Vienna”. The training lasted two years and included professional internships. In 1938 all seven facilities were closed and only training to become a Nazi people nurse was allowed: “Women's school for people and health nurses”.

In November 1945, the first courses for female welfare workers in the post-war period began in the “Welfare School of the City of Vienna”, and in 1946 the “Social Women's School of the Diocese of Innsbruck” was founded. From 1946 to 1950 Ilse Arlt was able to reopen her private training, the “United Specialized Courses for People Care”, but had to finally close it in 1950 due to illness. In 1947 the “Welfare School of the City of Vienna” was granted public rights, and the training lasted two years. In 1963, in connection with a new school organization law, the "Educational Institute for Higher Social Professions" was founded, in 1976 these were converted into "Academies for Social Work". From 1987 the training was extended to three years, graduating with a diploma.

In 2001 the first technical college courses in social work began. In 2002 the training was extended again to 8 semesters, the degree was the Mag. (FH). The first master’s degree courses were set up at the universities of applied sciences in 2007 and in 2008 the training was converted to the Bologna system: basic training 6 semesters, completion of a bachelor’s degree, then 4 semesters master’s degree possible. The degree is: Bachelor or Master in social science professions. The Mag. (FH) was only a transitional model and was ended by the Bologna process, which the obds viewed as a step backwards, as the basic training was shortened by 2 semesters. The term social work is no longer visible in the educational qualification.

obds today

The numbers of social workers are only estimated (around 6,000 active people in Austria). In Austria there is no professional law and no title protection for social workers. However, since October 2013, social workers have been listed as members of a “liberal profession”. Membership in the obds is voluntary. The obds itself has been a member of IFSW, International Federation of Social Workers, the global umbrella organization for professional social workers, since 1966. The specialist journal SIÖ has been published quarterly since 1966, and there are also special issues, which are mostly financed by third parties and present special topics. Members of the obd receive a subscription to the SIÖ for free. A list of the topics can be found on the homepage of the obd. The number of subscribers has multiplied since the late 1990s and is increasingly valued as a specialist journal for social work in German-speaking countries.

swell

  • obds homepage
  • SIÖ - Social Work in Austria, Journal for Social Work, Education and Politics, Ed .: obds SIÖ (accessed on April 15, 2012)
  • ZVR - Central Register of Associations of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, ZVR
  • IFSW International Federation of Social Workers, IFSW
  • IFSW-Europe e. V., International Federation of Social Workers, Region Europe, association headquarters Berlin, IFSW-Europe
  • 90 Years of the Ottakring Youth Welfare Office, 1913 to 2003, From professional guardianship to youth welfare of the MAG ELF, By DSA Gabriele Ziering, Ed .: City of Vienna, MA 11, Office for Youth and Family, 2003 90 years of Ottakring Youth Welfare Office (accessed on April 15, 2012 ; PDF; 624 kB)
  • Judith Haberhauer-Stidl, 1995, diploma thesis page 23, Fragner Brigitte: The history of the professional association. A piece of social history. Unpublished manuscript, oA1989 / 90
  • Maria Köstler, Die Fürsorgerinnen, handbook of women's work, Vienna Chamber of Labor, 1930, pp. 281–294
  • Dieter Kreft, Ingrid Mielenz Hrsg., Dictionary of Social Work, Juventa, 6th edition 2008, page 808
  • Johannes Schilling, Susanne Zeller, Social Work, History Theory. Profession, 3rd edition, page 90, Reinhardt UTB, 2005
  • Werner Steinhauser, History of Social Workers Training, Öksa, Vienna 2000, p. 261 f.
  • Gudrun Wolfgruber: Between assistance and social control. Child welfare in Red Vienna, shown using the example of child acceptance. Vienna 1997.
  • Gudrun Wolfgruber, Subjective contributions to the development of the understanding of professionalism in social work using the example of the Vienna youth welfare service between the 1920s and 1990s (written by Gudrun Wolfgruber 2006)