Local Attitudes to Global Issues. A2 Immigration in British Media Discourse.

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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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Lukáš Šutor

Currently, the eighth issue of the Doctoral Miscellanea consists of thirteen contributions from four study programs. The publication of these contributions is traditionally associated with the Autumn School for Doctoral Students at the Faculty of Arts of UPJŠ in Košice, where third-cycle students have the opportunity to first try out the conference format of presenting their research results and subsequently expand them into full studies.

Unlike last year, when the proceedings were non-conference due to the pandemic situation, we consider the return to plenary dialogue beneficial. A distinctive feature of our proceedings is its multidisciplinary nature, encompassing humanities and social science fields. Despite this diversity, interesting connections often emerge among the topics, relating to generational reassessments of regularly recurring issues as well as research on highly current phenomena.

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Jana Šutajová Alexander Onufrák

This university textbook, „Political System of the Slovak Republic for Foreign Students“, is designed to introduce Erasmus students and other international students to basic information regarding the historical and political development of Slovakia and the political system of the Slovak Republic. It focuses on political developments since 1918.

It introduces foreign students to pivotal historical events that influenced political developments in Slovakia (the establishment of the First Czechoslovak Republic, the Munich Agreement and the Vienna Arbitration, the Slovak State, postwar developments and the Košice Government Program, the 1946 elections, February 1948, the Prague Spring of 1968, normalization, the Velvet Revolution of 1989, the dissolution of the Czechoslovak Federal Republic, the establishment of the Slovak Republic, and its integration into the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and with the political system of the Slovak Republic (constitutional institutions, the party system, the electoral system). 

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Monika Hricová

Introduction to clinical psychology is designed as a teaching text. It is intended primarily for students of psychology at the bachelor degree. The publication offers the basic knowledge needed in the study of clinical psychology. It represents the theoretical basis for the following courses Clinical Psychology, Psychodiagnostics and Psychotherapy in the master's degree.

The text is divided into two parts. The first part deals with general issues of clinical psychology: its parts, history, professional practice of clinical psychologist, classification of mental disorders, or the specifics of research in clinical psychology. It covers also the topics of ethical work and the conditions of education of future clinical psychologists. The second part is focused on the issue of clinical-psychological practice in psychodiagnostics, the specifics of clinical-psychological work with patients with somatic diseases and disabilities. The publication does not describe psychopathology, psychodiagnostics and psychotherapy of mental disorders.

The aim of the publication is to acquaint students with the basic general knowledge necessary for building knowledge in the field of clinical psychology and its practice. To offer the necessary theoretical and practical basis for follow-up clinical psychological subjects and follow-up study in this area.

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