Page of advice in Lithuanian in the
website
A report on focus group to discuss the content of Lithuanian part of the website
Prepared for
The HEART programme
Prepared by
Mantas Černiauskas, LiJOT
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Contents
Introduction – purpose of this report ...........................................................................................................3
Methodology .................................................................................................................................................3
Focus group discussion guide development .............................................................................................3
Participant recruitment and demographics ..............................................................................................3
Data analysis ..............................................................................................................................................4
Focus Group Discussion Results ....................................................................................................................4
Problems the youth encounter both in Lithuania and abroad. .................................................................4
What problems could be addressed on the website and what could be the solutions ............................6
Other suggestions and recommendations ................................................................................................6
Appendix A: Evaluation tool for quality assessment and results (In Lithuanian) ..........................................8
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Introduction – purpose of this report
The Healthy Relationships Training (HEART) programme is designed to support vulnerable young people
and improve the relationships they have with both peers and prospective partners. The primary focus is on
reducing the risk of young women either committing or being subject to serious violence, particularly gang
related and sexual violence, with a view to reducing victimisation and crime levels. Work will take place in
both London and Lithuania, however it is intended that good practice identified will be disseminated widely
across Europe.
This report is to summarize information collected during the focus group to discuss the content of
Lithuanian part of the website and provide the recommendations.
Methodology
The focus group was conducted using traditional qualitative methods. It was a single moderator focus group,
consisting of 8 people. Focus group moderator used a magnetic board to write up and summarize the key
ideas for participants to see so they could use it as a reference. Moderator also wrote down notes during
the discussion. Focus group was recorded using a voice recording device. Some basic ground rules were
established. During the discussion certain methods were used to maintain and focus discussion into desired
direction, such as free associations, imagining the hypothetic situations, pretense of being clueless and
misconception.
Focus group discussion guide development
The guiding questions for the discussion were derived from the initial briefing for the LiJOT and from the
discussions with partners. Focus group participants essentially were asked these questions:
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What problems do you think the youth encounter both in Lithuania and abroad?
Which of these could be helped using a website?
How could you prevent or protect from these problems in a website?
What advice would be useful if provided in a website?
What else could you propose for such a website?
Participant recruitment and demographics
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Participants were recruited using LiJOT’s extensive network of connections. Researcher working for
LiJOT put down announcement asking young people to participate in the discussion. Researcher managed to
recruit around 10 young people ages from 16 to 24. 8 of them actually showed up to the discussion. Most of
the participants are highly motivated, active members of their schools representatives, members of Council,
Student Parliament or student’s representations or volunteers at NGO’s (non-governmental organizations).
Seven of them were female and one male. All of them are studying either at high schools or higher
education institutions.
Data analysis
Data analysis was built based on Krueger & Casey (2000) methodology. Researcher approached data
analysis using framework analysis method. This stage is followed by familiarization with the data, which can
be achieved by listening to tapes, reading the transcripts in their entirety several times and reading the
observational notes taken during interview and summary notes written immediately after the interview.
The criteria, after which the data was analyzed are words, context, Internal Consistency, Frequency and
Extensiveness, Intensity of comments, Specificity of responses, Big Ideas.
The analysis was conducted while trying to systematically answer these questions:
 What was known and then confirmed or rejected by the data collected during the focus group?
 What was suspected and then confirmed or rejected by the data collected during the focus
group?
 What was new and wasn’t suspected before?
Focus Group Discussion Results
Because the main objective of the focus group was to find out, what young Lithuanian people think
about certain questions, we will first present all relevant findings, after that we will present our own
interpretations and recommendations.
Problems the youth encounter both in Lithuania and abroad.
Our findings show that there is certain number of more general problematic areas that focus group
participants see. And these problem areas more or less are similar both in Lithuania and abroad and in some
cases they are related to each other.
In general, focus group participants (further – participants) identified these problems (in no order):
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Social isolation
Adaptation
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Involvement in criminal activities
Being drawn into criminal activities
Being drawn into gangs
Dangers online – personal information security, online dating
Addiction to the internet
Human trafficking, prostitution
Children’s activities – parents won’t or can’t provide sufficient time to their children
Domestic violence
Discrimination, particularly racial discrimination
Sects
During the discussion, the participants identified problems in Lithuania and abroad separately, at first.
From the list, the ones that are typical for both are social isolation, involvement in criminal activities,
dangers online, discrimination, children’s activities, and sects. These identified problems are universal, in
participant’s opinion.
There are problems that are unique for Lithuania and for young people being abroad. For example,
participants thought that being drawn to gangs is true to people abroad. During the discussion, group’s
moderator proposed to take example of abroad England, London – city, which is very popular destination for
emigrants from Lithuania to try and settle. Participants then mentioned that it is a really significant
possibility that you could suffer or tried to be drawn into gangs; particularly nationality based ones from
Eastern Europe, even from the ones that are based on Lithuanians themselves. Participants even made a
note, that such gangs are most dangerous to them. Discrimination is also the issue everywhere, it seems.
Participants believe that racial discrimination is alive in Lithuania as well as in England, for example. While
prostitution is also universal, human trafficking, associated with it, is more specific: girls are seduced and
recruited in Eastern Europe countries, like Lithuania, while the serve as prostitutes or even sex slaves in socalled Western countries of Europe. Because of this division, both problems and problem solutions in
eastern and Western Europe would be different.
Participants discussed in more detail children’s activities. Parents in Lithuania and particularly abroad
more and more neglect their children. From this problem other ones stem and intertwine – social isolation,
involvement in criminal activities, gangs, prostitution, even addiction to the internet (Children and teenagers
may sometimes engage in a virtual world and this may lead to health problems, social skills shortages.)
Participants came to the conclusion that it is one of the most important issues. They went on to discuss how
more and more often young families decide to move abroad looking for better future, how usually hard and
long parents have to work and how during this process children are left neglected. So this problem should
be addressed first.
The discussion also touched other problem – dangers in the internet. Young people do know have the
knowledge how to protect their identities, their information from the internet, why should they do it, what
potential threats there are. It is worth to mention and speculate in this report that such substantial focus for
this problem was probably because of recent events in Lithuania, when young 13 year old girl, after meeting
someone on social site “Facebook” and after a few days going to meet him in real life, was brutally
murdered. Participants were clearly affected by this recent tragedy. However, this does and shouldn’t mean
that such problem doesn’t really exist.
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What problems could be addressed on the website and what could be the solutions
Participants were more specific about what could or should be on such a website, what would be
useful. In their opinion, these problems actually could be addressed on a website in general:
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Social isolation, children’s activities – information about the activities of local NGO’s,
various activities sections, clubs and so on.
Dangers online – useful tips what to do and what not to do.
Discrimination – one of the participants suggested an idea, that when a person knows the
real reasons why people can bully and discriminate, it becomes a lot easier for him to cope
with it. Participant believed that such information would be really useful when provided on
a website. Psychology and sociology have explained the reasons for discrimination. Also,
direct links to helplines would be useful as well.
Adaptation
Human trafficking, prostitution, sex slavery – other people, who suffered from these
problems, stories, tips about what should be avoided, exact addresses where the victims
could go when needed, police contacts with exact numbers of officers, responsible for this
area of issues rather than general police help line. Also, there could be some sort of a small
glossary of useful phrases, useful in certain situations, like trying to reach out for help from
the police or trying to deal with your pander.
Domestic violence
Involvement in criminal activities, gangs
Other suggestions and recommendations
It is obvious that problems identified are from much broader spectrum than the programme’s target, so
not all of these are essentially relevant to it and thus, the website. Ultimately, this report is a
recommendation and a set of ideas for the programme’s website.
During the focus group’s discussion there were significant number of ideas that could not be fitted
elsewhere in the report, but we felt it would be useful to include. These ideas and suggestions are listed
below:
Youtube and other movies could be on this page for young people to watch. This would increase the
sites interactivity and thus, attractiveness.
There could be a discussion forum on the website – for young people or their parents to ask and seek
answers to questions they didn’t find information on the website. Such forum could be moderated by
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Lithuanian volunteers. Ultimate suggestion would be two separated forums: one for English, other for
Lithuanians. Such forums also would be a very good way of monitoring website’s population and identifying
people who potentially could be at risk of being a victim of certain crimes.
Help of the experts, accessible to everyone. Maybe in the form of being able to contact them via e-mail
and (or) Skype.
There should be Lithuanian community contacts and other organizations that work with Lithuanians.
Usually these communities can provide with strong support.
Situational tips.
Demographical tests. Similarly to the forum, such simple tests as “how old are you?” could provide with
useful feedback about who is visiting the website.
Information should be updated regularly.
All of the information, tips, links, could be divided, structured according to demographics. For example,
for girls and boys, information for their parents. For example, contacts for children day care centers should
be in the section for parents.
Website’s structure and design are of critical importance. It is very difficult to draw and maintain
children’s attention, so design should be attractive to them and should be helping to convey the information
in the same time.
The tips should be short, specific, clear.
The Lithuanian page and the website should not be limited to or limit itself only to references. There
should also be a healthy proportion of information on it as well. The website could better serve its purpose
when providing more generalized information about the problems and solutions and only beside these
providing references to other sites, organizations, helplines, who specialize in those more narrow areas.
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Appendix A: Evaluation tool for quality assessment and results (In Lithuanian)
Fokus grupės kokybės įvertinimo anketa
Ši anketa skirta įvertinti organizuotos fokus grupės darbo kokybei. Prašome atsakyti į žemiau
pateikiamus klausimus.Visi Jūsų atsakymai yra anoniminiai ir skirti tiktai šios anketos tikslui.
Klausimas
Gerai
Labiau
Labiau
gerai, nei blogai,
blogai nei gerai
b
c
Blogai
Nežinau / neturiu
nuomonės
1.
Kaip apskritai vertinate organizuotos diskusijos kokybę?
a
d
e
2.
Kaip vertinate grupę vedusių moderatorių profesionalumą?
a
b
c
d
e
3.
Ar gerai supratote, ko nori iš jūsų diskusijos vedėjai?
a
b
c
d
e
4. Ar jus tenkino nustatytas diskusijos laikas ir data?
a) Taip
b) Ne
c) Tai man nebuvo svarbu
5. Ar jums buvo tinkamos patalpos, kuriose vyko diskusija?
a) Taip
b) Ne
c) Tai man nebuvo svarbu
6. Ar dar kartą dalyvautumėte šioje diskusijoje, jau žinodami, kokia ji bus?
a) Taip
b) Tikriausiai taip
c) Tikriausiai ne
d) Ne
Dėkojame už jūsų atsakymus!
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