Social Work (e-books)

E-book

Magdaléna Hovanová (ed.)

The collection of works originated from the event of the eighteenth annual nationwide Student Scientific and Professional Activity (ŠVOČ) in the field of social work, which took place on May 12, 2022. It was organizationally overseen by the Department of Social Work of the Faculty of Arts at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice.

Every year, this event provides an opportunity for selected top students—future professionals in social work—to meet, as well as a chance to present the level of their knowledge and their ability to apply theoretical insights and acquired skills to future social work practice.

The contributions in this collection address topics such as the risks of modern technologies in the context of social work, social support and risk factors within families in the context of adolescent radicalization processes, the issue of cyberbullying in elementary schools, Ukrainian student migration in Slovakia, factors influencing job satisfaction among social workers, and the social support of families as clients of social work during the current pandemic situation.

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E-book

Dušan Šlosár

The monograph offers an insight into radicalization pull and push factors, influencing which is the competence of helping professionals.Radicalization is conditioned by the current social, economic, cultural and political context, i.e. the time-space in which radicalization occurs.It is this fact that directs the content of the monograph to factors that can be considered triggering and influencing factors of radicalization processes as well as radicalization itself.

The monograph systematizes knowledge about radicalization from the point of view of pull and push factors, which have been identified as factors of radicalization in professional literature, research reports and other verified sources, including Internet resources focused on radicalization and processes of radicalization, as well as available interventions to influence or prevent radicalization.The monograph mainly focuses on the analysis of pull and push factors that are related to radicalization and radicalization processes.

The monograph offers the results of research carried out through qualitative methodology.The research focused on issues related to radicalization in the research sample consisting of radicalized and non-radicalized respondents.The research focused on the investigation of pull and push factors related to radicalization, which can occur in the family, school or work environment, among peers, in the wider social environment related to the social and political climate in society and the influence of mass media.

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E-book

Vladimír Lichner - Tomáš Šeďo

Peer-Reviewed Collection of Contributions from a Scientific Conference with International Participation Held on November 25, 2022 in Košice

"The presented peer-reviewed collection of contributions titled "Present and Future of Social Work in the Reflection of Social Changes" is the output of a scientific conference with international participation, marking the 10th anniversary of the Košické dni sociálnej práce, held on November 25, 2022.

The conference was dedicated to the vision of social work, its methods, and techniques in the context of societal changes. With the changing times come new challenges to which social work must be prepared to respond. The central focus of the collection is the search for answers to pre-defined questions: "Is the current social work system adequately configured for current societal problems? Can social work promptly respond to new and unknown challenges? Are the known methods of social work effective in dealing with contemporary negative phenomena? Do we need additional methods?

If so, what are they?" Individual contributions touch on theoretical concepts in the search for answers, but they also include empirically based contributions that reflect research results from various areas of society and problematic situations, with a view to providing recommendations for both the theory and practice of social work.

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E-book

Magdaléna Hovanová

The monograph is devoted to social support, set in the adolescent's environment. Social support can also be described as relational support from the environment in which the individual lives, and thus increases his resistance to stress and the desire to overcome life's failures and crises. It is for this reason that social support was also defined in the context of social-ecological theory. An innovation in the relationship with social support was the "Push-pull" theory, oriented to the individual's motivation.

The defining anchoring of social support was built on its most famous theories. However, the greatest attention was focused on the possibilities of measuring social support, because its multidimensional measurement is necessary to determine the mechanism by which it works. The monograph therefore offered the author's validation processing and verification of psychometric properties of two separate methodologies Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) - (Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, Farley 1988) and Social Support Survey (MOS) - (Sherbourne, Stewart 1991).

The monograph results in two validation-verified separate methodologies for measuring types and sources of social support, which are reliable for use in a group of Slovak adolescents (MOS-SK and MSPSS-SK).

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E-book

Katarína Šiňanská

For a non-governmental organization to be successful, it must focus, among other things, on its main goal of spreading its vision and mission to another area. It can achieve success by increasing its visibility and raising awareness about its activities in society, sending a clear message, and maintaining transparency.

The monograph deals with specific areas in which non-profit NGOs are active, i.e. marketing and fundraising. Both these areas are of key importance for the NGO’s success, therefore they require particular attention. It is well known that NGOs lack proper support in Slovakia and their funding is insufficient given the demand for their services. NGOs therefore search for multiple sources of funding and use marketing as a tool.

The monograph explains the importance of NGOs in the non-profit sector and justifies the tools they employ when navigating the commercial space.

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E-book

Zuzana Dankulincová a kol.

The scientific monograph is the output of the Care4Youth project, which aimed to map the current system of care for adolescents with emotional and behavioral problems (EBP) in Slovakia. It captures what the care system is and what its possible shortcomings are from the perspective of all those affected (adolescents with problems, their parents, care providers and other institutions involved).

It also looks at the trajectory of adolescents with EBP in the care system, i.e. when and how adolescents with problems enter and leave the care system, or pass from one type of care to another and what impact different trajectories have on them.

Last but not least, the aim of the monograph was to provide expert information on what are the risk and protective factors that will affect their success in the care system or, conversely, that threaten them. All this in order to support the proposal for improvements in the care system that would benefit all stakeholders.

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E-book

Katarína Šiňanská

The presented university textbook deals with various views on the issue of youth work in the non-governmental non-profit sector, with which the area of social work or other helping professions is closely connected. It offers theoretical analysis as a basic theoretical framework of the issue, which is necessary to know during the study and in the performance of the practice in the helping profession.

It also offers an application through practical demonstrations. The area of youth work is frequent in the non-profit sector. Many diverse activities and projects are being developed based on the basic concept of empowerment. Their aim is to involve young people as much as possible in public life. In addition, with a specific focus on those young people who are struggling with some form of disadvantage.

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E-book

Lucia Tóthová - Katarína Šiňanská - Eva Žiaková

Here is the translation of the provided text into English: A guide to oncological treatment was created at a time when the importance of health became even more emphasized, becoming a kind of mega-value for the new modern "pandemic" human. The use of the term "pandemic" person arose, of course, in connection with the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic worldwide, but primarily because other dangerous long-term diseases that threaten contemporary humans are somehow being pushed into the background.

The severity of such diseases (including cancer) does not diminish just because attention has shifted to something more acute. It is very important to realize this and not fall under the illusion that if we overcome an acute danger, then automatically improve conditions for chronic diseases as well. We believe it's quite the opposite; prolonged stress and social negative factors constantly affecting us—among which undoubtedly includes pandemic situations—worsen not only psychological but also somatic states.

The guide to oncological treatment aims precisely at highlighting those psychological and social factors that negatively "support" cancer development in any form and can positively influence treatment and coping with illness. The guide offers opportunities for social engagement with groups of people undergoing similar oncological treatments, allowing them to share psychologically as well as professionally similar situations with those facing similar problems in treatment. The authors hope that this guidebook will reach those who will become more self-sufficient in overcoming such a formidable enemy as cancer.

Authors

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E-book

Lukáš Šutor (ed.)

The current sixth volume of the Doctoral Miscellanea consists of eight contributions from four study programs, with two contributions also involving authors outside of doctoral studies. Given the limitations on the length of individual contributions and the uniqueness of the research, the authors have chosen varying widths and depths in presenting their dissertation topics. Some contributions serve as an introduction to the issues, others provide a summary of previous results, and still others focus on a detailed analysis of a specific problem. These three approaches may not only reveal the stage of research in which the doctoral candidate finds themselves but also their potential research priorities.

The main commonality across all issues of the proceedings remains interdisciplinary diversity, which shows a certain continuity. Specific themes appear regularly. In these cases, alongside alternating doctoral candidates, the key figure is the supervisor (in the role of co-author) and their research focus/project in which the doctoral candidates participate. This development of research continuity is particularly evident in contributions from the field of social work.

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E-book

Magdaléna Hovanová - Dušan Šlosár

The monograph deals with the issue of social protection of the family, where the basis is a view of the family as a natural part of human and social life. The starting point is provided by the institutes that create and structure it, influence its value orientation, the development of social relations within the family, but also relations to the social environment.

In broader contexts, the monographic treatment of social protection provides the results of transdisciplinary knowledge. It deals with the work of helping professionals with functional and non-functional families and families with special needs. It offers problem solving through tailored methods, techniques, procedures and measures used by various helping professions in the field of social protection and social guardianship.

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E-book

Katarína Šiňanská - Dušan Šlosár

The presented monograph deals with various views on of the community issue and community work, with which  area of social work or other helping professions is closely connected. It offers theoretical analysis as a basic theoretical framework of the issue, which is necessary to know in the study and in the performance of the practice in the helping profession. The authors consider community work to be one of the possibilities for fully involving the inhabitants in co-responsible decision-making on things that fundamentally affect their lives.

The monograph characterizes in  fifteen chapters the community and the processes that takes place in it, outlines a brief history and approaches in community work. It offers theoretical background, which is used in community work as a necessary prerequisite for a professional approach practice. The monograph also points to the important position of professional help in community.

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E-book

Vladimír Lichner

The presented university textbook presents a basic overview of statistical theory and practice intended for students of social work, including examples of their use in specific studies. This text deals with the first part of statistical practice, namely descriptive analysis, which we perceive as a basic condition for the processing of any empirical research and is also important in grasping typical statistical principles and concepts.

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E-book

Magdaléna Hovanová - Dušan Šlosár

The monograph addresses the issues surrounding functional families, dysfunctional families, and those affected by crises. It analyzes various determinants that lead to family dysfunction and identifies factors contributing to family crises and the destabilization of family relationships. Special attention is given to working with dysfunctional families, particularly through family rehabilitation, methods, forms, and procedures employed mainly by helping professionals.

Additionally, the monograph explores contemporary forms of couple cohabitation and the factors that have caused changes in this area. Families are examined from the perspective of helping professions, including psychology, sociology, adult education, health care, law, and economics. These various perspectives create a comprehensive view of the examined issues and establish a multidisciplinary space for addressing problems within the family system. A functional family is seen as the foundation of society; therefore, society must create tools to assist families that are unable to resolve issues affecting their functionality.

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E-book

Dušan Šlosár

The monograph "Risk as a Social Category in Adolescence" by Dušan Šlosár was created as part of the VEGA project No. 1-0285/18, which focuses on risky behavior among adolescents as clients of social work due to their loneliness. The monograph explores the issue of risk in a theoretical context and integrates risk as a component of social relationships, contacts, and information exchange. From this theoretical foundation, it defines risk within helping professions. Assessing the level of risk is left to leading managers; however, it currently affects those helping professionals who work with specific client groups, and thus their involvement in assessing the level of risk cannot be overlooked.

The monograph pays special attention to risky behavior among adolescents and discusses the most serious forms of such behavior, ranging from suicidality to crime, substance abuse (both material and non-material), and issues related to sexuality. The conclusion of the monograph consists of three empirical studies that address the topic of risky behavior among adolescents.

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E-book

Katarína Šiňanská - Františka Petriková (eds.)

The present proceedings is devoted to different perspectives on the problems addressed by the field of social work and also the changes in the orientation of social work with respect to the current requirements of society. Proceeding is made up of a wide range of contributions from various spheres belonging to the sphere of social work. Contributions are devoted to the cyber world of social work, supervision, self-care, risk behavior, but also social work in the past.

The cyberspace in social work is elaborated in several contributions, suggesting a new dimension of social work. In the contributions about cybe world, the authors consider “cyberspace” as a new form of counseling and assistance to clients, as the present time is more online-oriented. Proceedings of international conference "What has brought social work 100 years?"

The past and present forms of social work are therefore devoted to various themes, incentives and insights into the benefits of the contribution of social work over 100 years, examining and evaluating past, present but also future forms of social work as a science.

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E-book

Vladimír Lichner

The scientific monograph focuses on the analysis of radical and extremist groups, movements, sects and cults and their activities in the Slovak Republic.

It provides a theoretical insight into the issues of specific organizations and movements that have been characterized in the past, or are currently characterized by belonging to ideologies that we might call anti-social.

It does not focus unilaterally on one type of violent extremism, but focuses on the issue of both right-wing and left-wing religious groups. In the final part it offers a brief suggestion of prevention procedures, which could significantly influence the increase of extremist manifestations especially in young people.

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E-book

Milan Douša - Tatiana Gmitrová - Oskar Tóth - Matúš Vyrostko (eds.)

Peer-reviewed proceedings of contributions from the 5th year of the doctoral students' scientific conference, February 6, 2020

The dynamically evolving contemporary society creates expectations and demands among citizens for public administration to be efficient, reliable, open, professional, and fast. New theories of knowledge, in connection with constant changes, must also include practical application and reflection of these characteristics in the public administration system in practice. For this reason, it is important to pay attention to new approaches from both theoretical and practical perspectives to the application of modern public administration in the conditions of the V4 countries.

Given that public administration is an interdisciplinary scientific discipline that utilizes knowledge from a wide range of scientific fields and thus enables a comprehensive approach to solving problems of modern public administration, the peer-reviewed proceedings of contributions from the doctoral students' scientific conference are divided into three sections: socio-economic, political science, and legal. The sections eruditely respond to current public administration problems from both theoretical and practical perspectives.

PhDr. Milan Douša
Chairman of the Organizing Committee

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E-book

Iveta Jeleňová - Gabriela Kravčáková (eds.)

Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference, October 16, 2014, Košice

In mid-October 2014, the second annual conference "Human Capital and Society" was held, organized by the Department of Social Studies of the Faculty of Public Administration at P. J. Šafárik University in Košice, in collaboration with another department of the faculty, the Department of Economics and Management of Public Administration. Today, you have before you the proceedings encompassing contributions presented by participants of this conference. In preparing it, the editors had to deal with the diversity of the participants' profiles, which was reflected in the authors' approaches to the issues they addressed, and subsequently had the contributions reviewed by experts from various fields. The individual contributions address traditional topics, as well as newer and emerging themes, reflecting current problems and questions related to human capital, organizational behavior, and primarily, public administration.

At the conference, researchers specializing in management, psychology, political science, social work, sociology, anthropology, linguistics, as well as individuals who do not belong to just one scientific discipline, came together. It was interesting to see how people from different disciplines view the same phenomenon. The conference demonstrated that an interdisciplinary approach can highlight the shortcomings in identifying and understanding problems from the perspective of just one discipline.

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E-book

Soňa Lovašová (ed.)

Proceedings of the Scientific Conference with International Participation held on November 28, 2014, in Košice

Social work is among the helping professions that can be considered highly risky from various perspectives. The clientele utilizing social services is very diverse, often consisting of individuals in extreme life situations. It is typical for help to be sought only when the client is at rock bottom. Along with other factors, this can lead to the emergence of various risky situations. The proceedings were created within the framework of the VEGA task No. 1/0332/12 titled Analysis of Selected Risk Factors of Client Violence in Social Work with an Emphasis on Prevention of Client Violence and Preparation of Social Workers - National Mapping of the Occurrence of Client Violence Against Social Workers in Slovakia. The thematic focus of the proceedings is broader, as client violence is only one of many risks in social work. In the proceedings, the reader will find 52 articles that address the riskiness of social work from many perspectives. They offer an interesting overview of theoretical foundations as well as research findings. The numerous thematic contributions indicate that the issue of risk in social work is highly relevant and that attention is paid to it in both theory and practice.

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E-book

Soňa Lovašová a kol.

Violence in the workplace has been a problem that has received attention for fifty years. Client violence is one of its forms. These are cases where the aggressor is a person coming to an institution to use its services. Client violence affects all helping professions. This monograph deals with the specifics of client violence in social work.

In addition to theoretical outputs, it also offers research results conducted on a sample of 1170 respondents, frontline workers in selected entities providing services in the social field in Slovakia. The monograph represents a summary of three years of work by eight experts. Each author contributed within their area of expertise and brought a different perspective to the issue. The main aim was to bring a variety of views on the issue and attempt to combine them into a cohesive whole. Thus, a monograph was created that contains interesting theoretical foundations included in six theoretical chapters, starting with the introductory chapter on the position of client violence in the area of workplace violence.

The following chapters address the risk and riskiness of social work, ethical aspects, the personality of the social worker, and risk areas of social work. The research chapter presents the research project to the reader and three subchapters of findings processed in tables and described in detail.

The final part of the monograph deals with prevention and group work. An important part is also the appendices, which include a questionnaire battery, a program implemented for social work students, and a proposed program for workers in the social field.

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