The author of the article has a longstanding experience as a prison chaplain. He carried out extensive studies among a huge group of prisoners. Those studies were conducted for prison chaplain’s tasks, aimed at rehabilitation of prisoners and strongly connected with stigmatization and destigmatization of people from penitentiary. The problem’s analisys is based also on the studies on the literature and source materials, which contains also formal and legal documents, but primarily on the own observa tion caused by own participation in the whole process. Likewise, it were used some experiences of people who were related to penitentiary system. That if jailed people come back to criminal world, start to live honestly with social rules practically depends on the rehabilitation and penitentiary help. Feedback and beliefs of those people let us to know if chaplains fulfill assumed functions.

The stereotype of the media in the Polish language and conceptualization of their prototype in the processes of reception and education
Abstract: The text of the article is devoted to reflection on the questions: whether there is a stereotype of the media, or as yet mass-media form in their awareness of their prototype, and whether education can support this process. Conclusions drawn from studies carried out in a group of 160 students from two universities: students of journalism and communication at the University of Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin and students of management and production engineering and agricultural engineering and forestry from the University of Life Sciences in Lublin.

W tekście wskazuje się, że wiedza o równości płci, o rolach pełnionych w wielu rzeczywistościach kulturowo-cywilizacyjnych jest spowita w sferze mitów i stereotypów.Aktywność kulturowa i cywilizacyjna kobiet zdeterminowana jest poziomem instytucjonalnym uprawianym przez podmioty życia publicznego (Kościół, szkołę, władzę państwową, partyjne, organizacje społeczne). Świat wartości kulturowych sytuuje kobiety w tradycyjnym nurcie życia domowego, emocjonalnego, aspiracji społeczno-politycznych pozostających w zależnościach paternalistycznych. Deklaracje profeministyczne ujawniające się od XIX w. do współczesności nie wpływają w praktyce życia kulturowego znacząco na położenie kobiet w sferze życia zarówno politycznego, jak i ekonomicznego. Najbardziej znaczącą siłą w tym względzie są prawa człowieka,
Duże znaczenie do zmian w sferze nierówności płci mają procesy globalizacji i jednocześnie dywersyfikacji życia kulturowego. Z jednej strony wiąże się to z upodmiotowieniem jednostki, kształtowaniem jej partycypatywności; z drugiej zaś międzynarodowymi rozwiązaniami prawnymi, synkretyzmem, koniecznością globalnego rozwiązywania problemów jednostki, jak i ludzkości.

The concept of the enemy stereotype, which is permanently present in colloquial, journalistic, and academic discussions, has not been scientifically analysed so far. In this article, an attempt to provide a definition of “the enemy stereotype” as an independent linguistic being has been made. The stages of this term taking shape in the political reality have also been presented. The article has strictly theoretical nature, and is based on scientific achievements in the fields of research related to stereotypes and hostility. In the author’s opinion, the analysis of the phenomenon of stereotyping carried out from a sociological, psychological, and linguistic point of view is necessary. A reflection on the issue of hostility in general, and on the image of the enemy in political activities in particular is also fundamental.

Females’ low participation in post-compulsory physics education has been a major concern for researchers over the past five decades. The present study focuses attention on two major deterring factors, the female pedagogy-sensitivity effect and the stereotype effect. The objectives of this study are to uncover the constituents and meanings of these factors by (a) analyzing the perspectives of female university science students and, (b) evaluating differences in their impacts among females choosing to major in biology compared to females choosing to major in physics. The study contributes to our understanding of how these deterring effects impact on females along their educational path and particularly in their tertiary education.

Koncepcja inkluzji społecznej ściśle wiąże się z postulatem organizowania przestrzeni kultury popularnej wokół idei dialogu, relacyjności oraz dostrzegania i uznawania różnorodności. W takim ujęciu film fabularny jako medium docierające do szerokiego kręgu odbiorców może stać się ważnym źródłem wiarygodnych informacji na temat funkcjonowania osób należących do grup narażonych na wykluczenie społeczne, w tym osób z różnymi rodzajami niepełnosprawności. Osoby z niepełnosprawnością podlegają stereotypizacji, w wyniku której spostrzegane są na ogół jako mało kompetentne, niesamodzielne, niezdolne do efektywnego odgrywania ról społecznych, borykające się z licznymi problemami i stale pogrążone w smutku. Także nabycie niepełnosprawności w biegu życia powoduje przejście do grupy o niskim statusie społecznym i doświadczanie nieadekwatnych reakcji otoczenia w sytuacjach bezpośredniego kontaktu, w tym jawnej lub ukrytej izolacji bądź nadopiekuńczości wynikającej z litości, współczucia i przekonania o niskim potencjale osoby. Niewłaściwe reakcje społeczne mogą znacząco utrudniać proces przystosowania do nabycia niepełnosprawności i zwiększać ryzyko ekskluzji, więc istotne jest kształtowanie przez przekaz medialny prawidłowych wyobrażeń o specyfice funkcjonowania tej grupy osób i (lub) przełamywanie już istniejących stereotypów. Artykuł koncentruje się na jakościowej analizie sposobu prezentacji procesu adaptacji do utraty wzroku bohaterów dwóch filmów fabularnych, ze szczególnym zwróceniem uwagi na walory edukacyjno-wychowawcze tych dzieł.

The summary may not be so original, but I take the liberty of quoting Jan Czaja’s words which in my book are really accurate: „Summing up considerations on the topic of sources for Polish culture, it may be said that they connect - like opportunities for its development - with its opening to the world, what means opening both on global and mass culture (equating generally with commercial American products) and more and more advanced European integration, thus both process are not coherent. As a one, this process is extraordinarily complicated and conflictual. It is worth to remember that flowing with figments from another culture would be really dangerous, if it have met thoughtless and dull society which can afford on creative internalization but only mindless imitation. As Polish history shows, society was forced to life in the face of many dangers, its culture developed the best in periods of such dangers, mostly in places of their bigger closeness (for example on Eastern marches). Moreover, there is no agreement among theorists if dangers dominate or civilizational chances resulted from this opening. And at the end the nontrivial matter: opening for this stream from world (from West) is a result of our sovereign decision what makes the situation diametrical different in comparison to that one from the period of socialism when the stream of dominant culture (from Soviet Union) was a result of horrible war, Jałta’s matter and also political and ideological enslavement”.

Changes occurring in the modern world have a significant impact on the perception of a number of social phenomena that are studied by social pedagogy. One of them is violence in partnerships, which is associated with the stereotype of a man as the main perpetrator of violence. Stereotypes functioning in the consciousness of our community are often inconsistent with reality. Most people, however, have the conviction that they are true and unchangeable. This conviction led to the sole identification of the woman with the victim and the man with the perpetrator of violence. Most people are unaware of the existence of battered husband syndrome. The aim of the article is to analyze the phenomenon of female violence against men in the perception of academic youth. Research analyzes presented in the article focus on the assumption of changing the stereotype of man as the perpetrators of violence.

The Society and State in Terms of Their Functional Core as a Source of Problematic Issues in Social Life

Numerous attempts to improve social institutions are conventionally nominal or declarative. The latter indicates that essential changes in this perspective are possible only as a collateral consequence of exertion in another sphere. Respectively, the subject of the efforts should be the person as a whole, including their culture, nature and way of being through certain activities. The efficiency of the effort is determined, among other things, by good will and the intention of the subject to improve, whereas the formation of the intentions is conditioned by experiences as emotionally affected or idea-driven. Thus, properly formed ideas about social institutions are the beginning of a systematic transformation of the institutions themselves conceived to be as humane as possible – both comfortable and favorable for self-realization of the person in accordance with individual growth. The afore-mentioned ideas should be based on the establishment of the functional core in human existence, i.e. the ability to meet specific needs and expectations. At the same time, various assumptions about what the phenomena, institutions or processes might be, do not only distract from the effective activities, including fulfillment of assigned duties, but also trigger numerous conflicts. Therefore, this article is aimed at understanding the functional core, and the place and role of a number of key social institutions in human life. The impetus for this reconsideration has been a desire to overcome the conditionality of everyday life, based on assimilated mass stereotypes as the truth due to systemic social training, concealed behind education and upbringing. In addition, contextually, the article represents an unconventional viewpoint on the relationship between law and legislation, correlated with nature and the status of man. Since the transitory link between human nature and human status is sexuality based on the established hierarchy of values, the realization or leveling of human rights, therefore, is determined by the system of laws, which is formed in accordance with the hierarchy of the intrinsic values. At the same time, the system of laws or norms of social action and interaction shows the functioning of the state as a mechanism to limit or control the manifestation of radical evil, in other words, the tendency of man to give themselves the right of exception.

Woman in the army: gender stereotyping in the military-professional environment

The aim of the article is to study the process of the reproduction and changing of gender stereotypes relating to women in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Materials and methods. The method of qualitative content analysis, interpretive and explanatory methods of discourse analysis have been used. Materials to conduct this research are publications, comments and pictures on the pages of group “Military service” in a social network Facebook. Results & discussions. In the military environments gender stereotypes’ psychological functions have profound effects on the specificity of the reproduction and changing of stereotypes relating to women. At the linguistic level the cognitive-adaptive function is realized through the cognitive gender metaphor. Feminine metaphors are becoming instruments that breaks down traditional stereotypes of women and offers a new perspective, namely the absence of polarization between the sexes, as well as the trust and support of interaction between men and women in the military corporate culture. The value-protective psychological function of gender stereotypes relating to women is aimed to maintain collective values, justify and rationalize discriminatory attitudes towards an alien group. Gender stereotypes relating to women are used not to create the opposition “man – woman” or “male – female” but “the military – civil persons”. The constructive function of gender stereotypes is aimed at the internal acceptance of servicemen’s worldview position; it helps to prevent the stress associated with the need for subordination in the military environment. The social functions of gender stereotypes relating to women help a military man to reproduce situations that are emotionally significant for him, in which his needs in recognition and love have been met. Further, this will contribute to the establishment of psychological comfort and deep emotional ties between men and women in a heterogeneous team. The analysis of the gender stereotypes’ functions did not reveal the relationship of competition and hostility between femininity and masculinity in the military environment. Conclusions. For today in the military environment the gender stereotyping of women is becoming flexible, and stereotypes are changing according to social context. The root cause of this process is the specifics of the military professional activities, when the effectiveness of accomplishing the stated tasks is possible only if there is a unified system for accepting corporate goals, values and relationships. The identification of woman on the basis of gender is secondary, but her identification with a social and professional group becomes urgent. Women, just like men, become the bearer of the ideas and ideals of military professional activity, and the updated gender stereotype includes values and norms promoted by the corporate military culture.

Social Integration of Persons with Disabilities in Ukraine

The main directions of Ukraine’s social policy towards the disabled are presented in the article. Topical issues of integration of persons with disabilities into society are covered. The meaning of the concept of “social stigmatization” is revealed. The authors analyze and define the tools of social stigma in the legislation of Ukraine on issues of social integration of persons with disabilities. It has been proven that stigma in some cases deprives a person of full status, becomes a source of prejudice, discrimination, social isolation of the stigmatized, causes low self-esteem and feelings of depression, forms a negative social identity, and complicates psychosocial adaptation. Certain steps have already been taken to ensure the protection of persons with disabilities by creating appropriate conditions for them in society and equal opportunities for the realization of vital needs, abilities, and creative potential. The article defines a system of measures aimed at improving the lives of persons with disabilities, restoring their social status, achieving material independence, and comprehensive integration into society. The authors also propose measures to remove obstacles caused by stigmatization in the way of integration of persons with disabilities into society.

(Not)others? – self-stereotype of people with a homosexual orientation

The aim of the article is to present the self-stereotype of people with homosexual orientation. For this purpose, the study involved the application of the Twenty Statements Test developed by Manford Kuhn, used to describe oneself and perceive oneself. The theoretical basis for the considerations is the theory of biculturalism in relation to the acquisition of identity by a minority group. It shows the process of acquiring „biculturalism” by people with homosexual orientation, which proceeds in the opposite direction than in ethnic groups. 90 people of homosexual orientation participated in the study. The research material was collected using the snowball method. The respondents described themselves primarily in terms of groups and categories, and the research results indicate three pillars of their identity: sexual orientation, gender, sense of being human. The statements of the respondents also highlight the difficulties they face due to their sexual orientation – stereotypes, discrimination, social exclusion. The article shows homosexual people as perceiving their „otherness”, while pointing to their broad interests, passions, positive character traits, as well as negative attitudes of society towards this group and their possible consequences.

Sense of Self-efficacy in Mathematics of Male and Female Students

Women’s underrepresentation in strictly technical fields of study closely linked to mathematics is a universal phenomenon, registered not only in Poland. Conclusions from numerous educational reports are worldwide as well – it is girls who preponderate over boys in math grades at every stage of education. Furthermore, in Polish conditions, the results of external exams are not significantly diversified by gender. Thus, the consequences of different evaluation systems do not explicate the so-called „women gender gap” in terms of women academic and vocational choices. In Poland, for a few years there has been attempts to counteract the prevailing trend through „The Girls for Engineers” programme or systems of scholarships for female students of technical and scientific studies. Such activities are claimed to be legitimate, though still insufficient, because they focus on diminishing the symptoms of the phenomenon, regardless of its exact causes. The explanation proposed in the article refers to the effects of stereotype that „maths is a domain for males”. It has been assumed that such stereotype has an adverse impact on the perception of one’s competences of stigmatized people – i.e. girls. Such facet of analysis has not been adopted in Polish educational research so far. Theoretical background of own research constitute self-efficacy theory by Albert Bandura, which emphasizes cultural context of its formation process. The obtained results indicate that gender is a significant factor contributing to the sense of efficacy formed on the basis of specific achievements in mathematics. It indicates that a typical female student – in relation to similarly assessed typical male student – registers lower trust to her own mathematical competences. Discussion depicted the way in which unfavourable self-perception corresponds to motivation for learning mathematics and consequently to educational choices. The direction for further research has been indicated.