Post COVID-19 youth work: A contribution to the Swedish social pedagogical debate

The coronavirus pandemic affects the whole world. This situation is a very challenging time for all humanity and social services no less. The present article explores how care and different forms of support can or should be offered to young people in the post-COVID-19 youth work. The objective of this paper is to reflect on how social work practitioners can adapt their daily clinical practice by focusing their interventions on the social pedagogical dimensions of social work. The article presents a generalised discussion of practice logics in social work and social pedagogy. Because of the meanings derived from knowledge on the importance of relationships between the helper and the help receiver, social practices in the post-COVID-19 world need to consider social pedagogical expertise in social work practice and the development of preventive assistance for young populations. This effort has been prepared as a part of the project “Social Professionals for Youth Education in the context of European Solidarity".

Selected problems of criminal law as an instrument of social control in relation to youth delinquency

Social pedagogy is closely linked to the law as an instrument of social control where criminal law is a result of a certain effort to solve or control social problem. This problem is currently about increasing number of delinquent youths which has its own specifics. The aim of the paper is to point out, with the help of critical legal analysis, the difficulty of effectively solving (controlling) this problem with the help of criminal law, which determines what will be criminalized, what will be decriminalized or outside the interest of criminal law. It turns out that some measures lead to the rise of experts and their power, unintended results, and violation of the principle of innocent until proven guilty.

Contemporary Issues of Social Pedagogy in Greek Primary School

This article highlights the socio-pedagogical role of the school through the perceptions of schoolteachers who work in Greek elementary school, which are related to social pedagogy. The results of our research follow the literature review on socio-pedagogical issues. For the research process, a research tool (questionnaire) was developed to examine the extent to which each identified socio-pedagogical problem concerns teachers. The survey was completed by 225 teachers of all specialties, most of them primary school teachers. As a result of their responses, teachers are largely confronted with students’ behavioral problems, problematic communication between school and family, child abuse and neglect, and differences in the specific learning needs of children. It is proposed to focus the socio-pedagogical research on all of the above in order to strengthen teachers in their work.

The emerging concepts of participation and belonging in social pedagogy

During the last few decades, the concepts of participation and belonging has frequently been used within the social welfare field in general, and within the field of disability research specifically. Additionally, in Scandinavia the concept of participation has become increasingly used in social work and social pedagogy programmes at universities. However, there’s rather little known about how participation can be understood and related to social pedagogy, since the concept has a broad range of meanings, e.g. a sense of belonging. This paper aims to identify and discuss understandings of participation and belonging with relevance for social work and social pedagogy. Empirical illustrations have been gathered with ethnographical methods and analysed in accordance with an interpretive tradition. It is argued that the concept of participation can be attributed to different meanings in different ideological, theoretical, and institutional practice contexts (e.g. schools that offer special needs programmes, the transition to working life, online social networking). Consequently, it’s a challenge to provide adequate definitions of the concept. The inference drawn is that the aspect of belonging as it relates to social participation can be attributed to its particular importance for social pedagogy. An implication for professional practice is the need to pay attention to alternative identifications that are not based on notions of a stable, constant sense of belonging to a categorical group.

Social and legal aspects of non-alimony towards children in Poland

Non-payment of alimony by parents for their children is a serious problem in Poland, which has negative social and economic consequences. It results in the inability to satisfy the necessary needs for their proper development and thus deprives them of prospects and a chance for a dignified life. This article begins by explaining the concept of non-alimony and presenting the scale of the phenomenon to gain awareness of the size of this social problem. In the following part, an analysis was carried out on the social aspects of non-alimony. This issue was described from the point of view of the situation of mothers who were forced to take over the entire burden of supporting their children, without the support of former partners. The consequences of the economic abandonment of children by one of the parents are also presented. The social aspect has also been discussed through the prism of the social campaigns conducted over the last few years to shape the correct attitudes of parents. Due to the fact that in Poland the phenomenon of non-alimony is considered primarily in the legal context, the subsequent part of the article presents a synthetic analysis in this respect. It focuses on the changes that the Polish legislator has introduced into the domestic legal system over the last 3 years. The discussion of this issue began with the offence of non-alimony regulated in Article 209 of the Penal Code, due to its amendment in 2017. It was supposed to become an effective tool to mobilise obliged parents to fulfil their obligation to support their children. Further amendments to the legislation were also reviewed in order to further improve the effectiveness of the enforcement of maintenance support.

Creative adaptation of Grundtvigian educational concept in Indian Adult Education: a lab to line educational effort in rural India

This ethnographic research attempts to find relevance of Grundtvigian educational philosophy in the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities and the institutionalisation of community education for the adults in rural India. The researcher analyses thoroughly the concept of Grundtvig’s social and educational anthropology in Indian context, which comprises pedagogical strategies and people’s enlightenment though education and social development. The research utilizes relevant literatures, case-study and educational model in order to analyse the contemporaneity, relevance and creative adaptation and assimilation of Grundtvigian philosophy in Indian adult education. The research argues - if the Grundtvigian alternative education and social concept could be creatively adopted and assimilated in the adult education system in rural India, the core of learning ecology in the Grundtvigian concept would be able to bring significant improvement in the traditionally rigid adult education system and support learners in exposing their inherited potentials to a greater extent.

Editor’s Introduction

The presented volume includes articles by authors from Czech, India, Greece, Sweden and Poland. They provide us with different aspects of social pedagogy and social issues in relation to education, law and social work. These are analytical and empirical papers conducted with a wide range of methodologies, for example, research based on surveys, legal acts analysis, ethnographic fieldwork and case studies. While discussing the issues, the authors represent the specific social and cultural backgrounds at the same time being aware of global contexts. What connects all these papers is the attitude of their authors, their pedagogical sensitivity and critical awareness in reflecting on theory and practice of social sciences. We have been collecting these articles since the beginning of 2019. With these six contributions, the Readers are offered an insight into the current state of discussion on particular topics from different perspectives. I hope you enjoy a read.

Impulsiveness and venturesomeness among juvenile offenders

The aim of this study was to determine possible relationships between delinquency and the personality traits of the juvenile offenders. The research covered a level of impulsiveness, venturesomeness and empathy among offenders placed in a juvenile shelter in comparison to a control group with a clean criminal record. Results analysis show that personality of juvenile offenders in surveyed dimensions was substantially different from the personality of adolescents in the control group. In particular, the impulsiveness level of juvenile offenders was significantly higher, and the empathy level was significantly lower than of control group. There was no significant differences found in a venturesomeness level in this comparison. The presented research problem certainly requires further studies, particularly focusing on the significance of impulsiveness and empathy as a personality dimension in the genesis of juvenile delinquency, but also in the context of social rehabilitation.

The long-term effects of childhood neglect or abuse. Implications for child and family services in the UK

Childhood neglect or abuse is damaging, with lifelong impacts on functioning, clinical and physical health. It can also transmit risk to the next generation. Child abuse is related to social deprivation, a source of family breakup, common in families under stress and is associated with other social ills such as domestic violence, and parental mental health problems. It is therefore costly to society financially, emotionally and in terms of family wellbeing. It is increasingly seen as a major public health issue given its wide prevalence. Contemporary issues in the UK concern not only ongoing neglect or abuse of children, but also the impact of historical abuse, a psychological burden to a significant number of adults. Often untreated, and occurring before adequate child protection policies were in place, the impacts of historical abuse is an ongoing concern both for health and social care services. This paper will describe the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse (CECA) interview research findings and application in child and family services. It enables an accurate assessment of historical abuse, and its scoring system can be used on ongoing case files for children for better classification. A social and attachment model are described as explaining how damage from neglect and abuse can extend into later life.

Problem-Solving or Narrative Approach to Mediation?

Mediation is a one of the well-known forms of alternative dispute resolution and is commonly used for solving conflicts in social work. Following introduction, where the mediation is put in social context, authors introduce readers to different approaches to mediation specifically to narrative mediation in comparison with mediation focused on solving problems. These approaches have different theoretical bases, mediation processes and aims and, therefore, their utilization is appropriate in distinct situations and areas of social work. In the conclusion these different approaches are compared to each other. While the narrative mediation is concerned with relationships and belongs to therapeutic style, the problem-solving approach to mediation falls into negotiating style and is concerned with reaching an agreement between parties of the conflict. If there is a need to solve the actual problem, the mediation focused on solving problems seems more fitting. If there is a need to understand and solve relationships between parties of the conflict, then the narrative mediation may be recommended.