An inherent part of the job of people who professionally help others is a constant search for solutions that enhance the human being’s functioning in the world. Making the human world better is the only sensible aim of undertaking any social research. Supporting others in their maturation, development of potentials and the process of getting to know oneself and others are main messages of the theory and practice of education. The considerations presented in this book apart from educational problems include broader contexts of social reality, incorporating the area of care of the elderly and issues of social rehabilitation for the ones towards whom other educational measures have so far proved ineffective.

The first part of the book contains theoretical considerations about the contemporary social reality and the possibilities of carrying out constructive changes in it. Due to the fact that the increase of social pathologies and criminality is one of the dominant problems of the developing civilisation, the book begins with an article by Andrzej Bałandynowicz on the possibilities of increasing the rehabilitational effectiveness of punishments for criminals through the implementation of a widespread and consequent probation system. The author’s considerations are not limited to criticising the present judicial and social situation. First and foremost, the author gives clear and concrete indications of the direction of the changes that should be undertaken in the Polish penal policy.

Consequently, a certain criticism of the present state of convict rehabilitation in Poland appears in the following article. The article describes legal acts that concern the execution of prison sentences and rehabilitation methods for convicts in penal institutions. An important part of this work is a description of certain paradoxes that are present in the penal policy and the reality of Polish prisons, among which the main one is the lack of rehabilitation possibilities and growing crime rates. Moreover, the article describes the specificity of rehabilitation of convicts that are addicted to alcohol and psychotropic substances and the conditions in prisons for the so called dangerous criminals. The author also points to the fact that there is a substantial underdevelopment within penal sanctions that constitute an alternative to the prison sentence.

When it comes to educational issues, Iwona Rudek describes educational programmes undertaken in schools. The aim of these considerations is drawing attention to the specfic character of programmes carried out by the teacher towards adolescents who require special competencies such as the ability to talk with the pupil.

Also, Wioletta Kopińska remains within the area of education in schools. Her considerations open the second part of this book that contains reports from social research. The presented studies underscore certain problems of the contemporary student governments. The author blaims lack of democracy in schools for the majority of the problems.

Renata Miszczuk in her article focuses on presenting care, education and prevention activities for children and families, people left on the margin in terms of rehabilitation and reeducation, the addicted and the co-addicted and people in danger of getting addicted to psychoactive substances.

The article by Agnieszka Próchniak depicts interesting studies on the attitudes of students towards cheating which they treat as an unfair method of competing with one another at school.

Joanna Nawrocka in her article discusses issues connected with taking care of the elderly. She presents the pilot study to a vast study on the social reception of senility.

Piotr Próchniak’s two articles allow to draw interesting conclusions about risky behaviour of people that display prosocial attitude (firemen) and antisocial attitude (criminals).

The ultimate article concerns the area of criminality and the possibilities of convict rehabilitation trough the prism of research on the effectiveness of alternative support rehabilitation programmes in penal institutions based on yoga.

The other articles also pertain to the areas of education, care and social rehabilitation. It seems that this book can become a source of new questions and quests in the field of science but, first and foremost, educational, care and rehabilitational practice.

Anetta Jaworska