Human rights and social work in post-communist Lithuania

Abstract

This chapter presents reflections about the development of social work and human rights in Lithuania, one of the Baltic countries and a former member of the Soviet Union. The social work profession has been developing since 1992. Personal dignity, the identity of social work as a profession, as well as human rights issues, are all closely interrelated with cultural and societal development. The continuation of the Soviet culture strongly relates with neoliberal ideology and affects the understanding and implementation of human rights in the country. Intensive collaboration with IFSW helped the author to understand the importance of human rights issues in social workers’ education and professional social work and these issues are explored in the chapter.