An Evaluation of the Work Social Worker in the Imprisonment With Active Preparation for Post-Penitentiary Care in Slovakia

The aim of social work in social services in the treatment of a prisoner is the mitigation of social problems or the elimination of their possible causes, and the preparation of a prisoner for release from prison. Social work, social services and social counselling are the specialised forms of care for an individual, the enhancement of his individual potentials, the optimisation of behaviour in the specific moments of his life. A relationship between a prisoner and a social worker is an important milestone which affects the quality of the counselling activity. However, the relationship develops step by step, and the social worker gradually gains trust and authority. However, in the development of such a relationship, the social worker in the helping profession must have certain principles to be followed. Social work in serving custody and serving an imprisonment sentence is a professional activity focused on clarifying the social problems of the prisoners which influenced their criminal activity, or whose existence is a risk factor for the resocialisation prognosis, so-called information assistance, support and counselling focused on limiting the negative effects of the prison environment and eliminating or minimising the causes of social problems. Social work in helping professions with prisoners belongs to a science area of social work. According to the place of work, we can divide social work with the punished persons into two subgroups: social work in the prison – i.e. penitentiary social work; and social work following the imprisonment sentence – post-penitentiary social work.

Spirituality, religion and social work in recovery

This study addresses the potential role of spirituality in promoting mental health and wellbeing and argues for its utility in the helping professions. Spirituality, as a common human orientation, has long been a central notion in recovery movements. In the first part of the paper the author discusses the differences and overlaps between spirituality and its traditional form, religion. In the second part a questionnaire was used to study laypersons’, and professional helpers’ views on spirituality. The convenience sample comprised 137 persons. Professionals could find spirituality an important resource in their practice and included it in their interventions mainly when their clients had introduced the theme first. Most of the laypersons in the sample were concerned with spiritual issues and regularly practiced meditation or prayer. They conceived spirituality to cope with mental or physical illnesses.

Integrating Macro–Micro Practice

Social work sets itself apart in the “helping professions” in recognizing the significance of its students and practitioners engaging with the theoretical knowledge and practice experiences sufficient for fluency across macro to micro settings. This practice integration assures comprehensive understanding of person-in-environment, from casework to complex systems work, and is raised to an ethical standard in the National Association of Social Work Code of Ethics and in the International Federation of Social Work Principles. Yet macro-oriented scholars have accused social work educators and professionals of abandoning their obligation to social justice and policy participation and of focusing their energy instead on micro practice. This literature is helpful in addressing how integrated practice can be achieved and informs the development of social workers who solidly embrace a commitment to macro knowledge and participation.

Moral Judgement along the Academic Training

Moral reasoning and consequent decision making are central in the everyday life of all people, independent of their profession. It is undoubtedly crucial in the so-called “helping professions”, when the professional through his/her decisions can support or not support others. Our study aimed to investigate whether academic training can play an essential role in influencing moral reasoning. We used three different conditions: 20 moral personal, 20 moral impersonal, and 20 nonmoral dilemmas to assessed differences in moral judgement between students of Economics, Medicine, and Psychology at their first year and at the end of university training. We observed a difference between school and year of course: psychology students showing more time when asked to read and answer the proposed questions. Moreover, medical students showed a significant increase in sensitiveness to moral issues as a function of academic ageing, whereas such a moral sense regressed from the first to the fifth year of academic training in other students. Gender was also relevant, with women showing an increased response and reading times compared to than men when asked to cope with moral decisions. This study shows that the main factor driving moral decision making is the faculty to which one is enrolled, significantly modulated by sex and academic seniority.

Von der Berufung zum Job?

In our culture, helping people in need is essentially determined by Christian motivations. This applies not least to the time of the formation phase of the organised social form of diaconal action since the middle of the 19th century. Regardless of the many transformations that have resulted in helping becoming a profession for many people, religious motivations remain formative, but are no longer dominant. However, a latent openness of helping professions to normative, especially Christian semantics can be observed, to which diaconal leadership can be connected.

Value-Based Financial Risk Prediction Model

The model of financial risk prediction we developed and present in our paper is based on the theoretical assumption that there exists a significant relationship between actual economic situation and values. This assumption confirmed by the research influences the potential risk in financial behaviour and it becomes actual especially in the case of changing life conditions. The concept of the model is based on data received from 3768 respondents questioned across the Czech Republic. Measured variables were indexed, and the cluster and factor analyses were used for multivariate analysis. The model is unique in the combination of personal values projected into six generalized value types and developed economic indexes clustered in four types of economic situations. The primary purpose of the model is to identify the anticipated personal financial risk of clients. The model has fundamental applications as a diagnostic or auto-diagnostic tool in social work, counselling, psychotherapy, and other helping professions, or as a research instrument leading to various hypotheses and to the enhancement of theories concerning economic behaviour.