Recenzje/Reviews

In permanently introducing this new section to our periodical, we wish to call the reader’s attention to a unique approach we are consciously taking. In a desire to identify impending foci in our field, we have invited the youngest of our colleagues – MA and PhD candidates in social work – to act as our reviewers. Furthermore, considering the vast multitude of scholarly articles published annually, we have asked our students to primarily focus on this segment which is more likely to reflect the most recent findings. That said, we have not set a strict date range in the hope that our reviewers will freely discover or recover studies which might have been overlooked heretofore. Flack J., Lechevalier A., Wielgohs J. (2013). Cultural Distinction and Example of the “Third East German Generation”, in: A. Lechevalier, J. Wielgohs (eds.), Borders and Border Regions in Europe – Changes, Challenges and Chances. Transcript Verlag, Bielefeld. Reviewed by: Vincent Helbig Collins S. (2008). Statutory Social Workers: Stress, Job Satisfaction, Coping, Social Support and Individual Differences. “The British Journal of Social ork”, 38, 6: 1173–1193. Reviewed by: Beatriz Gonçalves Ferguson H. (2017). How Children Become Invisible in Child Protection Work: Findings from Research into Day-to-Day Social Work Practice, “The ritish Journal of Social Work”, 47, 4 (20170601): 1007–1023. Reviewed by: Marta Kamińska

Risk behavior of youth – social definition of risk

Social defining of the risk behaviors is rooted in a diverse, multidimensional world of norms, values, rituals and discourses. Including social contexts of engaging in the risk behaviors and production of knowledge about them allowed us to go beyond standard cause-and-effect descriptions and examine these actions as an essential element of everyday practices and rituals of youth. The aim of this paper was to analyze the risk behaviors of youth in the framework of sociological categories of risk, reflexivity and interactional order. The paper is based on the results of the qualitative study conducted within the project “Problem Behaviors of Youth – Study in the Opole Region 2019–2020,” that attempted to capture the ways of defining and explaining the risk behaviors by the school youth, teachers and counselors. Such a sociological perspective bridges the gap in the prevention scholarship connected to insufficient attention paid to social ways of defining and meaning making connected to the risk behaviors of youth.

Rozwój zjawiska mobbingu w miejscu pracy w warunkach polskich – implikacje dla pracy socjalnej

The development of mobbing in the workplace in Polish conditions – implications for social work The current understanding of the concept of mobbing, its tactics and methods used by mobbers, as well as the legal status, scale and effects of mobbing in the workplace in Poland, compared with other European Union countries were characterized. The summary also discusses the reasons for the persistence of this phenomenon in our country, with proposals for effective fight to combat it, and even to abolish it.

Społeczna rola pracownika socjalnego: jej kształtowanie i odgrywanie w perspektywie dramaturgicznej Ervinga Goffmana

The social role of social worker: its shaping and acting in Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical perspective The subject of the work is shaping and playing the social role of a social worker in the dramaturgical perspective of Erving Goffman. The article is based on the author’s own research carried out for the purposes of the BA thesis. A qualitative method was used, namely an in-depth interview and participant observation. The aim of the article is to describe and explain how the social role of a social worker is shaped and played in the light of Erving Goffman’s dramatic concept on the basis of research carried out at the Municipal Social Welfare Center. Social workers and students of social work participated in the study. The main hypotheses adopted in this work are the assumptions that the social role of a social worker is shaped and played by participation in performances with a defined interactive order, and that each of the performances contains a defined interactive order to which certain, constant elements are subordinated. The collected data was analyzed using the Atlas.ti qualitative analysis software. The research shows that social workers shape and play their social role by preparing in the backstage and during performances on stages, which are: studies, internships and professional work both in the center and in the field.

Poprawność polityczna ponad wszystko? Kilka uwag o antynaukowych inklinacjach lewicy regresywnej

Political correctness above all? A few remarks on the antiscientific inclinations of the regressive left The objective of this essay is to present the “regressive left” as an anti-scientific ideological movement which seeks to supersede intellectual integrity as the chief value in the academic sphere by the normative prerequisites of political correctness. In the first section I will try to sketch a general conceptualization of the term “regressive left” itself and name a few examples in order to demonstrate how its representatives and followers tend to restrict freedom of speech in the areas of research and teaching, as well. In the second section I will try to grasp the theoretical roots of this ideology from the perspective of the history of ideas, with an emphasis on the thoughts of Herbert Marcuse and Michel Foucault. Finally, in the last section I will characterize the “regressive left” as a movement based on resentment as understood by Max Scheler.

O twórczości Krzysztofa Frysztackiego

On the output of Krzysztof Frysztacki Krzysztof Frysztacki is one of the most influential Polish authors in the fields of social work, urban sociology and social policy. His scientific activity has lasted almost half a century. He is the author or co-author of twelve books and nearly two hundred scientific articles. In the article I describe his creative writing and research work. My main focus is on his last books published in 2019. I present his achievements and contribution to Polish social work education and applied sociology in the context of social changes taking place at the Jagiellonian University and in Poland over the last fifty years.

Obraz psychozy w autobiograficznej twórczości literackiej osób chorujących psychicznie

Image of psychosis in autobiographical literary work of mentally ill people Both superficial and professional contact with a person suffering from paranoid schizophrenia brings with it many threads, questions and ambiguities. This is also the case with contact with the literary and poetic work of the people affected. Their work is often incomprehensible, because in its form it often does not resemble anything known, simple or familiar. Reading the products of the sick, we have a chance to get closer to the experience and to get to know psychosis, but also to get closer to the author, as to the man with a burden on the neck, but as valuable as all other people. The aim of this work is to introduce the subject of narration and autobiographical work of mentally ill people on the example of Joanne Greenberg’s novel “Life is not a fairy tale”.

Główne problemy integracji imigrantów z Ukrainy i propozycje rozwiązań w oczach przedstawicieli instytucji województwa opolskiego

The main problems of the integration of immigrants from Ukraine and proposed solutions in the eyes of representatives of the institutions of the Opolskie Voivodeship The article presents the results of qualitative research conducted as a part of the conference titled Diagnosis of Needs and Problems Related to the Integration of Foreigners in the Opole Region, which took place in Opole on May 21, 2019. The research was conducted using a deliberative workshop method. The participants of the workshop were representatives of important institutions of the Opole Voivodeship who face the problem of a large number of immigrants from Ukraine. The participants were divided into thematic working groups: culture and religion, health care, public safety, the labour market and education. The article focuses on general problems that affect the functioning of immigrants in all these areas. In the analysis, the problems were divided into sociocultural (language barrier, cultural diversity, inadequacy of expectations to reality, ghettoization and historical education) and formal and legal problems (lack of systemic solutions and information, lack of knowledge about Polish institutions and legal order, etc.). Stereotypes which appeared in officials’ statements were analysed as a separate problem. The solution to these problems is to set up an Integration Support Institution that can offer support to immigrants with everyday life issues, as well as language or cultural training and provide them with all the information they need. The results give reason for further research, somewhat delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted by sociologists from the University of Opole, in cooperation with the Opole University of Technology on behalf of the Marshal’s Office of the Opole Voivodeship.

Komunikacja społeczna w pracy socjalnej – aspekty teoretyczne i praktyczne

Social communication in social work ‒ theoretical and practical aspects The purpose of the article is to draw attention to the issues not so much as communication, but to communicate in social work, with particular emphasis on the essence of communication between individuals, listening and not hearing and perceiving rather than seeing the needs of other people. Proper intergenerational and intercultural communication, in turn, can condition understanding and empathy by capturing the interlocutor’s point of view ‒ it should be noted that the vast majority of social workers are younger than their pupils, characterized by specialized education, which may make it difficult to understand the level of abstraction of their stakeholders or beneficiaries. In the analysis completed with recommendations for social workers, both verbal and non-verbal channels were included.

Recenzje/Reviews

In permanently introducing this new section to our periodical, we wish to call the reader’s attention to a unique approach we are consciously taking. In a desire to identify impending foci in our field, we have invited the youngest of our colleagues – MA and PhD candidates in social work – to act as our reviewers. Furthermore, considering the vast multitude of scholarly articles published annually, we have asked our students to primarily focus on this segment which is more likely to reflect the most recent findings. That said, we have not set a strict date range in the hope that our reviewers will freely discover or recover studies which might have been overlooked heretofore. Chambon A. (2009). What Can Art Do for Social Work? “Canadian Social Work Review”, 26, 2: 217–231. Reviewed by Ana Filipa Rodrigues Banks S., Cai T., de Jonge E., Shears J., Shum M., Sobočan A.M., Strom K., Truell R., Úriz M.J., Weinberg M. (2020). Practising Ethically during COVID-19: Social Work Challenges and Responses. “International Social Work”, 63 (5): 569–583. Reviewed by: Anna Szargiej Van Leeuwen B. (2017). To the Edge of the Urban Landscape: Homelessness and the Politics of Care. “Political Theory”, 46 (4): 586–610. DOI: 10.1177/0090591716682290. Reviewed by: Brygida Piech