social work, e-exklusion, ICT

ICT makes life easier for people but it also has many pitfalls. One of them is the so-called e-exclusion (the gap between the people to whom ICT is available and to whom it is not). The aim of this study is to understand and described the mechanisms of the use of ICT in social work with two target group in the context of exclusion threats. The main research question is as follows: How ICT permeates social work focused on groups of people at high risk of e-exclusion, i.e. (1) the endangered children and their families, and (2) the elderly persons dependent on the help of others living in a natural social environment. Based on the findings of our own research, we have dealt with the field of ICT use in social work focused on two target groups endangered most by the high level of e-exclusion (due to inaccessibility of ICT, or disposition of with it). The research is based on individual and group interviews with social workers, inteviews with elderly persons using social services and questionnaires surveys among adult target group. When using ICT in social work, social workers often come across ethical dilemmas. Given the absence of a framework document (standard) regulating the use of ICT in the Czech Republic, they barely cope with those dilemmas. At the same time, they see the use of ICT in target groups as an essential means of preventing e-exclusion.

ICT makes life easier for people but it also has many pitfalls. One of them is the so-called e-exclusion (the gap between the people to whom ICT is available and to whom it is not). The aim of this study is to understand and described the mechanisms of the use of ICT in social work with two target group in the context of exclusion threats. The main research question is as follows: How ICT permeates social work focused on groups of people at high risk of e-exclusion, i.e. (1) the endangered children and their families, and (2) the elderly persons dependent on the help of others living in a natural social environment. Based on the findings of our own research, we have dealt with the field of ICT use in social work focused on two target groups endangered most by the high level of e-exclusion (due to inaccessibility of ICT, or disposition of with it). The research is based on individual and group interviews with social workers, inteviews with elderly persons using social services and questionnaires surveys among adult target group. When using ICT in social work, social workers often come across ethical dilemmas. Given the absence of a framework document (standard) regulating the use of ICT in the Czech Republic, they barely cope with those dilemmas. At the same time, they see the use of ICT in target groups as an essential means of preventing e-exclusion.