Role of Social Workers and Current Difficulties Faced by Social Workers in the Prevention of School Dropout in Western Romania

This study presents the results of a qualitative research using a semi-structured interview as a research method, carried out in Western Romania among 22 social workers, that aimed to identify the role of social workers, on the one hand, and the difficulties and challenges of social workers working with pupils at risk of school dropout and their families, the strategies to overcome these challenges, as well as the hazards for social workers in their professional work. A number of difficulties have been identified such as lack of a social workers in schools, optimal non-functioning of the family – school – social worker partnership, late identification of the risk of early school dropout, administrative difficulties, poor interinstitutional collaboration at community level, insufficient intervention services, lack of professional supervision of social workers, etc. Implications for practice are discussed.

Keywords: school dropout, social worker, social work, practice challenges, practice hazards