Suchergebnisse

Therapeutic horticulture (TH) is a non-invasive support treatment in which participants enhance their well-being through active or passive involvement in plant and plant-related activities. Positive effects of TH are mainly noticed in children and youth with intellectual disability (ID), while the effects of TH on adults with ID have not been extensively studied. The aim of this study was to determine the impacts of TH on psycho-social aspects of functioning in adults with moderate ID in institutional settings. The sample included 68 adults with moderate ID of both genders. The participants were divided into an experimental group (N=33), that participated in a designed ten-week program TH, and a control group (N=35). The Social Skills Rating System – SSRS (Gresham & Eliot, 1990) was used to assess social skills and behavioral problems and Self-Efficacy for Gardening Scale was designed for assessing self-efficacy. We compared the results before and after the intervention. The obtained results showed a significant decrease in different forms of problem behaviors, and an improvement of social skills and self-efficacy in experimental group. Results of this study provide the empirical proof for positive effects of TH on the improvement of the psychosocial well-being of adults with moderate ID in institutional settings. However, further research is necessary.

A critical review of current research is presented, as well as a reflection on the concomitant changing values and beliefs of women in the sexual area

Failure to incorporate results of research studies into practice of the helping professions perpetuates the denial of sexuality in the older years

Theoretical aspects of the socio-systematic model of boarding schools' social organization has been studied in the article. It has been proved that the social organization of boarding schools reflects the nature of the relationship in an educational institutions, norms of activity, students' values, identity, philosophy and other qualities that characterize the cultural aspects of boarding schools' social organization.The system model of boarding schools' social organization has been suggested by the author. This model consists of three subsystems. The first subsystem contains the integrating components of educational organization, such as the social constants of boarding schools' functioning, its mission and identity. The second one contains the elements of the system of thought-formation, i.e. the personal philosophy of the social actors of boarding schools, the direction of its activity, the hierarchy of values of the boarding school's pupils and its status-role hierarchy. The world view characteristics of boarding schools' social actors are understood as a special social card that allows us to determine the role of boarding schools in a society and to find the key identities, which form it as an educational institution. The consequences of different types of personal philosophy of boarding schools' social actors have been analyzed. These are: administrative, staff and pedagogical ones. From those above-mentioned, only the pedagogical type corresponds to the mission of this social institution, while others are the sources of corruption and other deviations of boarding schools' activity.The third subsystem contains the elements of a normative model, which includes the social norms for the students of boarding schools, the social nature of the pupils of boarding schools and the social scenarios for the graduates of boarding schools. The students of boarding schools have been divided into three groups according to the criterion of their attitude to social norms. The first group of students includes those who are prone to egocentrism and deviant behavior. The students of the second group are more prone to act in accordance with social norms under the influence of group pressure. The third group consists of those students who are inclined to act in accordance with norms based on self-help efforts.The components of the social character of pupils and social scenarios of boarding schools' graduates, which correspond to their life trajectories after the completion of their course of study, have been analyzed by the author of the article.

The article is devoted to the main aspects of the problem of economic integration in the Balkans. The main focus is on the idea of a Balkan Federation promoted by Serbian Social Democrats. The author concludes that such models are in demand in modern conditions.

This book combines the human development approach and innovation economics in order to explore the effects that structural economic change has on human development. While economic diversification can provide valuable new social choices and capabilities, it also tends to lead to more complex decision processes and changes to the set of capabilities required by people to self-determine their future. Within this process of structural transformation, social networks are crucial for accessing information and social support, but networks can also be a root cause of exclusion and inequality reproduct

An understanding of personal debt requires an understanding of the complex social systems that produce poverty. By drawing upon international perspectives, this book investigates why more and more people are in debt, why it is causing so much mental distress and exactly who is benefiting from what has become the world's number one growth industry

"This book critiques the superiority theory of disparagement humor, rooted in Hobbes's definition of laughter. Nathan Miczo offers the agōn (Greek for contest) as a metaphor to demonstrate how within- and between-group dynamics shape the creation and reception of disparagement humor"--