Publications

Children and violence

FICE Romania has published the bilingual volume “Copilul şi violenţa – Children and Violence”, 530 pages, “Semne” publishing house, containing experiences presented at the international symposium “Domestic violence. Mistreating children in families, schools, institutions and society”, which has taken place at the “1 December 1918” University of Alba Iulia, with the support of the general social assistance and children’s rights protection direction of Buzău and 3, 5 sectors of Bucharest.

The volume comprises the following chapters: “Domestic family violence”, “Domestic violence and the way children act in school” “Violence in protection institutions”. Some of the titles in the summary: “The space of social violence – social pedagogy outlines (concepts, hypothesis, mechanisms, values) by Ion Neacşu; “The impact of domestic and communitary violence on children: from understanding to acting” by Carol Kelly, (U.S.A.); “Violence inside the family – is there a possibility of breaking the apparently unlimited circle of victim thru aggressor and vice versa?” by Monica Niederle (Austria); “Reflections on the interrelation between the violent manner of acting in schools/institutions and children’s rights” by Emmanuel Grupper (Israel); “Domestic violence and scholar success” by Vlad Milea; “Violence in school and family, a drama with three leading actors” by Vlad Glăveanu; “Together, for the children!” by Tania Meilescu and Petru Iovescu; “Abuzing children by institution personnel” by Gerd Schemenau (Germany); “Violence in a center for children care and reestablishing trust” by Ina Postma (Netherlands); “Violence in schools” by Soren Hegstrup (Denmark); “Children and their life perspectives in suburbs” by Eugenio Lombardi (Italy) etc.

The volume also contains the Callout Declaration of the participants to the International Symposium of Alba Iulia, for opening up authorities, the civil society and families on the violence phenomenon which proliferates in society.

The double issue (16-17/2004) of the publication „Social Protection of Children” has been published. It is a magazine concerning pedagogy and social assistance. It is edited by the International Federation of Educative Communities -FICE-Romania. This edition commits to the theme of „Parental pattern and the contemporary family”. The first article is entitled „Types of parental patterns – taxonomical investigations, descriptions and psycho-educational consequences”, by PhD.Proff. Ioan Neacºu, The Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, The University of Bucharest. The author starts off with a series of „ guiding questions”, he then considers „the most sensitive areas to a child’s behaviour, where the parental patterns have the strongest power of influence”, he refers to „types of parental patterns” from „the taxonomical and psycho-educational perspective”, he lingers for a while on the socializing effects of the parental pattern, he defines the connections of parental patters by linking them to the learning process and the impact they have over the professional career choices. The ending regards the tendencies and hypothesis of parental education. PhD. Mioara Mincu, the president of the Romanian National Confederation of Wemen, handle the topic of „Children, biological equilibrium and the family’s reason of existence”. „Educational parental patterns and their effects” by the resident doctor Luminiþa Dobrin, from the „Prof. Dr. Al. Obregia” hospital. The psycho-pedagogical teacher Loana Lavinia Ioniþã, from School No.1 „Sfinþii Voievozi” of Bucharest, talks about „Family, a factor of equilibrium in creating a child’s personality”. The role of the father and his influence over the development of the child are themes, analysed by Prep.PhD. Georgeta Ion, and the psych-pedagogical teacher Daniela ªerban. The international precincts of the „Social Protection of Children” magazine is sustained by the development of publishing some valuable contributions form professional psycho-pedagogy teachers such as: lector Gouzel Mirassova, from the Festu Vladivostok University of Russia, social assistant Lidia Berszan, C.M.T.Z. Bethania, from Israel. The magazine also reviews the updated programs developed by FICE Romania, materialized by the publication of certain publications referring to the prevention of violence, drug abuse and the scholar abandon. The magazine lists the agenda of activities scheduled by FICE România for the last trimester of the current year together with the theme for future magazine issues: „The pedagogy of free time and the risky behaviours” and „Scholar and social adaptation”. As a whole, the magazine proves to be extremely utile to all those professional workers responsible with educating, instructing and shaping children and young people, as well as their social integration.

The substance of this whole work, which is based on studies carried out by physicians, psychologists, sociologists, teachers, and subsequently gathered together by FICE Romania, resides in its rich amount of information, case studies, indications of psychic and social knowledge, etc. All this endows it with a genuine theoretical value, while the instrumental (practical) side it reveals to volunteers – as well as to the average reader, consists of tests, group practice, real cases in real situations of drug consumption.

The Guide’s success in overcoming the danger of becoming a merely informative secondary subject student’s book is yet another asset of FICE’s work.

It is a sure fact that not only does the FICE “Volunteer’s Guide” stand out as a most beneficial publishing initiative, but particularly also as a concrete means of action, required by the very necessities of the moment: the Romanian young people must be protected not later than right now by the civil society. The spirit of the entire work reveals itself through the way its role is conceived: to protect young people by helping them to help one another, as humans on equal terms with each other, thus providing them with the opportunities they actually need.

The Methodological Guide second in line after the Volunteer’s Guide - also published by FICE Romania as part of the PHARE financed project, is aimed to the civil society, and to N.G.O.s in particular.

This work is pointing out the necessity of a combined effort of all the organizations involved in the fight against drug consumption alongside with the fact that solidarity is, in either a direct or an indirect way, a moral obligation of the society.

The prime argument that is put forward in the book is that of the ‘education on an equal term basis’, while the second argument, deriving from the former, concerns the ‘volunteer’, seen by the FICE specialists as ‘a person existing on equal terms with their peers’.

The specific content of the guide, based on the analysis of the methods and means of investigation of the self-behaviour, offers these very ways and methods to those involved in such tasks: from the mere observation to full techniques of (self)examination of the volunteer’s personality features.

As a source for theoretical and empirical research, the “Methodological Guide” comes as a consolidation mark to the previously published “Volunteer’s Guide” and what is more, achieves the project action initiated by the FICE Volunteer Centre, that of developing actual volunteering activities at high practice standards within the N.G.O.s.

Beyond the formal understanding of this issue, the present work stands proof to FICE – Romania’s involvement in the civic action aiming at the education on an equal term basis”, meant to forewarn and prevent drug consumption and its recidivism.

The appropriateness of this guide is going to stand out when FICE Romania get the feedback they are expecting and are certain to receive.