https://doi.org/10.31261/CHOWANNA.2003.21.01
Economic and social transformations – taking place in the context of the introduction of free-market mechanisms – bring with them many new, often unexpected and socially perceived as highly negative consequences, such as: mass unemployment, the reduction of the state's welfare role, and the decline in the quality and availability of social infrastructure services that, until recently, had been maintained through subsidies and government funding. It is worth noting that estimates of the extent of social poverty presented in Polish mass media vary widely and controversially, ranging from 2.5 million to as many as 18 million citizens of the Republic of Poland. The analyses undertaken by various authors regarding the subjective and objective consequences of social differentiation (including the pauperization of certain groups or social environments) are often based on a conviction long ago expressed by the patriarch of Polish sociology, Professor Jan Szczepański: that the transformations occurring in every society, driven by technological progress and far-reaching social change, are a source of considerable psychological tension for its members. These changes can, in fact, be viewed through the lens of a certain type of social impairment. Of course, the issue of impairment, when examined in the context of social poverty, is not approached from the perspective of special education, but rather through the lenses of social pedagogy, social policy, sociopathology, and numerous other academic subdisciplines. Poverty is considered not only as an economic issue, but above all as a psychosocial problem, especially when we think in terms of taking preventive and compensatory action. Marginalization or social exclusion is a phenomenon that – as we know – has reached unprecedented proportions in today's Poland. The key issue has become answering the question: How can we halt or reverse current development trends that are generating new areas of social marginality (such as homelessness, begging, poor public health, crime, deviance, etc.)? The emergence of these phenomena is related, among other things, to the conditions of social reality, which is characterized by certain elements of anomie as conceptualized by R. Merton. This, in turn, leads to diverse forms of adaptation to the experienced reality by social actors (as exemplified by underclass environments or groups trapped in permanent unemployment and poverty). Also significant is the specific system of social mobility, which often does not operate according to the principles of meritocracy or the functionalist idea that the investment made by an individual performing a social role should correspond to the benefits they receive. These analyses prompt numerous suggestions for optimizing the functioning of the employment system, education, social welfare institutions, and for aligning their operation with the current needs of society. In this context, many tasks emerge that pose a challenge for the field of social pedagogy.
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Vol. 2 No. 21 (2003)
Published: 2025-08-18
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