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E-book

Beata Gajdošová

It is impossible to be in contact with a person-centered approach and not be influenced by it. Carl Random Rogers was and is still perceived as one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century (Cook, et al., 2009).

He was the first psychologist to be awarded twice by the American Psychological Association during his lifetime; in 1957 for his contributions to psychotherapy research and in 1973 for distinguished professional contributions. He developed his own psychotherapeutic approach, client-centered therapy, where unlike existing psychotherapeutic approaches, the healing power lies in the relationship between the client and the therapist, not in the applied method.

Rogers and his colleagues were the first to record, transcribe, and publish complete cases of therapeutic conversations and initiated systematic research in the field of psychotherapy. By using the term client instead of patient and seeking sources of change within the person, he created a non-medical model of help as part of the helping professions (Capuzzi, Gross, 2001). The self-theory created by Rogers is a theory that is included in many contemporary psychology texts (Cloninger, 2003; Feist, Feist, 2001; Ryckman, 2004).

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Martin Škára

Philosophy is interwoven throughout its history with several principles that bring light and order to this kind of thinking, whether it is a systematic or a non-systematic form of philosophizing.

Each of the principles represents in its own way the origin (ἀρχή) of all deductive reasoning, but not all philosophical statements and conceptions are obliged to proceed in the same way, for not all philosophical statements and conceptions are calculus. Actually, such a form of rationalist philosophizing is really a minority in the history of philosophy. But in spite of its minority presence, it will always attract attention to some extent, whether by becoming a pillar of thought itself and finding a permanent place in its foundations, or by becoming an indispensable mainstay of philosophical reasoning. In fact, there are not many principles in the history of philosophical thought.

The state of affairs is primarily due to the heterogeneous and in many cases irrationalist nature of philosophical thinking.

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E-journal

Juraj Schenk a kol.

The scientific journal Sociálne a politické analýzy (Social and Political Analyses) serves as an interactive electronic platform for communication and the presentation (publication) of experts and their work in the fields of basic and applied research and analyses within sociological, psychological, political, and methodological contexts. It is a medium focused on intensively supporting research activities and analyses within an interdisciplinary framework, facilitating the exchange of experiences, fostering collaboration, and revitalizing the production of scientific work in this area.

The publication section of the journal offers space for works such as:

- Original sociological, psychological, and political studies and analyses in any areas of social life

- Methodological studies

- Research reports

- Studies from qualification theses Research and analysis projects

- Reviews

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Peter Getlík

The main goal of the monograph "Moving Towards Cognitive Adaptation Studies: Adaptation as Play" was to orient current research in adaptation studies towards the empirically responsible cognitive branch of non-radical constructivism.

This intention results from the rapid progressive differentiation of adaptation studies research, which has mainly manifested itself in this area in the last two decades. With the model of adaptation as play in a cognitive-scientific perspective, author provides the possibility of predicting the nature (also in a broader sense) of the experience of adaptation. Since the form of this experience significantly shapes the products of the adaptation process into their final form, the model of adaptation as play can be applied even in the interpretation of individual adaptations. In the monograph, the author synthesized the model of adaptation as play based on the knowledge of various disciplines. In the field of cognitive sciences, he saw help from the starting points of philosophy, linguistics, informatics, psychology, anthropology, biology and neuroscience – especially affective neuroscience, which also deals with the emotional dimension of the play.

In the intersection with the essential interdisciplinary components of adaptation research, he also used the knowledge of classical and cognitive variations of literary science, film science (also theatrology) and media studies to a large extent. Consistent with other similar results of cognitive sciences, it turns out that even seemingly serious adaptations, like in many aspects of our culture, have a ludic base.

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Lukáš Šutor

Vedecká monografia Kozmológia čarodejných príbehov (ľudová rozprávka medzi kultúrou a umením) je pôvodnou prácou syntetizujúcou výskum o kozmologických štruktúrach archaických epických žánrov v interdisciplinárnom dialógu medzi literárnou vedou a kultúrnou antropológiou. Výskumne sa sústredíme najmä na ľudovú čarodejnú rozprávku, ktorá sa vždy dotýka základnej ontologickej problematiky, vytvára modelový a poetizovaný obraz sveta; predstavuje neteistickú formu hrdinskej kozmológie, ukotvenú v gnómickom časopriestorovom rámci. Pri jej výskume kombinujeme synchrónnu systémovú interpretáciu semiotických rovín s diachrónnou analýzou vývoja kultúr. Z nášho výskumu vyplýva, že základné konflikty medzi symbolickými formami čarodejných príbehov, tak ako ich poznáme z folklórneho prostredia, vykryštalizovali v epoche šírenia sa prvých historických národov ako dôsledok konfrontácie odlišných kultúrnych komplexov.

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Ján Hvozdík

With great interest, I read the proposal for the reissue of the monograph by Prof. PhDr. Ján Hvozdík, DrSc., Základy školskej psychológie (Foundations of School Psychology). It was an honor for me to be part of the editorial board for the new edition of the textbook.

The reissue comes at a time when school psychology seems to be experiencing a renaissance in its application. This is no coincidence, as the professor’s conception of school psychology as a theoretical-applied and integrated psychological discipline strives not only directly but also indirectly, through the pedagogical practice of teachers, to influence specific situations in educational practice within the school environment. From my perspective, I also appreciate the attention given in the textbook to the ever-relevant topic of self-directed learning, that is, the autodidactics of pupils and students. School psychology has become a core subject, within which its specializations are also realized.

It is worth mentioning the fact that, under the conditions of totalitarianism, the professor was not a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and yet he made significant contributions to the development of school counseling, both in theory and in practice, which commands respect and admiration. The reissue of the textbook is not an apology but rather a celebration of his positive contributions.

prof. PhDr. Ján Grác, DrSc.

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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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Adriana Jesenková

The ethics of care offers inspiring ways to think about the relationships and connections we are part of. It provides a new and unconventional reading and understanding of human relationships, thereby enabling us to respond in new and appropriate ways to certain empirical challenges (Pettersen 2011, p. 51).

Just twenty-five years ago, thinking about care was associated with women’s decisions in the private sphere concerning their personal dilemmas and problems. Over the last two decades, advocates of the ethics of care have demonstrated that the ideal of care has the potential to regulate not only private behavior but also human interactions in general.

Today, ideas about care have the power to change how we evaluate personal relationships, professional conduct, public policy, international relations, and global issues. The relevance of the ethics of care in such a wide range of areas of life, many of which are characterized by mutual incompatibilities and conflicting interests, is conditioned by several factors. However, one of the most significant is the creativity and fruitfulness of the thinking of the representatives of the ethics of care, who develop ethical concepts, models, and methods capable of grasping and analyzing human relationships in all their diversity (Pettersen 2011, p. 52).

Compared to traditional ethical concepts and theories in moral philosophy, the ethics of care introduces radically different sets of models and normative concepts. Today, it is precisely feminist ethics of care that offers a critical reflection on care within the realm of moral philosophy, ethics, and social philosophy. The aim of this publication is to identify the concept, subject, approach, philosophical foundations and starting points, as well as the possibilities for applying the ethics of care as a specific moral approach and, at the same time, as a specific moral theory in the field of social science and humanities research.

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Ján Juščák - Milan Darák

The aim of the monograph was to analyze the pedagogical possibilities of educational systems within children's and youth organizations, with an emphasis on those targeting the age group of children up to 15 years.

The starting point was an analysis of the current state of theory and practice in children's and youth organizations, with the intention of describing prevailing trends in their development and activities. This publication closely follows the previous monograph (Juščák, J. – Darák, M.: 2015), in which we processed, according to a unified methodology and using generally accepted pedagogical terminology, the collected available materials on the educational systems of selected (most representative) children's and youth organizations in Slovakia. Through a subsequent comparison of the obtained empirical data on educational systems, we aimed to identify their similar (identical) as well as specific (distinct) elements as a basis for establishing categorization criteria for their classification.

The culmination of our efforts was an attempt to characterize a children's organization as an educational institution, describing its characteristic features, functions, aims, content, principles, and educational methodology.

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Stanislav Hvozdík 

Predložený vysokoškolský učebný text „ Úvod do poradenskej psychológie „ poskytuje študentovi jednak komplexnejší pohľad na disciplínu poradenskej psychológie, ale zároveň obsahuje kapitoly, ktoré mu približujú konkrétnejšie samotný proces poradenstva a problematiku pomáhajúcich spôsobilosti v poradenstve. Okrem toho publikácia obsahuje kapitolu, ktorá prináša niektoré paradigmy poradenskej psychológie. Dôležitou časťou publikácie je kapitola v ktorej sa aplikuje vývin do poradenstva. Táto časť práce obsahuje pod kapitoly: poradenstvo deťom, proaktívne poradenstvo adolescentom a poradenstvo starším dospelým. Súčasťou publikácie je kapitola o etike , ktorá súvisí s poradenskou psychológiou. Predložené učebné texty sa opierajú o relevantné teoretické pramene a sprístupňujú ich študentovi. Možno povedať, že predložená práca s inými prispieva svojim dielom k zaplneniu veľkej medzery, ktorá v tejto aplikovanej oblasti psychológie vznikla v posledných dvoch desaťročiach.

E-book

Dušan Šlosár - Vladimír Lichner

This university textbook aims to provide readers with knowledge of the philosophical foundations, meaning, and purpose of mediation, based on research and analysis of mediators' activities. In countries where mediation services operate, their staff often include graduates of social work departments.

An individual approach to both the perpetrator and victim of a criminal offense requires knowledge and skills from social work, psychology, sociology, communication, and related fields tied to social work. The principles of social work apply not only in social policy and social care but also in justice. A mediator’s mission is to facilitate alternative resolutions to unlawful acts while preserving the purpose of legal proceedings as defined by valid legal norms. They fulfill this mission through specific methods of individual social work applied in the justice sector. The mediator’s focus extends beyond the current conflict to uncover related issues, activate parties to resolve disputes, and prevent new conflicts.

Special attention is devoted to the philosophical foundations of mediation in Slovakia. We provide an overview of mediators’ core activities and mediation types used to uphold justice in Slovakia. We analyze mediation goals, the roles of parties involved, and procedural steps. In applying mediation, we explore its potential and implementation in both legal and social work contexts.

As indicated, mediation cannot be understood solely as a specialized activity in criminal justice, as it has broader applications in non-judicial dispute resolution, such as family or community work, which are often overlooked by the public. The mediator’s approach to diverse target groups is grounded in theoretical frameworks. From this foundation, we derive activities expected of mediators in the future. Expanded activities arise from concrete situations encountered during mediation.

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E-journal

Renáta Orosová

The scientific-professional journal Edukácia focuses on issues related to education and upbringing in the fields of primary, secondary, and higher education. It emphasizes the current state and prospects of educational practice, contemporary aspects of pre-service teacher training, social pedagogy, special pedagogy, as well as pedagogical and psychological aspects of upbringing in basic educational institutions from the perspective of the broader pedagogical community. It is intended for researchers, young university lecturers, doctoral candidates, as well as professional and teaching staff, with the aim of presenting trends in education and stimulating discussion on current issues in the presented areas of upbringing and education.

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E-book

Ivica Hajdučeková et al.  

The four-year grant project VEGA No. 1/0736/15, titled Methodological Approaches to the (Re)Interpretation of Works of Slovak and World Literature (led by Prof. PhDr. Ján Gbúr, CSc.), conducted at the Department of Slovak Studies, Slavonic Philologies, and Communication at the Faculty of Arts, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice between 2015 and 2018, yielded several outputs during its duration. In addition to individual scientific studies published in journals both domestically and internationally, the project resulted in: A proceedings volume from the international scientific conference Text in Contexts: Text in Interdisciplinary Interpretations (2018). A scientific monograph titled Spirituality in the (Re)Interpretation of Slovak Literary Works (2016). The collaboration culminated in two key complementary publications forming an interconnected whole:

Methodological Inspirations in Literary Research I (a collection of selected lectures and abstracts).

Methodological Inspirations in Literary Research II (a monograph).

An electronic collection of abstracts and video recordings from ongoing lecture colloquia—featuring notable figures from Slovak and Czech academia—and the scientific monograph were conceptually aligned, as evidenced by their shared titles differentiated numerically. This approach adhered to the project's aim of continuing a tradition of precision in literary research while emphasizing methodological pluralism. It also sought to promote contemporary, generationally diverse research within the academic environment of Eastern Slovakia, historically linked to Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice.

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Vladimír Lichner - Dušan Šlosár

The scientific monograph focuses on the issue of adolescent risk behaviors on the internet in the form of its problematic use in the context of valid theories and practices of a social work. Text of the monograph is divided into four parts.

The first part focuses on the multidisciplinary definition of a risk behavior on the internet. It offers an up-to-date literary overview of the issue through the latest, especially foreign, theoretical knowledge.

The second part focuses on the problematic use of the internet in contexts of valid origins of the social work. The third part focuses on the presentation of the most important psychosocial factors correlating with the problematic internet use in the adolescent´s group. The theoretical knowledge is supplemented by the authors research into the present factors.

The final part is application-oriented and focuses on the possibilities that the social work offers at the praxis level to prevent and solve the presented problems.

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Lucia Tóthová - Katarína Šiňanská (eds.)

Proceedings of the scientific conference with international participation held on November 30, 2018, in Košice

Current social work addresses the serious development problems of society such as poverty, unemployment, chronic diseases, socially vulnerable groups and others. We must not forget that enough attention must be paid to the discovery of causes and a detailed analysis of these problems. The thing is that social problems have been around for a long time, they just changed their shape, old forms of social risks were replaced by the new ones that need to be explored and analyzed in order to be able to perform measures and remove the causes of social risks of the 21st century. Proceedings of the scientific conference with international participation entitled Social Risks in the Society of the XXI. Century is therefore devoted to various perspectives related to social risks of modern society in the variety of contributions, indicating the broad-spectrum not only of the proceedings, but also the social work itself.

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Mikuláš Jančura - Maroš Melichárek (eds.)

The textbook is derived from the outcomes of the eleventh annual student scientific conference, which took place in December 2022.

The student scientific conference is an integral component of the curriculum within the Department of History at the Faculty of Arts, UPJŠ, and has been implemented since 2011. Its primary objective is to provide a platform for Bachelor's and Master's degree students to present segments of their original research as part of their thesis development.

The purpose of this textbook extends beyond the mere publication of these diverse thematic texts. It also strives to emphasize the significance of exceptional pedagogical initiatives and the added value of university education for students, manifested through the dissemination of their scholarly output.

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