Social policy in the practical sense means the activities of the state, local governments and non-governmental organizations or other organizations, the purpose of which is to equalize drastic social differences between citizens, give them equal development opportunities and safeguard them against the effects of social risk. In turn, social policy in the theoretical sense is the science of practical social policy. The genesis of Polish social policy is considered in the context of the 100th anniversary of Poland’s regaining its independence in 2018. The presented sketch covers the shaping of this policy in theory and practice, with particular emphasis on the Krakow environment. The content of this article consists of the following titles: 1. Around the understanding of social policy; 2. At the dawn of independence in Krakow; 3. The beginnings of the science of social policy; 4. Catholic thought and social activity and the liberal trend in Krakow; 5. Conclusion – a question about anthropology. Among Krakow representatives of Christian social thought, inscribed in the science of social policy, were noted: Fr. Kazimierz Zimmermann (1874–1925) and Fr. Jan Piwowarczyk (1889–1959). The selected representatives of liberal thought are: Ferdynand Zweig (1896–1988) and Adam Heydel (1893–1941). Krakow also has great achievements in the field of implementing tasks that are part of practical social policy. Its origins include, inter alia, initiatives of the Prince Bishop Adam Sapieha (the creator of the Krakow Episcopal Committee for Aid to those affected by war) and Brother Albert – Adam Chmielowski (who provided help to the poor).
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Polityka społeczna w sensie praktycznym oznacza działalność państwa, samorządów i organizacji pozarządowych lub innych organizacji, której celem jest wyrównywanie drastycznych różnic socjalnych między obywatelami, dawanie im równych szans rozwoju i asekurowanie ich przed skutkami ryzyka socjalnego. Z kolei polityka społeczna w sensie teoretycznym to nauka o praktycznej polityce społecznej. Geneza polskiej polityki społecznej rozważana jest w kontekście przypadającej w 2018 roku setnej rocznicy odzyskania przez Polskę niepodległości. Prezentowany szkic obejmuje kształtowanie się tej polityki w teorii i praktyce, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem środowiska krakowskiego. Na treść artykułu składają się punkty o następujących tytułach: 1. Wokół rozumienia polityki społecznej; 2. W Krakowie u progu niepodległości; 3. Początki nauki o polityce społecznej; 4. Katolicyzm społeczny i myśl liberalna w Krakowie; 5. Konkluzja – pytanie o antropologię. Wśród krakowskich reprezentantów chrześciańskiej myśli społecznej, wpisującącej się w naukę o polityce społecznej, zostali odnotowani ks. Kazimierz Zimmermann (1874–1925) i ks. Jan Piwowarczyk (1889–1959). Natomiat wybrani przedstawiciele myśli liberalnej to: Ferdynand Zweig (1896–1988) i Adam Heydel (1893–1941). Kraków ma również wspaniałe osiągnięcia na polu realizacji zadań, które należą do praktycznej polityki społecznej. U jej genezy znajdują się m.in. inicjatywy księcia biskupa Adama Sapiehy (twórcy Krakowskiego Biskupiego Komitetu Pomocy dla Dotkniętych Klęską Wojny) czy św. brata Alberta – Adama Chmielowskiego (świadczącego pomoc ubogim).
The text is part of a wider discourse that covers the topic: Immigration to Poland – social, economic and legal implications for social policy and social work. This issue became the subject of interest of the participants of the 3rd Social Work Week organized by the Institute of Social Work of The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Cracow on 6th April 2017. There are many challenges facing social policy and social work (which is seen mainly as an instrument of social policy.) Poland’s social policy has little chance of coping with immigration problems, since it cannot cope with the problems of emigration. The emigration of Poles, caused by mass unemployment, has become a social issue that could be described as an immigration issue. Unemployment is mainly driven by three factors: lack of work, low wages and exploitation on the labor market. Polish social policy still cannot overcome these factors or even significantly reduce them. Mass immigration will necessitate the integration of refugees and immigrants. However, their integration can only take place when they are earning a living. In Poland, in the absence of work, real integration is not possible. In this context, the appeal of Pope Francis to individual European countries to receive only as many refugees or immigrants as they can integrate into their own society, is significant.
The text consists of two parts. The first is an introduction to the problem of precarious work. The expression “precarious work” itself is derived from the word “precariat”. This term refers to people who are forced to undertake poor quality employment which is mostly precarious, temporary, low-paid, lacks promotion prospects, and is undertaken on the basis of flexible contracts etc. The easiest way that the prekariat can be characterized is by using such references as “junk” contracts, unsecured employment, inhumane overtime, lack of professional identity, low pension contributions or their total absence The second part of the text presents precarious work from the perspective of Polish social policy. Above all, a speech by Elżbieta Rafalska, the Minister for Family, Labour and Social Policy was used. The speech was presented during a national conference entitled “Prekariat The Perspective of Catholic Social Science”, held in Częstochowa, Jasna Góra on 21 June 2016. Precarious work leads to negative social phenomena. They can be characterized briefly as “brain wasting”, which deprives young people of the opportunity to develop, and gives them a sense of being an unnecessary generation. In this way, the ethos of work is undermined. It ceases to be a service to another person, and becomes primarily a means of obtaining means of living and an instrument of the employer’s domination over employees. Thee dilemmas posed by precarious work create considerable challenges for social policy in Poland. It is not enough to combat precarious, unstable employment, but work itself needs to be healed, so that its dignity is restored. That is why one should start with the fight against unemployment. Guy Standing’s ideas are worthy of consideration, as they propose a social policy that supports non-precarious workIn this respect, the ethical guidelines contained in the John Paul II’s encyclical “Laborem exercens” still appear to be valid.
In the teachings of John Paul II the category of parenthood, considered from a philosophical, religious, social, moral or cultural perspective, is always integrally connected with such concepts as marriage and family, fatherhood, motherhood and posterity. The meaning of these notions blends with the truth about man which has its roots in the human nature and its deeper meaning in the Christian Revelation. The Pope’s teaching in this respect may and should be interpreted in the light of Christian personalism, with special focus on two key notions – that of a person and a gift (the sincere gift of self). John Paul II devotes much attention to the issue of responsible parenthood, connected with the idea of the civilization of love, and education which can be viewed as continuation of parenthood. Education then is before all else a reciprocal “offering” on the part of both parents. The Pope sees the parental function as a service to life, which leads to revelation of life. This takes place in the family circle, envisioned as the “sanctuary of life”. He shares the observation that nowadays these sanctuaries of life not infrequently undergo deep and manifold crisis. Fatherhood and motherhood seem to be in the very centre of this crisis, especially due to profanation of family’s sacredness resulting from contraception, abortion, in vitro fertilization, divorces, sexual education devoid of ideals and the like. These sanctuaries of life are at times entirely devastated. Their dilapidation is a process intended by various international centres – numerous feminist, pro-abortion and gay organizations, just to mention some. Source materials which serve as a basis for presented reflections are first and fore most the following: The apostolic exhortation Familiaris consortio of November 22, 1981; the apostolic Letter Mulieris dignitatem of August 15, 1988; the letter to Families from Pope John Paul II Gratissimam sane of February 2, 1994 and the encyclical Evangelium vitae of March 25, 1995. Attached to the abovementioned documents is also 1983 Charter of the Rights of the Family, aimed especially at the countries, organisations and institutions responsible for the situation of the family in today’s world.
Capital punishment is a specific issue of great importance to be perceived in the context of the powers of the democratic constitutional state. The point is about a clear answer to the question about whether from the ethical point of view the state has the right to inflict capital punishment. A discussion about this issue is not an easy one. Relevant fragments of the latest catholic catechism approved by John Paul II shed a lot of valuable light on the issue of capital punishment.
The article is a collection of comments on the Act of Parliament of 10th June 2010 concerning the change of „the law on preventing domestic violence and other acts”. It came into effect on 1st August 2010. The change is an amendment to the Act of 29 July 2005 on „anti-domestic violence” that has been in effect since 21 November 2005. The motives that led to enacting the Act deserve credit, as they try to eliminate violence, which infringe on the dignity of human being its rights and happiness – the child in particular. However, when analyzing particular parts of the Act one can easily reach the conclusion, that there are many threats to be found which endanger the integrity of family life. Among concerns of that kind one can point to: ambiguous interpretation of the physical and psychological violence, penalization of corporal punishment. Over-extended scope of competence of the interdisciplinary teams, allows the conditional separation of child from its parents by a social worker without a decision of the court. The law that enables to lodge a plaint by children against their parents may in practice rise conflicts between the family members, rather than contribute to their stability and mollify them. The Act appears to weaken the moral condition of family and its inner cohesion that create a sense of security as well. According to the author, the Act does not become an inherent part of a social policy that strives to protect family structure; it can be taken rather as an indication of anti-family policy.
Moral dimension of social animation. Social animation is still in the stage of receiving recognition, because of its complexity and the multi-faceted social context in which it appears. As a research issue social animation must be examined by applying an interdisciplinary methodology. It rises a complex of ethical questions, owing to the fact that it is a moral activity as well. This material aims to answer two following questions: What is social animation at all? And what components make someone be a social animator? Social animation has been portrayed in the context of moral meaning and its relation to manipulation as well. Finally the paper tackles some moral (ethical) dilemmas of animation. The aim of this paper is to work out if religious factors may play any roles in the discourse on social animation.
This text deals with the issue of making social policy coherent with the social message of the Second Vatican Council Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes. It seems essential to examine the particular relationship between politics and religion in Poland. Politics, and in particular social policy is carried out by people who, in the main, belong to the two communities simultaneously: and religious ones. They are active politicians and also Christians. The problem of coherence between what they do in politics and what they confess because of their Christian identity arises here. The author of the article investigates the issue, framed in this way. He does this by referring to the concept of politics practiced “in a Christian way”. For reasons of clarity, he accentuates the need to adopt an appropriate axiology and appropriate ethics. The right basis is needed for social policy, and this is integral anthropology, especially Christian personalism. According to the social message of Gaudium et Spes, social policy should take up its tools with the aim of “prudent care for the common good”. In practice, this means care primarily for the family. In Poland, due to the religious structure of the population, it is a task incumbent primarily on lay Catholics. They, in turn, expect appropriate formation of conscience on the part of the hierarchical Church. In practicing “Christian” social policy, one has to be realistic, in order not to get entangled in utopia. However, the postulate of realism does not exclude carrying out such a policy project. The idea is firmly rooted in the abilities of man, and man finds in the Church exceptional strength and creative potential, which make rational care for the common good and its development possible. The Second Vatican Council pointed out how to go in this very direction.
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W prezentowanym tekście chodzi o problem spójności polityki społecznej z przesłaniem społecznym konstytucji pastoralnej Gaudium et spes Soboru Watykańskiego II. Zwrócenie uwagi na tego rodzaju związek, który jest relacją polityki z religią, w warunkach polskich wydaje się koniecznością. Albowiem politykę, w szczególności politykę społeczną, uprawiają ludzie, którzy w przeważającej większości przynależną do dwóch społeczności jednocześnie: politycznej i religijnej. Są aktywnymi politykami i zarazem chrześcijanami. Pojawia się więc problem spójności tego, co uprawiają w ramach polityki z tym, co wyznają z racji swej chrześcijańskiej tożsamości. Autor artykułu dokonuje intelektualnego wglądu w tak postawiony problem. Czyni to poprzez odwołanie się do pojęcia polityki uprawianej „po chrześcijańsku”. Dla jasności rozważań akcentuje potrzebę przyjęcia odpowiedniej aksjologii i etyki. Dla polityki społecznej potrzebna jest właściwa podstawa, którą jest antropologia integralna, w szczególności zaś personalizm chrześcijański. Wedle orędzia społecznego konstytucji Gaudium et spes, polityka społeczna powinna uruchomić swoje instrumenty tak, aby „roztropnie troszczyć się o dobro wspólne”. W praktyce oznacza to troskę, która w pierwszej kolejności dotyczy rodziny. W Polsce, z uwagi na strukturę wyznaniową ludności, jest to zadanie spoczywające głównie na katolikach świeckich. Ci z kolei oczekują na odpowiednią formację sumień ze strony Kościoła hierarchicznego. W uprawianiu polityki społecznej „po chrześcijańsku” trzeba być realistą, bo w przeciwnym razie można właśnie uwikłać się w utopię. Jednak postulat realizmu wcale nie wyklucza realizacji projektu takiej polityki. Jej idea mocno osadzona jest w możliwościach człowieka, który w Kościele znajduje wyjątkową siłę i możliwości twórcze, zdolne do racjonalnych starań o dobro wspólne i jego rozwój. Sobór Watykański II ukazał drogi do pójścia w tym właśnie kierunku.
Rozmowa z prof. Teresą Dobrzyńską (Instytut Badań Literackich PAN, Warszawa), prof. Ewą Malinowską (Uniwersytet Opolski), prof. Bożeną Witosz (Uniwersytet Śląski), prof. Janem Mazurem (Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej), prof. Terézią Rončákovą (Katolícka univerzita v Ružomberku) oraz z prof. Danutą Kępą-Figurą (Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej) na temat wkład prof. Marii Wojtak w rozwój badań dotyczących stylistyki, genologii lingwistycznej, języka religii.
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