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.

Amid the uncertainty of the current political context and an unprecedented institutional crisis in European welfare, this article offers a theoretical analysis of the problems arising from the historical reshaping of social work as a biopolitical organ of the state. It undertakes this analysis from a biopolitical perspective and asks how this framework can help us in defining the specific features of social work intervention in family life? To properly answer, the article proposes a methodological understanding which explicates a series of relations between “biopolitics – the social – social work”. To this end, supported by analyses from Foucault and Donzelot, the article shows how social work as a form of state governmentality intervenes in the lives of families to normalise behaviour and conduct. From a critical vantage point, these findings compel us to re-examine the problem of consent and consensus when working with service users and families in the midst of an increasingly more controlling authoritarian social work.

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.

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.

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.

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