Sociálne a politické analýzy 1-2016

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Ján Kahan - Eva Žiaková

The monograph focuses on the issue of loneliness among substance-addicted people in the context of abstinence prospects and re/lapse prevention. In the monograph these phenomena, several theories were integrated and applied in the context of the ecosystem meta-framework of social work and practical contexts. The ecosystem meta-theory serves as a meta-construct with the ability to encompass the complexity of social phenomena as well as that of human beings within the structure of their living and social environment, formal and informal networks, and close intimate relationships.

In this monograph are presented research sample consisted of 235 respondents – hospitalised addicts undergoing urgent treatment, abstaining A-club members as well as members of psychotherapy and self-help groups. The research showed that abstainers were statistically less lonely than the hospitalised respondents. Quantitative data of research are complemented by qualitative data collected in four case studies; two of them focused on two long-term abstainers from alcohol and drugs, while the other two case studies dealt with two respondents in post-hoc treatment undergoing the resocialization process. The research also showed that respondents who broke abstinence felt lonelier than their successfully abstaining counterparts.

The results were supported also by the fact that a statistically significant inversely proportional relationship was identified between the duration of abstinence and loneliness rate. Gender differences were found between the hospitalised addicts in all loneliness dimensions. Naturally, the combined research was limited in certain aspects, mainly in terms of the size and proportional distribution of the research sample and its subgroups, test battery extent, and general nature of the population studied. Triangulation among quantitative and qualitative with the theoretical starting points confirmed the existence of a relationship among loneliness, addiction, and prospect of abstinence.

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Juraj Schenk et al.

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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Soňa Lovašová - Katarína Šiňanská - Magdaléna Halachová  - Vladimír Lichner (eds.)

The central theme of the conference is violence in social work. Violence in social work appears in various forms, whether it involves working with clients who are victims of different types of violence or dealing with aggressive clients where the social worker themselves becomes the victim. Violence in society is rapidly increasing, and social work is a science that must necessarily adapt to society; this is its essence. Therefore, managing aggressive situations in any form is an important part of a social worker's personal skill set.

Unfortunately, protecting social workers from violence will gradually become a necessity, and in the future, we may not avoid training in self-defense and reducing aggression as part of professional preparation or lifelong education.

The aim of this collection is to present the issue of violence in social work from various perspectives to both the professional and lay public. We hope that this serious problem will receive increasing attention and that the individual contributions will help readers understand the extent of the problem of violence in social work.

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Juraj Schenk et al.

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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Katarína Duffeková - Benita Feketeová - Katarína Lörincová (eds.)

The presented work is a collection of contributions from the 9th International Online Scientific Conference of Students and Young Scientists, organized on December 4, 2020 by the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, the Faculty of Social Sciences UCM in Trnava and the OZ Res Publica.

The aim of the publication is to provide a platform to discuss important issues which could influence the course of events in next decade in Slovakia, Europe and world.

The publication consists of more than twenty articles, which are primarily in Slovak but also in English. The contributions deal with both domestic and foreign policy with focus on the third decade of the 21st century.

In addition to geopolitical issues, the contributions also cover migration, regional integration, populism and nationalism, the influence of the media and social networks in the political sphere and also the development of liberal democracy. The authors also address issues of municipal policy, the electoral system and the referendum.

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Karin Sabolíková

The monograph provides a brief insight into the theory of news structures in the press and, consequently, the theoretical framework of critical discourse analysis is applied in an examination of the structures of news. Critical discourse analysis following the theory and methodology of Teun van Dijk is used to analyse the representation of an industrial dispute, the Miners’ Strike of 1984-1985 in the UK, in the Czechoslovak newspaper Pravda.

The aim of the monograph is to examine the ways in which a single news item dealing with an international event was presented in a national newspaper based on its ideological perspective. The presented analysis does not cover all possible aspects of van Dijk’s approach of critical discourse analysis. A variety of issues remains to be explored in order to develop a richer, more complex analysis of the text structures. The monograph also intends to demonstrate that critical discourse analysis can complement more qualitatively the traditional method of quantitative content analysis.

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Jaroslav Marcin - Viktória Marcinová a kol.

This little book started out in a way that probably many other scholarly publications do: When the five of us met as doctoral students and instructors in the Department of British and American Studies, we soon realized that our research overlapped on a number of points. Most prominent among those was our interest in political or politicallymotivated discourse and the study of myths and manipulation that it employed. 

In the end, we decided to pool the results of our research together in order to create a more complex picture, providing a variety of perspectives and voices. In our endeavor, we were greatly aided by the financial support we received from a grant offered by the Šafárik University. The outcome of these efforts is the five chapters of this brief, but hopefully informative and insightful monograph.

In Chapter 1, Viktória Marcinová deals with the impact of totalitarian ideology on the translation of so-called “capitalist” drama during the first stage of normalization in Slovakia (1948-1968). In Chapter 2, the focus shifts to political discourse and manipulation in a democracy, as Jaroslav Marcin takes a closer look at the wartime rhetoric of American presidents. USA remains the focus also in Chapter 3, but this time the question, addressed by Martina Martausová, will be one of the myth of the American Dream and its presentation in post-9/11 United States. A similar idea, though in a different geographical-cultural context, is dealt with in Chapter 4, where Božena Velebná identifies myths of Scottish identity as portrayed in historic films. Finally, in Chapter 5, Eduard Soták will take a look at the role of the mass media within the topic of politically-motivated discourse and spread of political ideology.

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Mária Mičaninová

Scholars whose works constitute medieval philosophy were active as theologians, jurists, physicians, and sometimes even poets. Among them, there is hardly anyone who could be described exclusively as a philosopher.

For theologians and (religious) jurists, the primary source of their philosophical reflection was the Bible or the Qur’an. The second source was the philosophical heritage of the preceding antiquity, in which the figure of Aristotle and his commentators dominated. The Peripatetic legacy was complemented by followers of Plato in the long line of so-called Neoplatonic philosophy (e.g., Plotinus, Iamblichus, and Proclus), which in its beginnings developed within the environment of Hellenistic schools.

It is therefore not surprising that the main philosophical problem for medieval scholars was the relationship between theology and philosophy, or faith and reason, and, consequently, the relationship between theology and metaphysics. In the context of Christian thought, this was already discussed in the 2nd century, when some Church Fathers questioned the value of secular learning for those to whom the truth had been revealed by God.

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Ivica Hajdučeková - Iveta Bónová

The monograph Maša Haľamová in the triad Dar – červený mak – Smrť tvoju žijem was created as part of the project APVV-19-0244 (Methodological Approaches in Literary Research with an Impact on the Media Environment) in collaboration between Ivica Hajdučeková and Iveta Bónová.

In two parts – Personal History and (Re)interpretation of Maša Haľamová's Poetry, and Phonetic-Rhythmic Embodiment of Maša Haľamová's Poetry – it presents the results of archival research (reconstruction of life events, notes on poetic inspiration, consensus in the opinions of literary critics of the 20th and 21st centuries), (re)interpretations of three poetic collections focusing on the spiritual dimension and the process of spiritualization, and an in-depth analysis of the phonetic-rhythmic qualities of verse structure.

In conclusion, the authors suggest that the Slovak poet Maša Haľamová can be considered a representative of spiritual poetry, which in the Slovak interwar literature follows a specific type of confessional (Protestant) tradition, and at the level of phonetic embodiment, her sound-rhythmic potential acts in the name of subtlety of expression.

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Soňa Šnircová

This textbook has been designed as supporting material for the postgraduate course on modern trends in European literature. It focuses on the presentation of five modern literary modes of writing: the realistic mode which was brought to its prominence by the nineteenth-century Realist movement; the stream-of-consciousness and ‘absurdist’ modes which were developed in the context of modernism; and the magical realist and metafictional modes which are associated mainly with postmodernist literary trends. Each mode is represented by a well-known text which demonstrates the formal aspects of each mode and deals with the thematic concerns typical of the literary movement that influenced its production.

The textbook adopts an interdisciplinary approach, placing the chosen literary texts into the historical, philosophical and cultural contexts that shaped their characters, and thereby providing the background knowledge necessary for a deeper understanding of their formal and thematic aspects.

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Renáta Gregová

This textbook is designated for the students of translation and interpreting study programmes. The increase of linguistic competence in foreign language, but also in mother tongue is an inevitable part of the preparation of translators and interpreters. The low linguistic competence is often one of the reasons of the unsatisfactory quality of translation. The main aim of this book is to provide the material for the consolidation of linguistic terminology and for the improvement of oral and written utterances in the Slovak language.

Consequently, the textbook encompasses the theoretical and the practical part. The theoretical part summarizes the basic knowledge of language levels. In the practical part, there is the brief description of the selected orthoepic, morphological, syntactic, lexical and stylistic norms of the standard Slovak with the reference to the relevant literature offering deeper analysis of the given problem. Then practical exercises verifying the mastering of linguistic norms follow. At the end of the book, there is the little Slovak-English dictionary of the selected linguistic terms that may help students in their study of the English linguistics.

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Magdaléna Hovanová

The university textbook offers a view of the family in social contexts. It deals with the basic characteristics of the family, the life cycle of the family from the choice of partner, through the arrival of children in the family to the end of the family. During its duration, the family performs various functions. A functional family is ideal for a harmonious relationship between partners and a suitable environment for raising children.

However, a number of factors enter the life of the family, which directly or indirectly affect the performance of these functions and can cause various disorders. It is here that the task of social work is to offer help to families to cope with their big and small problems. A specific feature of social work is the focus on the whole and a comprehensive assessment of the family, where it is necessary to take into account both the client's point of view and the aspect of the environment in which he lives and which constantly affects him. Therefore, the university textbook offers procedures for social work with the family, from the assessment of the life situation, through the plan of work with the family to social intervention.

The university textbook is intended for students of social work, who have the opportunity to practice complex issues within the assessment of the case through the enclosed case studies.

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Renáta Orosová

The scientific and professional journal Edukácia focuses on issues related to education and upbringing in the areas of primary, secondary, and higher education. It emphasizes the current state and perspectives of educational practice, current aspects of pre-graduate 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 public. It is intended for scientific workers, young university teachers, doctoral students, as well as professional and pedagogical staff, with the aim of presenting trends in education and stimulating discussion on current issues in the presented areas of education and upbringing.

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Lukáš Šutor (ed.)

Contributions in the field of psychology address current issues such as normative beliefs and attitudes regarding alcohol consumption, the characteristics of loneliness, questions of pupil personality and the perception of teachers’ interaction styles. They also consider hyperexcitability (excessive psychological excitability), research theorems on injustice, and fundamental concepts and their theoretical connections in the field of self-regulation research within the context of executive functions.

In philosophy, the authors focus on selected aspects of works belonging to major currents of world philosophy (Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Plotinus, Descartes, Patočka).

In literary studies (Slovak studies), the topics include modeling the theme of death in prose texts, the depiction of technological progress in space science fiction films, and the translation work of K. Strmeň, Návštevy (Anthology of World Lyric Poetry).

In the field of social work, the authors present contributions on current trends in preventing burnout syndrome in helping professions, the use of logotherapy in foster care, certain factors enabling the emergence, development, and spread of socially pathological phenomena (“cyberbullying”), religiosity and the value of human life, and an empirical analysis of the competencies of social workers in institutional care for people with intellectual disabilities.

The political science contribution analyzes selected institutions and documents within the European system of human rights protection, while the British and American studies paper examines the relationship between metaphor and metonymy in the interpretation of the meaning of new English compounds.

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Tatiana Žiaková - Dušan Šlosár

The last decade marks not only the average life expectancy increase in healthy population, but also life expectancy increase in group of people with intellectual disorders/disabilities. Due to their diagnosis that defines and classifies them into specific categories, people with intellectual disability are finding themselves in a constant confrontation with obstacles negatively affecting the saturation of their existential needs. It creates mostly educational, social, cultural, psycho-social and economical disadvantage in the context of their lives. Consequently, their active potential is weakened, making it unable for them to influence public affairs in society from a position of an adult or elderly citizen. Building up on this condition, the focus of this monograph is on understanding and explanation of prevailing concept of social inclusion and related concepts of social exclusion. These concepts influence the way we tend to define and think about the character of society, as such.

Simultaneously, we are examining that the quality of coexistence between dominant population and people with intellectual disabilities is dependent on the development of attitudes and opinions of major population towards this specific minority. These attitudes reflect the extent of social tolerance and at the same time serve as a quantification of moral values and equity in the society, whether it concerns any type of small everyday help or professional and institutionalised long-term support.

This monograph focuses on presenting professional care for people with mental disability in form of social services as a dominant type of support in our local environment. We show that the quality of social services inevitably depends on degree of professional competences social workers possess. The significance of professional competences social workers are capable of using is reflected in the degree of the competence and adequacy of their performance. The primary aim, in relation to which professional competences should be accustomed, is to enhance meaningfulness and dignity in life of mentally disabled receivers of the social services.

Competences of social workers are a dynamic phenomenon that modifies along the development of society and also with the frequently altering needs of people with intellectual disability as receivers of the social service. For this reason we designed the presented research to reflect our goal to reappraise the scope of professional competences and define the required professional functions of social workers working with people with intellectual disability.

This monograph is dedicated not only to professionals working with this group of people but also aims at answering basic questions to practical issues that families with a intellectualy disabled member are coming into contact with.

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Marián Bednár

University textbook Selected Chapters from Managerial Ethics presents selected topics from the current issue of Managerial Ethics.

The historical context of Managerial Ethics and its formation on the background of business ethics, up to the form of independent inter and trans discipline, is presented at the introduction. Being one of the subdisciplines of applied ethics, it is inherently normative and interdisciplinary. It represents an overlapping institutional aspect - management ethics and individual aspect - manager ethics. The issue of social responsibility in economics and business, or the moral profile of a manager as a key player of this applied ethics is mentioned.

Institutionalization and implementation of ethics in corporate culture and the tools that are used in this so complex and interdisciplinary process are also a necessary step. Established ethical management systems, which complement the modularity of institutionalization, are also important. The main question is, of course, ethics in decision-making and management of people, as it is where ethical dilemmas and tensions are born. Also, the issue of ethics in leadership, as another qualitative and developmental stage in Managerial Ethics, is the contribution.

The attached moral dilemmas are meant to reflect, self-test moral intelligence and to be resolved.

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