Students' perception of acquired human rights knowledge and its implementation in professional social work practice

Abstract

International discourse on social work over the last three decades has been decisively shaped by the concept of human rights, as shown by the growing number of academic theoretical and empirical discussions on this topic. The aim of this paper is to present research results concerning the adoption of basic ideas related to human rights and their implementation in the education of social workers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The research was conducted on a sample of 291 social work students across three universities: Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Mostar. The research was conducted using four verified scales by McPherson & Abell (2012) measuring students' awareness of human rights topics, their perception of social work as a human rights profession and the application of professional methods in their implementation. Research results show that students have adopted the same professional values and are fully committed to the idea of human rights, regardless of any differences in their study programs or their social environment and historical experience. Scepticism arises due to evident problems in the implementation of human rights provisions in practice. The social reality characterized by poverty, unemployment, deep social inequality and general social insecurity of many citizens and the ethnic divisions are the main reasons for concerns and doubts about the value of the idea of human rights. Although social work students have the most practical experience, especially those in the early years of their studies, they are highly aware of the social reality and the weaknesses in implementation, especially when it comes to the most vulnerable population groups.