Conference - Social Work and Social Assistance: Toward a Pragmatics of Reinstitutionalization

Times of rapid social change — broadly described as crisis — have particular significance for institutional forms of interpersonal assistance, which undergo deformation, deprofessionalization and deinstitutionalization. Existing methods of social work and organizational forms of social assistance require substantial revision, which should be based on in-depth community reflection by people directly engaged in helping activities — their knowledge grounded in many years of professional practice, theoretical preparation, ethical standards and institutional resources.

Guided by professional knowledge, attentiveness to the Other and care for the common good, three assisting principles should be reconsidered and reformulated:

• the meaning and rules for shaping relationships with a person in need
• the specifics of organizing social assistance as an element of public authority
• the applicable national legislative and administrative solutions

The conference “Social Work and Social Assistance: Toward a Pragmatics of Reinstitutionalization” continues the discussion on the reinstitutionalization of social assistance and social work that the organizers initiated in 2024 and continued in 2025. Its aim is critical reflection on the fundamental properties of Polish social assistance and social work and the preliminary formulation of recommendations to strengthen the resilience of helping organizations in a crisis society.

The conference co-creators are:

• Institute of Sociology, Jagiellonian University – Laboratory of Sociology of Mental Health and Social Work
• Behaviour in Crisis Lab UJ
• Municipal Social Welfare Center in Kraków
• Polish Federation of Trade Unions of Social Workers and Social Assistance
• Faculty of Sociology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań – Department for Research on Social Problems and Social Work
• Institute of Pedagogy, University of Gdańsk
• Section of Social Work, Student Scientific Club of Sociology UJ

The Kraków initiative fits into a broader international context thanks to cooperation with the International Federation of Social Workers.

We also cooperate on the event with the Social Work Section of the Polish Sociological Association and Wolters Kluwer Polska.

On behalf of everyone involved in the Kraków discussion meetings, you are warmly invited!

Hubert Kaszyński (Institute of Sociology, Jagiellonian University)

⚠️ Due to reaching full capacity, registration for the Conference has ended! Registered participants will receive an email confirmation of participation in the event.