A genesis of professionalisation of Polish social services (17) This article is a continuation of deliberations on the identity and history of Polish social services. In Particular, it refers to the issues of the origins and beginnings of the formation of the educational system of social workers. Memory of the geginnings is an essential element of thinking about the future in the present. Creating solutions for the future, without respect for the achievements of the past, carries a number of risks of errors, which is the experience of past generations. It also allows the risk of abandonment of effective solutions in the development, which are becoming specific to native, cultural, or psychological factors. History is, in fact, a perfect teacher for contemporary activists involved in the fields of practice and theory.
Social workers - agents of the change or system conservatists (29) The article considers a possibility of social workers' functioning as so called agents of social change in Polish sociio-łpolitical conditioning. The process of professionalisation of Polish social service occurs in a context of its structural limits. Social work is perceived mainly from the perspective of a social support institution. It is a process aimed to achieve a planned social change focused on improvement of the problem solving and prevention skills inherent in every human being.
Professional competencies of probation officers (39) Each person working as a probation officer should have specific personal features and professional competence. Very often, productivity of probation officers is determined by their personal features. The current research aimed to determine, the level of variables mentioned above. The results show that positive interpersonal relationships have the highest importance for probation officers, whereas positive attitude towards oneself is the least important factor. As for professional competencies, the one connected with realization was assessed the highest and postulate competence scored the lowest. The perception of probation officers by the charged is determined by their personality predisposition, a system of values, the attitude towards moral norms, communication skills, and the awareness of the servitude of their profession. The profession of the probation officer should not be associated or identified with the control of the inferiors but with the support they should be granting.
Social work with families - a context of social service cooperation in local environment for the benefit of the child. Perspective of family assistants (48) The article aims to present data describing social services' cooperation for the child's benefit from the perspective of the family assistants. Basing on the assistants' opinions, a coherent picture of the nature of child wellness emerged. Also, the issue of meeting of not only basic, but also psychologialc and social needs is described. GThe study suggests the need of cooperation between family assistant and other social services' representatives in order to obtain complementary and effective help for the families.
Social work of the school pedagogue (65) The article focuses on the role of the school pedagogue, in particular on social assistance provided by him or her. In Poland, social workers are not employed in the educational institutions so their job is performed by the school pedagogues. This text describes the teachers' activity in the area of social assistance, as well as the proposal of decoupling educational from the social help aspects.
Participatory activation of the unemployed people as a chance to increase the effectiveness of social services (75) Participatory activation - as I understand it - is aconscious invelvement in the activities of social services (social welfare services and employment services) by the beneficiaries of these services, that is the unemployed and other people who are, because of their life situation, vorced to rely on social welfare and who in consequence are at risk of social exclusion. Because of the awareness of their situation, the citizens receiving support from social welfare system feel coresponsible for the actions taken to help them. The specialist cooperating with such a citizen treats him or her as a partner and is able to offer services better suited to his or her needs. Achieving this state of affeirs requires increased efforts from the public social and employment services. The aim of my article is to show that bringing a citizen to the state of employment, and thus social inclusion, is obtained thanks to the cooperation between service providers (in this case labour offices and social welfare centres) and citiizens themselves. Let me say, that the development of participatory activation of citizens in the recent years has helped to increase the effectiveness of the social service as a whole.
Comprehensive and systemic work with families - "good practice" applied by Family Assistance Association DROGA (90) The Family Assistance Association DROGA (The Road) undertakes activities targeted at children, young people, and families who are in danger of social exclusion and substance dependence, and also who are in need of support and assistance as well as therapeutic and preventive influence. The basic idea is to work with the whole family, as the life situation of the child is a consequence of the functioning of the family environment. The aim of the article is to present comprehensive and systemic work with the family. The article presents centres led by the Association, which cooperate with children and their families (Ośrodek Wspierania Dziecka i Rodziny NASZ DOM, Punkt Przedszkolny "Aniołkowo", "Dom Powrotu", Ośrodek Profilaktyki i Terapii dla Młodzieży i Dorosłych ETAP) as well as aactions necessary when optimising the targets (family assistance, regular team assessment of the child and family situation, thearapeutic and recreational camps. Parents with other institutions functioning in local environment and the role of volunteering in the Association. The Association has initiated and continued to develop various forms of support, taking into account the principles of complexity and individualization. In the article, the major centres and the main forms of DROGA's activities are presented, as an example of good practice when assisting families with multiple problems.
Practice
In the space of home(less)ness. Processes of creating and recreating of home by home(less) people in professional and research practice (113) The article shows how a scientist, an experienced social worker tries to recreate the reality of the homeless people and describe their world. The article shows how the home(less) do not perceive themselves as entirely homeless as actually they have home which they can arrange at any given moment. The text presents the world of the homeless as the world of the "homefull" people; it attempts to reaconstruct the fragments of their everyday life and rituals that they create within the space arranged into their "homefullness". Thanks to this article, the Reader may, experience the life of homeless people from another perspective. They can see that every homeless person has their own space and defined limits. The article present two different perspectives of homelessness; one belonging to the homelesss people and the other to the society. The world that is unreal to one person can be a real home to another.
Dillemas and challenges of senior policy. Geriatric care - support - social services (128) The text indicates the main and expected directions of senior policy in conditions of the increasing population ageing. The article draws attention to the condition of the institutional support network and geriatric care deficits, which are exacerbated by the further changes in the health system. The text highlights the importance of activity, gerontological knowledge, and social services in the shaping of senior-friendly living arrangement for the elderly.
Studies
Analysis of the effectiveness of local family violence prevention system from the perspective of social assistance (141) The article presents research on the family violence prevention system family from the perspective of social assistance. The position of social welfare and the role of social worker in this system are discussed. A specific social position and the key role of social worker in the system of prevention of viiolence have been confirmed. Study also shows the diversity of the system preventing domestic violence, which differs depending on the size of the municipality. In smaller communities, it is based primarily on the social workers and in the larger communties it is largely supported by other professionals: psychologists and lawyers.
"Everyone is entitled to a worthy life and respect without violence". Violence towards elderly (167) Viiolence is one of the biggest problem in Poland. In the acontext of demographic changes comes speed elderly people populaction growth. It causes growth of ill-treating them. This article include an opinion poll implement on 343 aged people. This opinion poll confirms that bulling occurres. What matters now is reduction issue of ill-trating towards seniors and more effective discovering and solving this problem which is a taboo subject. This article shows results of local operations that improves situation of elderly people who are violence-stricken.
Closer to the law
Social security system axiological the Council of Europe (179) In this article was presented axiology of the Coiuncil of Europe and its importance to the concept of social security. It describes the challenges faced by the system of protection of rights established by the European Social Charter and Revised European Social Charter. In the article the described challenges are divided to those which evolve from a general problem of formulation of social rights and their status in international law and those related to the functioning of the legal framework in which bodies monitoring the implementation of these treaties operate.
Booksshelf
Mythologiacal demitology of pedophilia. Notes on the margin of the book Cosimo Schinaia, Pedofilia. Psychoanalysis and the world of a pedofile (195)
