Adolescents - target group?

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Lucia Tóthová

The monograph offers a comprehensive perspective on the theoretical, methodological, and empirical dimensions of participatory visual research within the field of social work. It is grounded in the understanding that social work plays a crucial role in amplifying the voices of vulnerable groups and promoting social justice, with particular attention paid to persons with disabilities who frequently encounter limited opportunities for participation as well as persistent social, communicative, and environmental barriers. The author analyses the concept of participation in alignment with the principle of “Nothing about us without us” and presents the PhotoVoice method as an interdisciplinary tool that integrates participatory action research, critical pedagogy, feminist epistemologies, and documentary photography. The method is understood not only as a research technique but also as a form of visual advocacy, enabling participants to articulate their experiences, needs, and perspectives in ways accessible to both professional audiences and the wider public. The monograph reflects on the development of PhotoVoice in international scholarship and highlights its potential to transcend traditional academic boundaries toward participatory and transformative practice in social work. The empirical section comprises three projects conducted by the author in the Slovak context, focusing on diverse groups of persons with disabilities and their families, who face specific social needs and everyday barriers. The findings demonstrate the potential of PhotoVoice to strengthen participation through accessible and meaningful visual tools. The monograph also addresses methodological, ethical, and terminological considerations and adopts an inclusive understanding of disability consistent with contemporary approaches in social work.

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Stanislav Hvozdík 

Obdobie staršej dospelosti je aj pre psychológiu príležitosť urobiť syntézu svojej prírodovednej tradície a filozofickej tradície. Psychológia sa takto môže lepšie napojiť na mentálnu prácu ľudí žijúcich toto vekové obdobie staršej dospelosti usilujúcich v rozličnej miere o  komplexicitu vo svojom živote. Psychológia môže pomôcť tomuto úsiliu, pretože celistvosť človeka je aj programom jej rozvoja. Publikácia rozpoznáva seniora  nie len ako objekt, ale aj ako subjekt usilujúci o svoju podmetovosť na jeho celoživotnej ceste. Priatie veku hľadá svoje optimálne vyjadrenie a je možné najmä v súvsťažností psychologického a spirituálneho vývinu človeka. Psychológia staršieho človeka objavuje starobu nie ako totalitu vyraďujúcu človeka  z cyklu života, ale ako obdobie výberu pre život dôležitých domén spojených s preladením do vnútra, ktoré doceňuje pokoj. V tejto optike sa selektujú veci a javy tak aby nerušili, ale harmonizovali. To nie je odmietnutie vonkajšieho, ale rozlíšenie kedy dáva zmysel. Staroba preveruje aj spoločnosť , verejnosť, ktorá by mala odrážať úroveň procesov starostlivosti o duševno. Aby svet urobilo užitočným pre človeka, ale je aj dôvodom ako to vyjadril Patočka samotnej starostlivosti o toto duševno. Pozícia starého človeka v spoločnosti je obrazom toho akú váhu spoločnosť prikladá duševnému životu ľudí. Publikácia prináša poznatky psychologickej povahy o tomto vekovom období a v špeciálnej časti informácie okolo pomáhania a poradenstva. 

Autor

E-book

Magdaléna Halachová - Denisa Rovenská

The monograph theoretically analyzes the virtual environment and its aspects, offers insight into the identity of the child in the virtual environment, the necessity of social support and the diversity of social relationships in the real world and virtual reality.

Furthermore, it contains the fundamental training program designed to minimize the risks of the virtual reality, because adolescents are often exposed to risks uncontrollably. For that reason it focuses on adolescent and empowering optimal self-image, as well as creating and maintaining real social networks.

The set of experiential-educational activities is conceptually divided into two main areas. The first one is content-focused on the adolescent, his/her psychological capability including opinions, attitudes, emotions, competences, and self-reflection.

The second one focuses on interpersonal real and virtual relationships, the recognition of the advantages and disadvantages of internet communication and face-to-face interaction, and last but not least for more optimal use of the Internet and preference for real social interaction.

Authors

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Veronika Vasiľová - Soňa Lovašová

The formation of social work as a scientific discipline is not a completed process because of with changes in society also change social problems that need to be identified and analyzed with the intention to develop methodological solutions aimed at preventing and interventing these social problems.For this reason, the field of social work as such is constantly expanding, as its dynamic nature makes it possible to respond to emerging social problems and react to the needs of society.

Social work in the school environment is a functioning science field abroad.In the conditions of the Slovak Republic, this area of social work is still missing.Therefore, the monograph deals with the possibilities of social work in the school environment in Slovakia. 

The monograph is primarily intended for the professionals working in the field of social work and in the third sector with children and youth.

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Lenka Pčolinská

The university textbook "Social Economics and Social Entrepreneurship" presents the issue of the social economy from a complex point of view and it is the first university textbook focused on the topic of social economy in Slovakia. Its aim is to contribute to the understanding of the concept of social economy, its development, basic conceptual apparatus, legislative anchoring and practical realities of social economics and social enterprises in Slovakia. The textbook discusses the basic legislative principles that need to be known when establishing a social enterprise.

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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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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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Stanislav Hvozdík 

Obdobie staršej dospelosti predstavuje dôležitú ľudskú skúsenosť. Poradenstvo môže prispieť k tomu, aby to bola formatívna a osobnosť rozvíjajúca skúsenosť. Poradenstvo chápeme ako takú aplikáciu osobnosti do oblasti jej konania, ktorá rozvíja jej bytie. Vychádzame z aplikácie vývinu do poradenstva a naväzujeme na prácu Úvod do poradenskej psychológie, ktorá bola publikovaná skôr. V týchto učebných textoch sme rozpracovali podrobnejšie kapitolu, poradenstvo starším dospelým. Publikovaná práca môže prispieť k porozumeniu a podpore tohto dôležitého obdobia v živote človeka.

Autor

Olga Klepáčková - Zuzana Krejčí - Martina Černá

Představuje trauma ojedinělou událost, či se jedná o téměř univerzální zkušenost, která se dotýká přímo či nepřímo každého z nás? Jaké příběhy si nesou ti, kteří potřebují pomoc? Jak lépe rozumět jejich navenek problémovému nebo sebedestruktivnímu chování? Proč je pro mnohé klienty tak těžké vnímat svět jako bezpečné místo i mnoho let po traumatické události? Jak účinně pomoci klientům a přinést jim do života novou naději? Odpovědi na tyto a mnohé další otázky pomáhá najít tato kniha, která je první českou publikací věnovanou tématu trauma-informovaného přístupu v sociální práci. 

Tento přístup klade důraz na silné stránky, resilienci a rozvoj zdravých dovedností klienta místo zaměření výhradně na patologii a pouhé řešení symptomů. 

Kniha srozumitelnou formou přináší zejména odborným pracovníkům pomáhajících profesí a studentům sociálně zaměřených oborů nový úhel pohledu na klienty a jejich potřeby, vlastní roli v životech těchto klientů, na význam a možný přínos vzájemného vztahu a také možnosti, jak zejména klientům zasaženým traumatem lépe porozumět, jak je podpořit a účinně jim v rámci poskytované služby pomoci.
Pomáhá sociálním a dalším odborným pracovníkům najít si cestu i k těm nejzranitelnějším a nejohroženějším klientům, jejichž životy jsou v důsledku prožitého traumatu často plné chaosu, obav a strachu, otřesené ztrátou zdravých vztahů s druhými, ztrátou pocitu důvěry, bezpečí a kontroly. Pomáhá naučit se přijímat klienty s ohleduplnějším a respektujícím postojem a lépe si uvědomit, jak je může minulost ovlivňovat v současnosti a jakou formu podpory a péče skutečně potřebují. 

Publikace se věnuje nejen teoretickým východiskům trauma-informovaného přístupu, ale také jeho využití v práci s vybranými cílovými skupinami a je obohacena o pohled a zkušenosti českých i zahraničních odborných pracovníků z aplikační sféry. Nepřináší však jen odborné poznatky – je také laskavým ujištěním o odvaze, nezlomnosti navzdory okolnostem a síle lidskosti.

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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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Jana Bajusová - Dušan Šlosár

The integration of immigrants into society is currently of interest to many professionals and to the general public. Immigration is a consequence of a variety of factors, mainly due to political, social, economic or security conditions in the countries of origin. Immigration is subsequently linked to the process of integrating immigrants into the host country. The integration of immigrants into society or integration, as this process is called in the monograph, is a complex phenomenon that extends to many spheres of everyday life for the citizens of the receiving country, and at the same time is often difficult for immigrants. Many governmental and non-governmental organizations are involved in the process of social integration of immigrants, who develop different strategies and mechanisms to streamline the outcome of this process.

In relation to immigrants, the Slovak Republic is bound to provide social and legal protection and therefore it is necessary to deal with the issue of social services, which could potentially significantly contribute to their social integration into Slovak society. From the legislative point of view, however, these services are unified and do not take into account the differences of immigrants resulting from their culture, religion, social, ethical or other characteristics. That is why the monograph focuses on social integration of immigrants in Slovakia in the context of provided social services.

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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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Gabriel Eštok - Gabriela Szabariová - Matúš Béreš (eds.)

Presented publication is an outcome from the scientific conference for students and young scientists that took place on 12th and 13th May 2016 at the Department of Political science, Faculty of Arts, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice. The main aim of the presented is to bring up outcomes of research of young scientists and students from Slovakia, as well as from abroad. Many of the presented papers have become integral part of qualification theses of their authors.

This conference proceedings contains 22 papers in Slovak, Czech and English language thematically creating four different parts.

Papers regarding international relations or issues exceeding a level of state power are dealing with issues of globalization, counterculture, international terrorism, extremism and a role of the EU in the Arctic. Papers dealing with the situation in the Slovak republic and abroad cover reform of security in Slovakia and in Romania, issue of dealing with totalitarian history of the states of the Visegrad group as well as development of funding of education system in Slovakia since 1919. In case of authors focusing on the socio-political situation in Slovakia we can find papers analyzing role of a reeve in city of Košice, first great political conflict during a rule of Vladimír Mečiar in Slovakia, role of Roma population in political environment in Slovakia, but also those concerning local activist or action groups and examining attitude of nursing care students towards euthanasia. The conference proceedings contents also four papers regarding theoretical or philosophical issues.

Their authors focused on topic of social state, social equality, democratic theories and transformation of human nature in “post-human” era.

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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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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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Eliška Župová

The scientific monograph examines the issue of competencies among mayors in municipalities of the Slovak Republic. At its core is interpersonal (social) competence, characterized by a set of competencies (interpersonal skills and abilities) formed by comfort in social (interpersonal) situations that mayors encounter daily in performing their duties.

Social (interpersonal) competence is an essential skill for any manager. A mayor should also act as a manager, operating within a social environment, where the level of mastering interpersonal competencies predicts successful behavior in interpersonal situations. Through their actions in these situations, they influence the internal environment of the municipality, including municipal office employees, members of the municipal council, local residents, and external environments—such as collaborations with other municipalities, higher territorial units, contractual agreements with private organizations, or representatives of the third sector.

The central focus of the scientific monograph is the exploration of interpersonal competencies. A pivotal research question addressed was: What is the level of mastery of interpersonal competencies among mayors in municipalities of the Slovak Republic?

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