Trauma- informovaný přístup

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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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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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Soňa Lovašová - Veronika Bérešová (eds.)

Reviewed proceedings from the scientific conference with international participation held on December 1, 2023, in Košice.

This proceedings volume collects contributions from the 11th annual conference focused on adolescents, reflecting current interdisciplinary issues faced by this age group. It consists of 12 scholarly contributions addressing various aspects of adolescent life, including loneliness, risky behavior, and the phenomenon of radicalization. The contributions are organized into thematic sections, facilitating easier navigation for readers. Topics include prevention of radicalization, family factors, and mechanisms of cyberbullying. The proceedings offer both theoretical and practical insights valuable for professionals in social work, psychology, and other helping professions, aiming to enhance understanding of the current challenges faced by adolescents and propose effective solutions.

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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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Eva Žiaková - Tomáš Šeďo (eds.)

Peer-reviewed collection of contributions from an online scientific conference (9^th year of Košické dni sociálnej práce) with international attendance held on the 26^th of November 2021.

The present peer-reviewed collection of contributions titled “Metanoia in social work theory and practice” is an output of the 9^th year of Košické dni sociálnej práce, an online conference with international attendance held on the 26^th of November 2021. As the name of the conference implies, the pivotal topic of submitted contributions is metanoia, which represents a change in life attitude. Various interesting and actual issues concerning diverse aspects of social work are discussed in the individual contributions.

The present collection comprises contributions oriented towards the issues of social pathology and its prevention, supervision, the importance of digital technologies in social work, research methods, self-care and so forth. The collection further contains several contributions devoted to the exceptionally actual issues of radicalism and extremism, which are widespread and serious occurrences in the present time. The contributions are highly original and beneficial from the point of view of theoretical conceptions and methodological procedures apart from offering quality empirical processing and interesting results.

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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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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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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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Dušan Šlosár

The monograph "Risk as a Social Category in Adolescence" by Dušan Šlosár was created as part of the VEGA project No. 1-0285/18, which focuses on risky behavior among adolescents as clients of social work due to their loneliness. The monograph explores the issue of risk in a theoretical context and integrates risk as a component of social relationships, contacts, and information exchange. From this theoretical foundation, it defines risk within helping professions. Assessing the level of risk is left to leading managers; however, it currently affects those helping professionals who work with specific client groups, and thus their involvement in assessing the level of risk cannot be overlooked.

The monograph pays special attention to risky behavior among adolescents and discusses the most serious forms of such behavior, ranging from suicidality to crime, substance abuse (both material and non-material), and issues related to sexuality. The conclusion of the monograph consists of three empirical studies that address the topic of risky behavior among adolescents.

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Lukáš Šutor (ed.)

The proposed anthology represents for many doctoral students their first entry into the publishing environment of scientific genres. The studies in such cases contain the essence of future dissertation works, which represent the creative pinnacle of doctoral studies. In addition to providing doctoral students with the opportunity to publish scientific outputs, we also consider the anthology a space for interdisciplinary encounters and mutual enrichment. However, interdisciplinarity is not merely a characteristic of the anthology as a whole but also of some studies.

Most notable interdisciplinary approaches are observed in literary studies. The traditional subject of research into artistic texts is enriched in individual studies by examining theatrical and film works (Peter Getlík), linguistic aspects of phrasemes (Ivana Hudiková), musical elements (Terézia Kulíková), visual art (Dominika Petáková), and digital spaces of new media (Alexandra Popovičová). From other disciplines, we highlight Miroslava Süčová Vernarská’s study, which extends psychological research into sociological and linguistically communicative contexts (the concept of metaphor), or conversely, Zuzana Šoltésová and Dušan Šlosár’s contribution, analyzing eating disorders from their disciplinary background in social work.

Both mentioned disciplines also include contributions with traditional research subjects. Nikola Fabiny from psychology analyzes consequence expectations in the context of goal selection and achievement. Jana Plavnická and Dušan Šlosár’s co-authored study from the Department of Social Work presents a multi-perspective analysis of integration barriers for immigrants in Slovakia. Within their own disciplines, both philosophy contributions operate: Juraj Brenišin interprets the ethical aspects of Avicbron’s Fons vitæ, while Michal Kručko examines Edmund Husserl’s unfinished work through a comparative lens of his students Jan Patočka and Roman Ingarden. The anthology concludes with Lukáš Lukačín’s study (written in English), which explores the semantic-grammatical category of modality in the verbs MAY and CAN within legal-administrative documents of the European Union.

The representation of academic disciplines and doctoral students’ individual creative outputs in Doktorandské miscelaneá 4 is thus appropriately diverse. We present this publication to the broader academic community as a representative overview of trends in young scholars’ thinking across the spectrum of humanities and social sciences doctoral programs at the Faculty of Arts, UPJŠ in Košice.

Lukáš Šutor

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Dušan Šlosár

The monograph offers an insight into radicalization pull and push factors, influencing which is the competence of helping professionals.Radicalization is conditioned by the current social, economic, cultural and political context, i.e. the time-space in which radicalization occurs.It is this fact that directs the content of the monograph to factors that can be considered triggering and influencing factors of radicalization processes as well as radicalization itself.

The monograph systematizes knowledge about radicalization from the point of view of pull and push factors, which have been identified as factors of radicalization in professional literature, research reports and other verified sources, including Internet resources focused on radicalization and processes of radicalization, as well as available interventions to influence or prevent radicalization.The monograph mainly focuses on the analysis of pull and push factors that are related to radicalization and radicalization processes.

The monograph offers the results of research carried out through qualitative methodology.The research focused on issues related to radicalization in the research sample consisting of radicalized and non-radicalized respondents.The research focused on the investigation of pull and push factors related to radicalization, which can occur in the family, school or work environment, among peers, in the wider social environment related to the social and political climate in society and the influence of mass media.

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Michal Jesenko - Martina Kantorová - Jana Volochová - Viktória Ferková (eds.)

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Vladimír Lichner - Tomáš Šeďo

Peer-Reviewed Collection of Contributions from a Scientific Conference with International Participation Held on November 25, 2022 in Košice

"The presented peer-reviewed collection of contributions titled "Present and Future of Social Work in the Reflection of Social Changes" is the output of a scientific conference with international participation, marking the 10th anniversary of the Košické dni sociálnej práce, held on November 25, 2022.

The conference was dedicated to the vision of social work, its methods, and techniques in the context of societal changes. With the changing times come new challenges to which social work must be prepared to respond. The central focus of the collection is the search for answers to pre-defined questions: "Is the current social work system adequately configured for current societal problems? Can social work promptly respond to new and unknown challenges? Are the known methods of social work effective in dealing with contemporary negative phenomena? Do we need additional methods?

If so, what are they?" Individual contributions touch on theoretical concepts in the search for answers, but they also include empirically based contributions that reflect research results from various areas of society and problematic situations, with a view to providing recommendations for both the theory and practice of social work.

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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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Eva Žiaková

Proceedings from the Scientific Conference with International Participation held on November 27, 2015 in Košice

Stress is becoming a part of everyday life in developed societies, which negatively affects both the physical and mental state of individuals. The proceedings from the scientific conference with international participation, titled "Forms of Internal and External Factors in Coping with Stress from the Perspective of Theory and Practice in Social Work," are therefore dedicated to the issue of coping with stress from an interdisciplinary perspective.

It addresses the full spectrum of coping issues, ranging from the most internal, specifically defined factors of the C-system of coping in oncology patients, coping with burnout in helping professions, sociological contexts of oncological diseases, through the level of social support that provides individuals with space for managing stress, to the possibilities of coping with stressful situations in various areas of life.

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Vladimír Lichner - Dušan Šlosár

Issues of punishment are directly linked to a state’s criminal policy, which is an inseparable part of its social policy. Historically, the state has held a unique dominant position in the realm of punishment. Once the conditions for imposing a penalty are met, the state fulfills its obligation by sentencing through independent courts. However, it does not address questions of satisfaction, which belong to the victim. The victim may be a specific physical person or legal entity that suffered harm due to the criminal act. This harm simultaneously affects civil society as a whole. The state prioritizes its duty to punish and decide on the matter over compensating the harmed individual or civil society.

By mediation in criminal cases, we mean extrajudicial facilitation of resolving disputes between the offender and the harmed party, with the assistance and personal participation of a mediator. The mediator, as an independent and impartial person, helps parties identify their interests and supports them in finding shared, practical, and realistic solutions to the points causing their conflict. Probation refers to monitoring, supervising the accused, defendant, or convicted individual, as well as providing individual assistance to the offender and encouraging them to lead a lawful life. This reduces the risk of recidivism, or repeated criminal behavior.

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