Adolescents - target group?

E-book

Gabriela Kravčáková - Jana Lukáčová - Taťjana Búgelová

The first study, which concentrates on the characteristics of teachers' work, describes broader theoretical foundations and defines basic concepts related to work.

It also provides an analysis of the work of university teachers, identifying several shortcomings. The research findings revealed significant differences in the time demands of tasks performed by teachers and in the perceived importance of these tasks. Teachers utilize their working time fund beyond 100%, and it can be expected that the teacher population considers their tasks as rather important to definitely important. There is a relationship between the estimated time demands of certain tasks and the perceived importance of these tasks. Based on the findings, conclusions and proposals for intervention measures are formulated, and a construct of key competencies of university teachers is presented, which includes basic, social, pedagogical, research, and managerial competencies.

The second study analyzes the level of satisfaction, self-fulfillment, competencies in teachers' work, and the prestige of the teaching profession in relation to gender, academic rank, seniority, and the specific field of expertise.

The third study, which deals with the topic of teacher career, provides an overview of theoretical foundations of career.

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E-book

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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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-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

Soňa Lovašová

The theme of self-care is currently a significant trend, emerging as a protective factor in numerous demanding life situations. The implementation and internalization of self-care are highly desirable in certain life phases. One of the challenging life stages is considered to be higher education. Pursuing studies at a university entails substantial life changes: a new social circle; novel forms of academic workload; the initiation of interpersonal relationships; and the process of self-independence. Self-care offers students the opportunity to establish order in their lives, to pause and contemplate the meaning of things, and to maintain well-being. The aim of the textbook is to assist students in understanding the concept of self-care, its potential benefits, and strategies for implementation. It provides various examples, case studies, and worksheets for initial engagement with self-care practices.

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E-kniha

Pavol Kačmár - Jozef Bavoľár - Ladislav Lovaš (eds.)

This publication introduces a body of papers presented at scientific conference Work And Organizational Psychology that took place on May 23 and 24 in Košice. The theme of the conference was Past, Present, and Challenges to the Future. All papers were peer-reviewed.

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E-publication

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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E-book

Soňa Lovašová

In front of you is a textbook whose main aim is to introduce readers to the issues of methods, methodology, techniques, and research methodology in social work. The book is divided into four main sections, each arranged with a specific purpose. This arrangement is primarily based on the logical progression of the textbook’s content. The first part consists of chapters dealing with professional terminology, the development of social work methodology, and the classification of methods.

The second part focuses on research methods in social work, where the author devotes space to the methodology of social work research. The goal of these chapters is not to provide the reader with a comprehensive methodological minimum, but rather to orient them in the basic types of research and to demonstrate, step by step, how to create a research project. The third part presents an overview of the various forms of social work: social work with individuals, families, groups, communities, and society. Each of these chapters begins with a brief historical introduction to the topic. The final section of the textbook consists of chapters on working with aggression in social work practice and its various forms.

We believe that this textbook will be helpful to students in their studies and that its structure will appeal to readers.

Soňa Lovašová

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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

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

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

Eva Žiaková (ed.) 

The 5th edition of the Košice Days of Social Work

Proceedings of the scientific conference with international participation held on November 25, 2016, in Košice

The issue of re-education and resocialization is not new, but it is an increasingly urgent problem as various types of dependencies grow in both scope and content. It can be said that this issue represents one of the central themes of social work in its theoretical foundations as well as practical contexts.

This was the main reason for selecting this topic as the central theme of the 5th edition of the Košice Days of Social Work, which was the sixth continuation of the professional community’s gatherings to address social problems currently troubling our society. The presented proceedings include nearly three dozen contributions from more than twenty authors from Slovakia, as well as Poland and the Czech Republic. The content of the contributions deals not only with theoretical foundations and perspectives on the issue of resocialization and re-education but also with the consequences of these processes in various client social risk groups—whether it involves the addicted, aggressive, chronically ill, convicted, divorced, bullied, cyberbullied, etc.

I believe that such a wide range of contributions will enrich all those who work and study in the theoretical, research, and practical fields of social work.

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E-book

Dušan Šlosár

The monograph Social Institutions and Social Organizations analyzes the issues of society, spheres of society, models of social coexistence, social system, social institutions and social organizations that arise within individual social institutions. From social institutions, the monograph focuses on culture, religion, education, politics, health and economics.Individual social institutions are analyzed from several sociological perspectives, which allows the creation of a broader view of the analyzed issues.

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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

Lenka Lukáčová - Eva Žiaková

The burnout syndrome in the simplest sense is a state of total physical and psychological exhaustion. Its cyclical course may be misleading, often underestimated and neglected on the part of a burned-out individual, as well as by its surroundings. The neglection of warning signals strengthens the field of its occurrence and impact.

Monography is one of the methods with which we strive to draw attention to the problem of burnout syndrome in the performance of a helping profession. Based on this, we have focused on determining the frequency of occurrence of burnout syndrome in assisting professions based on predetermined risk factors (specific profesion, length of practice, motivators) in order to verify, confirm or refute  predefined factors. The subject of this research was also to examine the correlation between the aforementioned factors, the quality of professional life and the strategies for managing stress and stress situations.

The monography is intended for helping profesions e.g. social workers, nurses, doctors etc. We also believe that, this monography will be also benefit for a wider range of helping professions, as well for all those involved in the his problematics.

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E-book

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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