Emergenza e post-emergenza: percorsi e prospettive del servizio sociale

Abstract

In the emergency situations occurred up to today, both at national and international level, very different professionals cooperate: some of these are now perfectly stored in the collective imaginary (doctors, firefighters, logistics experts, law enforcement, etc..), while others (community leaders, educators or social workers) have not yet been fully integrated into the network of the protagonists of the emergency. This mean that social workers - on several occasions and in a more or less structured and recognized ways - have been shown to possess extraordinary skills in this field; experience on the ground, in fact, shows how their contribution can be relevant and constructive already in the immediate relief, but particularly in the phases immediately subsequent to it. This is because the timing of the emergency is not limited to the most intense moments of the first intervention, but includes the management (never short) of the transition phase from the first impact with the catastrophe to the return to normality, as well as the promotion of actions aimed at the prevention of further loss and the implementation of a process of reconstruction, participated and built through a network of actors. The reflection on the experiences of the past few years, the confrontation between colleagues, the analysis of materials and detailed information on the general debate on the potential role of professional Social Service in emergency conditions, converge in identifying a professional space consistent with the mandate of the social service, in compliance with the code of ethics. It is equally clear that the characteristics of the intervention - the multiplicity of actors involved, the realization, quick and in contexts changed by exceptional events - need to proceed to a strengthening of the operators’ identity and the structuring of interpretations and skills specifically targeted.