Artykuł przygotowany w ramach projektu VEGA 1/0170/11 obejmuje trzy części. Pierwsza z nich dotyczy podstawowych definicji terminologicznych, druga – jest obszarem analizy badanego środowiska – mniejszości romskiej w kontekście tzw. teorii ugruntowanej; natomiast końcowa część, będąca podsumowaniem – prezentuje wyniki badań i zalecenia do praktyki edukacyjnej w zakresie pracy socjalnej. Celem artykułu jest również zaprezentowanie alternatywnej drogi specjalistom zajmującym się daną dziedziną, polegającej na specyficznym zdefiniowaniu pojęć i innych, dotychczas niezbyt często stosowanych, podejść metodologicznych. Opracowanie jest także przeznaczone dla studentów kierunków pomocowych (przede wszystkim usługi socjalne i doradztwo, ewentualnie praca socjalna), przy czym może służyć jako uzupełniający materiał edukacyjny w ramach pracy socjalnej w terenie, pracy w środowiskach mniejszościowych lub jako pokaz stosowania metody jakościowej w badaniach.

Wraz z globalnym starzeniem się populacji praca socjalna z osobami starszymi nabiera coraz większego znaczenia dla społeczeństwa. Jednym z głównych warunków skutecznego prowadzenia pracy socjalnej z osobami starszymi jest szkolenie wykwalifikowanych specjalistów posiadających m.in. pozytywną postawę w zakresie pracy z osobami starszymi. Postawy pracowników socjalnych powstają w dużym stopniu podczas przechodzenia kształcenia zawodowego. W artykule opisano wyniki badania komponentu poznawczego postaw wobec pracy z osobami starszymi studentów kierunku „Praca socjalna” z Rosji (m. Omsk) i Polski (m. Lublin i m. Kielce). Jest ono częścią badania postaw wobec pracy z osobami starszymi studentów kierunków pomocowych, prowadzonego pod kierunkiem prof. dr hab. Anny Kanios w ramach Programu im. L. Kirklanda.

The purpose of this article is an attempt to show the development of Polish social work based on the works of Prof. Ryszard Borowicz. In the text were subjected to scientific reflections definitions and the main categories of research described by the author, which may be a starting point for the development of the theory and practice of social work (human dignity, work, equality and social justice, the auto-selection). The author devotes attention to questions of education and social work tasks facing contemporary social work. Text analysis R. Borowicz has allowed many findings. The main thing is that social work is transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary science that combines the traditions of different disciplines (especially sociology, pedagogy, social policy), the creation of social theory and practice should benefit from the experience of the world, but without forgetting the native and most importantly you need think about the future, and not focus on the present, because there will be more social problems and new needs that challenge for social work. Notably, many of the issues raised by the researcher is still valid and therefore worth reaching for his works and re-discover them.

The article represents a part of a master thesis research project carried out at Klaipeda university. Concepts of biological, emotional, and procedural parenting obligations were utilised to analyse the issues of social work support for adoptive families. Procedural and emotional components were found to raise the biggest challenges. Although fostering and adoption mean raising a child deprived of parental care and usually needing additional help, social work support is mostly oriented towards fostering families. Therefore, social work support for adoptive parents while rather intensive in preparing the necessary documentation, initial training and matching of a family and a child, basically stops after the child arrives in a family. After that support remains purely voluntary and occasional. Research results show that the adoption process needs to be improved by revising training programmes, enhancing inter-institutional communication, and enriching the information provided for adoptive parents. The current procedures are seen as inefficient by social workers and adoptive parents.

Introduction: This paper focuses on providing social care to a close relative. It is crucial in social services. Design: qualitative methodology – method of semi-structured interviews. Methods: respondents were selected to satisfy specific criteria. Particularly, these criteria were the care of a close relative who was assigned level III or IV care benefits. Another criterion according to which we selected respondents was that the carer belonged to the age group in which a person is still usually economically active. The research sample consisted of 6 respondents. Results: Based on the data analysis, we created categories to present the content of semi-structured interviews. Needs focusing on the body carried over into maintenance of one’s own physical and mental health are: the need for safety, the need for acceptance, the need for acknowledgement and respect, and the need for self-fulfilment and perspective. Conclusions: It is important to identify the care of a close relative, the specifics and needs, in the interests of configuring effective management of medical, psychological and social care, and creation of a system of social protection.

Tadeusz Łopuszański: Pedagogue, Tutor, and Politician

Tadeusz Łopuszański to form today a little forgotten, but wrongly. During the Second Republic was an active politician, the Minister of Religious Affairs and Public Education in the government of Leopold Skulski and Wladyslaw Grabski. In this article, however, it has been estimated primarily his work pedagogical and educational concepts that are not only developed in this field, but also played into force led by himself facility in Rydzyna. Łopuszańskiemu managed to create a coherent system of education and educational, which has proven itself in practice, given the expected and desired results as evidenced by „Rydzyniacy”, graduates of Middle and High School. Sulkowski, who never forgot about his school and its director, what more trying for years to revive and continue his work.

Social Support for Families with Children Affected During Martial Law in Ukraine

Various tragic events are taking place in the world, and Ukraine, which is now in a state of war on the part of Russia, finds itself in such a situation. This situation has become part of the daily life of most Ukrainians and Ukrainian families who are forced to move to safer places of stay. People are losing loved ones and friends, staying away from their children, leaving their homes, their favorite jobs, and witnessing violence, murder, and death. Under such conditions, they experience fear, anxiety, hooking and other reactions that depend on the individuality of the adult or child. Each person can cope with life’s problems in different ways. But as the experience of many countries shows, in such situations, it is easier for victims to cope with difficulties and socialize to new conditions, if appropriate social support is provided. Therefore, during the war on the territory of Ukraine, social work with forcibly displaced families becomes especially important. The article updates the problem of social work with Ukrainian families during the Russian occupation of Ukraine. The views of scientists on the content of the concept of social work are considered and the author’s definition of the concept of «social work with forcibly displaced families» is proposed. A survey of Ukrainian families during the first place since the beginning of the war on the territory of Ukraine was carried out to determine their psychological state about the next actions and thoughts for the future in a difficult time for all Ukrainians. The problem of social support of Ukrainian families in the western region of Ukraine and European countries has been updated. The list of organizations and initiatives that provide assistance to Ukrainians in the period of martial law in Ukraine is distinguished. Particular attention was paid to the organization of social support for Ukrainian families by scientific and pedagogical workers and students of Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University – and the Polish Republic. The types of such assistance, the work of aid points in Warsaw are analyzed. Among the most common types of such assistance, the following are distinguished: information and housing; in the study of Ukrainian, and in Poland – Polish, free legal assistance, health care services; free psychological assistance; in finding a job; free assistance to refugees’ animals; provision of free travel in public transport, etc. Certainly, all types of assistance are interrelated and each stimulates the stabilization of the other. But the timely and correct provision of social support, including psychological assistance, leads to faster stabilization of a person as an individual in the family, team and society.

On the growing importance of intercultural education in schooling, social pedagogy, and social work

The article contains reflections on the growing importance of intercultural education in the context of Polish pedagogical literature. Statistics related to the internationalization of the Polish social context are explored. The following scientific journals in Poland and Europe were selected, considered important in the discursive space of social pedagogy and social work: European Journal of Social Work, International Journal of Social Pedagogy, Pedagogika Społeczna quarterly, Pedagogika Społeczna NOVA (Social Education NOVA), Praca Socjalna (Social Work) and the journal Edukacja Międzykulturowa (Intercultural Education). Their content was analyzed in terms of topics in the field of intercultural education with the use of quantitative systematic semantic analysis to establish how many articles (directly related to intercultural education and intercultural context) and in what periods were published in the selected journals. This part of the article is its empirical section, based on desk research of the existing documents. The thesis on the growing importance of intercultural education in the fields of social pedagogy and social work was presented and arguments in support of this thesis were formed.

The contribution analyzes the relation of social pedagogy and social work in Slovakia and abroad in an historical survey as well as at present. A special attention is paid to contemporary understanding of the relation between these disciplines in Slovakia due to the fact that while attempting to define it, there appear various approaches and obscurities creating the need for a larger discussion on an international level.

The attention of this contribution is paid to the prehistory, history and the present time situation of social pedagogy in our country and abroad. Social pedagogy must now solve numerous problems that have remained unsolved over its more than 150-year-long history. It is about the subject’s elaboration, terminology, clarification of its relation to different sciences, specification of contemporary problems that have priority, and the professiogram of social pedagogues.

The contribution analyzes the most important risks of the present youth subcultures and the opportunities for social work and social pedagogy with regard to the problems of youth subcultures. The basic characteristics of youth subcultures is described as well as their social development, types and forms. The central meaning is inscribed to the possibilities of interdisciplinary coaction of social pedagogy and social work when solving specific problems of youth subcultures in the process of socialization during free time or at the penetration of social deviations. A specific attention is paid to the definition of the professional roles of social workers and social pedagogues in relation to the risky youth subcultures.

The article is dedicated to the research of soft skills structural units and their formation of future social workers, as well as the issue of their professional growth and development. Professional skills consist of specific knowledge and abilities important for performing a particular job and that can be mostly identified, evaluated and measured. Until now, there was a perception that hard or functional- -technical skills were the only skills needed for career growth and development. However, a study carried out at Harvard University shows that 80% of career achievements are determined by soft (social and communication) skills and only 20% by functional and technical skills. Since the labor market currently requires diverse professionals, higher education institutions face new challenges. One of these challenges is to create pedagogical conditions for the development of soft skills, including those of future social workers. The professional competence of a social worker involves three groups of skills, namely hard skills, soft skills and meta skills. We suppose that the mechanism of their formation in the conditions of professional training should be focused on the development of all components of soft skills, and their development provides the necessary professional qualities, the implementation of abilities, and the realization of values in social work. In accordance with the characteristics of future social workers in the development of «soft skills», its characteristic features and peculiarities are clarified, including: creating an informal environment for the formation of social leadership in higher educational institutions; filling the educational program with options for «soft skills», activities aimed at increasing the practice-oriented training of future specialists, the use of active and interactive techniques, forms, methods and means of developing the «soft skills» of social workers. The results of the study include the definition of the concept of «soft skills», the identification of their general characteristics, the outlining of groups of soft skills, and the description of their main components. It was found that the most in-demand flexible competencies are: teamwork, critical thinking, leadership, creativity, meeting deadlines, responsibility and discipline, as well as communication skills, emotional stability, ability to work in stressful situations, adaptability to a new team or working conditions, conflict resolution, critical and creative thinking, public speaking skills, reliability, flexibility, responsibility, priority setting, planning, adequate perception of criticism and readiness for improvement, and professional etiquette proficiency

Resistance as a manifestation of subjective orientation. Considerations on the margins of social work

This paper attempts to analyse the concept of resistance in social work. The category of resistance is characterized by a multiplicity of meanings, which means that it is understood in many ways, depending on civilizational and cultural contexts. Reflections on the concept of resistance in the humanities and social sciences are neither simple nor straightforward, as each discipline has its own view of this category. The analyses carried out in this study are interdisciplinary, but the point of reference is social pedagogy and social work developed by it. The aim of the article is to present the achievements of the category of resistance, taking into account three ways of interpreting it: as an individual reaction of the person receiving the help, as a reaction of the person receiving the support to the relationship with the professional, as a reaction of the participants of the social welfare system to local practices, institutional and governmental policies. In the discourse of social work, it is more common to see resistance as an individual reaction and a reaction to contact with a professional, and less so as a manifestation of subjective orientation, which is a resource to reach for in the face of oppressive practices. Therefore, the article devotes special attention to this issue. The whole analysis is complemented by a reflection on the challenges faced by social work education, through which the aim is to activate the resistance competences not only of the people supported, but also of the professionals themselves. The content analysis was based on a review of Polish and foreign literature presenting the issue of resistance in relation to social work.

Youth is one of the riskiest groups at the labour market. Social pedagogy offers historical experience, a theoretical background as well as professional approach to solving youth unemployment. There is a wide range of social and pedagogical interventions into this multidisciplinary problem including preventive counseling, coordination of the school system and the labour market, and criticism and innovation of social changes that would bring help to unemployed youth.

The paper presents research findings in the field of motivation for the study of social work at PF MBU from the graduates’ perspective as an output of a partial task within the Faculty project “Assessment of the quality of the study and employment opportunities for the social work graduates of PF MBU”, which was researched in the period of 2005–2006 by the members of the Department of Social Work at the Pedagogical Faculty of Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica.

At the beginning of the 20th century, some Polish Catholic priests in Poland under Prussian rule started to promote modern social work among Polish middle-class women, and encouraged them to attend German social courses. The aim of this article is to show the contexts and trends explaining why Polish clergy chose to promote German models of modern social work among Polish women when the tension between Poles and Germans was building up. The author presents arguments indicating that the idea behind the Polish priests’ efforts to train professional staff of female Catholic activists was to provide support for implementing the principles of the encyclical Rerum novarum among working class families, especially women and children. The author uses the example of Poznań/Posen as an important city where Polish priests promoted modern social work of women. A group of female leaders from the Social Department, a new organisation that was a part of the Association of Catholic Societies for Working Women, supervised by the priests, started to work with the reception and national interpretation of German, and other models of social work. These Polish women were with a part of the patron women’s movement including Ladies of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul Society (Panie Miłosierdzia Towarzystwa św. Wincentego à Paulo) and Sodalities of Mary’s Children (Sodalicje Dzieci Marii) that did not question the leading role of the clergy and German models of social work.