The article aims to portray changes in provision and reception of contemporary counselling, which finds itself under a strong impact of popular culture. The pop culture is described as a phenomenon intimately related and saturating social life, scientific research and daily life of modern people. In postmodern mediatized reality, deeply immersed in popular culture, the guidance is sought by a Homo consultans-a reflexive individual that experiences uncertainty/helplessness and establishes an interpersonal relationship (dialogue) with another human being-a counsellor-with a view to solving his/her problems. Seeking guidance and attempting to use the counsellor’s help to understand oneself, others and the world, the counselee actually strives after sustainable personal development and decent life. Homo consultans-is simultaneously the active seeker of a guidance and the passive object of the attack of guidance practices.

The first days, months and years in a child’s life are crucial for his development. At first, the sensory processes are being developed, and the infant learns to examine his hands, to look at people who are moving in front of him and to squeeze another hand. This process is accompanied by the development of the thought processes and the emotions. Children who are abandoned after birth spend a period of time being hospitalized, until Child Protection Services finds the best solution to protect the babies, which in most of the cases is the placement at a foster parent. This period of time has a major impact on the infant because of the absence of the mother and the child is not being properly stimulated. These children suffer an abandonment trauma, which causes negative psychological effects that influence the development: difficulty in forming a secure attachment, delay in cognitive development and in other areas of functioning, increased possibility of developing cognitive distortions. The role of a foster parent in the infant stage is of a high importance because he or she is the person to whom the child forms attachment, gives the child the opportunity of being raised in a family, to have models and become more resilient. Nevertheless, in the upbringing of children the effects of the abandonment trauma are still being seen in most of them: the child has low self-esteem, he forms an insecure attachment, develops signs of mental illness and difficulties in autonomy. This paper is an immersion in the literature on the development of children who were abandoned after birth. The novelty of the theme is represented by the observations made on the upbringing of these children at foster parents in Romania since the implementation of foster care in this country until the present day. There is a need to improve the training of the foster parents and the methods used by specialists in working with the children, so that they can become more resilient and have adequate coping mechanisms in the adult stage.

Isaiah Berlin said that it is part of the human condition to make choices between absolute values. Obviously, this choice cannot be easy. To be well informed, it has to be made in full awareness of the contingency of our criteria. This ability to make choices between absolute values in the light of contingencies is what distinguishes a civilized man from a barbarian, says Berlin, following Joseph Schumpeter. Similar ideas can be found in the philosophy of Richard Rorty, who believes that our liberal societies create more people who understand the contingencies of their vocabularies, but at the same time are still faithful to them. He calls this “freedom as acknowledgement of contingency.” This freedom is bound by the existence of a plurality of voices, which does not mean that it is bound by the existence of chaos. In such a spirit, Jürgen Habermas emphasizes the fact that in spite of the plurality of contingent views, we can find a unity of reason. In spite of plurality of views, we can still come to an agreement thanks to dialogue. The close analysis of Rorty’s and Habermas’s philosophy allows us to see that they share a common stance: thanks to disenchantment of the world, as Rorty says, or thanks to decentralization of the world, as Habermas says. Both are seeing such stance as a precondition to use our freedom in a way to be more tolerant, more open to dialogue and responsible for it. Further analysis allows us to see that there is a possibility to present a new understanding of the notion of freedom-freedom conceived as responsibility.

In his work A Natural History of Human Thinking, Michael Tomasello depicts thinking as a form of cooperation. Presenting at the same time a conceptual schema enriched with empirical data, he outlines a natural history of thinking in particular, indicating how the process of socialization and new, unique manifestations of human interaction alter the forms of thinking, from the ones we share with primates, through increasingly complex forms characteristic of the primitive man, to these of the contemporary man. In A Natural History of Human Morality Tomasello presents a similar structure, showing morality as a form of human cooperation in which, according to Tomasello, Homo sapiens, seen as “ultra-social primates”, developed new and uniquely human forms of social interaction and organization which, as a result, required new and also very specific for Homo sapiens psychological mechanisms in cognitive processes, social interaction and self-control. While in A Natural History of Human Thinking Tomasello’s main hypothesis is the Shared Intentionality Hypothesis, in A Natural History of Human Morality it is the Interdependence Hypothesis. Thus, this unique structure of abilities and motivation is the feature which distinguishes us from other primates. This essay aims to extract and outline this structure, focusing more on A Natural History of Human Morality.

The aim of the presented paper is to depict the approach of the European Union and its member states towards security in the countries belonging to the Visegrad Group. For V4 countries it is vital to implement such a policy that would make Western Europe aware of the threat and exert political pressure on the countries of the so-called old Union (in particular on France and Germany) to assume a greater responsibility for security and peace in the world as an international organisation and support all actions designed to establish real and effective common defence policy of the EU. Indeed, state security is presently ensured not only by the armed forces of a given country but also through the assurance of obtaining effective assistance (of different kind) from other states and international organisations guaranteed by international agreements.

Both conversational analysis and examination of interactive rituals concentrate on distinguishing the structure of everyday conversations and language definition of social situations of the social interaction participants. It seems though that the researchers devote too little attention to the development of methods and techniques of research, detailed analysis of the transcription of keeping quiet by the participants of the social interaction. The aim of the article is to focus attention on the problems of treating meaningful silence by researchers as a speech, the tool and means of social actor expression, as important as other parts of speech. Some social contexts and conditions of silence were shown within different situations and worlds. The causes, results and myths of employees silence were presented. Silence was analysed in the context of existing in social worlds orders as a sign of crystallization and formation of statuses and micro social processes with special attention on the role of silence of social actors. The text uses some experience of language researchers, sociologists of language and emotion.

What appears to be a key question in recent studies on language evolution is the notion of natural word order-a hypothesis propounding word order to be innate in a phylogenetic and cognitive sense (Dryer, 2005; Pagel, 2009; Gell-Mann & Ruhlen, 2011). Gesture and sign studies provide a sound base for the topic. The primary idea for the study comes from Goldin-Meadow et al. (2008) research, which proposed the silent gesture paradigm, in which participants communicate simple events with the aid of their hands. The result of their research suggests that when participants communicate via gestures, notwithstanding their native language, they apply the SOV (subject-object-verb) word order-a finding which has been largely substantiated, but also discussed by following studies (e.g., Gibson et al., 2013; Hall et al., 2013). The purpose of our study was to verify whether the SOV order is prevalent in the experimental environment when participants are instructed to use whole-bodily pantomime rather than hand-and-arm gesture only. The actors in the study were instructed to perform reversible events from the pictures. Reversible events means that both the actor and the patient can perform an action. There exists an exciting opportunity for our study to shed a new light on research into natural word order.

The article presents the results of research that pertained to the manner of smartphone use in child upbringing during early childhood. The qualitative research was participated in by: a mother of a two-year-old girl and a mother of a threeyear-old boy. On the basis of the tests I concluded that this device is mainly used by mothers:-to occupy the attention of the child, to allow the mother to perform other activities,-to calm the child down at times of anxiety,-as a reward. The interviews have shown that for the respondents the educational function of smartphone are not significant, although they see them.

The need for law education is indispensable in the individual and, as a consequence, social dimension. Its early initiation will “internalize” patterns of behaviour and response which will contribute to conscious functioning in society, and, as a result, building of a society of law. Therefore, one of the goals of the presented text is to indicate the fact that ignorantia iuris nocet. Such a conceptualization is preventive, prophylactic, and inhibitory. First and foremost, the purpose of addressing the issue is to show the need to raise legal awareness that builds legal culture of society, and improves the quality of life. The analysis of the results of the research conducted among schoolchildren aged 15-16 indicates that legal awareness of the young generation differentiates the frequency of behaviours contrary to social and legal standards-the higher legal awareness of young people is, the lower the level of particular problem behaviours in this group is. The paper also outlines recommendations on solutions that can be used to create future prevention programs aimed at building an aware information society and the high legal culture of its members.

The article attempts to explore the problem of functional illiteracy in the rich countries of the West. The author presents situations of adult illiterate people living in the world of Western culture who-deprived of the ability to read and write -surpass social and symbolic barriers in everyday life, struggling for survival and human dignity. The idiomatic phrase “the torture of Tantalus” symbolizes a person’s pain resulting from the desire of owning things which are close but remain unobtainable. Through their complex biographies, the author indicates crucial moments in their lives: the decision to acquire reading and writing skills, and the pivotal point directly after the accomplished literacy course. If one deprives these people of professional assistance, it reduces their chances to materialise the expectations connected with reading and writing skills. The aim of the article is to draw attention to the phenomenon of adult illiteracy, which became a major task in educational policy and adult education also in many highly developed countries.

Interests allow young people to define themselves, encourage the formation of positive elements of their own identity, and give value and importance to their own activities. The issues related to the components of young people’s identities have been a subject of increasing research interest in recent years. As it has been determined, there is a lack of data in Poland regarding the role of educational environments in shaping a positive identity based on the development of young people’s interests. The purpose of the study is to identify the general level of interests among adolescents. Additionally, it is important to determine whether the level of interests is linked to sense of coherence and resilience. The study was carried out on a sample of 635 adolescents of both genders, aged 14-18 years old. The participants were students of lower secondary schools of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. The following research tools were used in the study: Life Orientation Questionnaire (SOC-29), Resilience Scale (SPP-18), and author’s own measurement tool: Level of Interests Measurement Scale. In the sample of adolescents, general sense of coherence and sense of comprehensibility proved to be positively correlated with general level of interests. Regression analysis demonstrated the significance of psychological resilience components and sense of coherence factors that support the development of interests. Preventive and educational work should aim to support the shaping of a positive and creative identity by stimulating the potentials, resources and talents of young people. Young people’s passions and interests should be stimulated and encouraged towards creating a positive identity.

Information technology evolves in order to meet the needs of ageing society. Despite the life-long learning perspective and availability of ICT courses, studies indicate that only a limited number of seniors take full advantage of possibilities given by mobile technology and the Internet. The question arises if the old are part of the Information Society or they are excluded from it. This article provides evidence that seniors underutilise the ICT devices and e-services and indicates the main lines of the recent debates on the current need for ICT education among older adults. The analysis of seniors’ ICT competence is based on a literature survey.

The purpose of the conducted research was to analyze the processual dimension of the transformations of a disabled person’s life which take place under the influence of experiences related to practicing sport. Therefore, the article attempts to discuss the issues related to the influence of sport institutions responsible for the organization of sport practiced by physically disabled individuals in their care. In the article, I try to prove the similarity of the sport structure with the educational system structure where, apart from the strictly educational functions, there are also socialization processes taking place, diverse in terms of measures and results. The basis for the realization of the purpose mentioned above was the personal experiences of the researched individuals. Hence, the research exploits qualitative data collected during participant observations and in-depth free interviews conducted among the disabled practicing sports. Analysis and interpretation of the research material was performed in accordance with the procedures of grounded theory. The article has been prepared as a consequence of research carried out between 2012 and 2015 among the society of the disabled who practice professional sports. The studies are related to the characteristics of a sports career of the disabled, which, regarding its specificity, is deeply rooted in institutionalized initiation practices regarding inclusion, continuance and the maintenance of the main action, i.e., practicing sport.

The narratives included in this article were collected within the framework of the project “We Support Senior Citizens in the Local Environment-Culture as an Element of the Identity of the Elderly”, implemented in the Daily Care Home of the Local Support Center in Gdańsk in 2016. They are the result of the author’s personal observations of seniors being in need of telling their past, sharing it, and at the same time sorting it out, and reconciling themselves with the difficult moments in their lives. There is also a need for reflection on one’s past, which gives power and strength to go on in life. In other words, who and/or what makes you want to live and even enjoy life? What is resilience in my life? Remaining impressed by the power of their stories, the stories of people who in the moments of difficulty and pain were able to say: ‘I want to live’, and asking them to reflect on the past, I came to realize what it is that determines the sources to keep the resilience described below and the ability to regenerate.

The article is an attempt at describing the relation between resilience and needs. It is based on the assumption that these are two sets of variables vital for harmonious development that resonate with each other in a peculiar manner. Resilience and human needs are both contextually and hereditarily conditioned, but the relation between them seems not necessarily a linear one. In adults, resilience might be a significant medium in the satisfaction of needs and even condition them. In children, however, the relation between these variables is different. A child is born with certain potential determining its level of resilience, but deprivation of their key needs, especially during first years, might simply impair their development or disturb its synchronisation. The main issue discussed in this article is the basis of the relation between resilience and the needs that must be satisfied at school. The article contains observations made while carrying out an experimental project that enables the youngest pupils to access and fulfil their multidimensional needs.