<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The purpose of the article is to give an overall description of the situation of Hungarian minority households with children in Ukrainian villages. The region is a marginal area both economically and geographically, being in a peripheral position with little attention falling upon it and even less of the development sources. Furthermore, there is a lack of information on welfare benefits, and no direct statistical data are available on the characteristics of the social policy system.As for the total lack of prior statistics on poverty, this essay is meant to be exploratory to show the area’s poverty features, focusing on the children. By the use of combined data collection, including quantitative and qualitative techniques, we gained information by questionnaire surveys of about 253 children in 139 households. There were carried out 23 exploratory interviews as well. The core of our analysis is the specific labour market situation, the earning opportunities, and forms of employment that provide for livelihoods for the households with children. Besides the backwardness of the area studied in the research, the strategies and life situations that characterize the Transcarpathian Hungarians are also presented, which are beyond the known European forms of poverty.</abstract>

Hungarian Nationality Ethnic Minorities Living in Poverty and Social Exclusion in Ukraine

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This study is focused on the relationship between the youth and other social groups based on the data of the GeneZYs 2019 study. The study asked 15–29-year-olds from four countries regarding how appealing or unappealing they feel 24 different social groups. Research results show that several social groups, e.g., homosexuals, migrants/refugees, skinheads, drug users, are especially perceived as relatively repulsive/distasteful by the youth of the studied countries. Starting from theoretical and empirical antecedents, the author presumed that the low level of openness among the youth could be explained by several factors such as socio-demographic background, religiosity, value orientation, and sources of information. Based on empirical results, the author takes an analytical approach on the population under study. The goal of the study is to exceed the level of a partial analysis and to explore a typology while redefining the relationship between the motivation factors of prejudices. The hypotheses were partially confirmed. Compared to the author’s expectations, the typology of young people based on their attitudes towards otherness seems to be harder to explain. Three groups were identified: a smaller one which feels others being appealing, a larger one with a neutral attitude towards others and which sympathizes less with Hungarian groups than the average, and a mediumsized third group which dislikes otherness. From the characterization of the groups, one can discover that among those who dislike otherness, the overrepresented categories are: men, young people from rural areas, those who finished secondary education level, those economically active, young people from Ukraine, atheists, those who did not study abroad, people who suffered from discrimination experiences, young people with regional Hungarian and/or Hungarian identity, people who are not satisfied with the national economy and interethnic relations, and those who see the future in a pessimistic way.</abstract>

About the System of Prejudices among the Hungarian Youth in Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, and Ukraine

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The analysis presents some of the results of an online survey regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, which was undertaken among ethnic Hungarians from Transylvania. The survey was based on a convenience sample and was realized between 16 and 26 April 2020, so during a specific period of the lockdown. Among others, the questionnaire asked the respondents about the degree in which the post-pandemic world would change. The answers to the question show that nearly three quarters of the respondents think that the world will not change at all or it will suffer only minor changes. Those who are more prone towards seeing a totally or a majorly changed world are in a minority. We assume that this situation could reflect a wishful thinking in front of an uncertain context. The regression analysis showed that respondents’ opinion regarding the change can be only marginally predicted by the selected independent variables. Men, those holding materialistic values, are significantly less convinced that the world will suffer major/total changes. On the other hand, trust in several institutions raises the odds of formulating the opinion that the post-pandemic world will be considerably changed.</abstract>

Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania

Everything Changes… More or Less. Opinions about the Post-Pandemic World among Ethnic Hungarians from Transylvania (Romania)

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Relying on an interview-based research carried out in the Szeklerland region (Romania), the present study investigates the social embeddedness patterns of innovative agricultural initiatives existing in rural areas. The analysis covers three areas: structural embeddedness patterns of local scale, practical initiatives strengthening social embeddedness, and ideas of innovative actors on their future role within the local community. The innovative agricultural actors included in the analysis are local agents who attempt to position themselves and their activities on a local scale amidst diffuse and constantly changing conditions. The specific forms of embeddedness under scrutiny here indicate that innovative actors and practices form part of the local community mostly on the structural level, functionally making their presence felt to a lesser extent.</abstract>

Embeddedness or Marginalization? Aspects for Analysing the Local Embeddedness of Innovative Agricultural Enterprises in Szeklerland

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The study is reflecting on the nature and features of social work with families with children, attempting to discuss social work as assistance and apprehension and to detect whether there is any causal link between the efficiency of social work and the narrative approach and the “unstoried”, “faceless” condition of the families. We argue that professional attitude aimed at providing child protection support is not possible without knowing the story of families with children. Without a helping attitude, no real social work is possible, and thus the client remains invisible and faceless in the process of child welfare or child protection interventions. Besides the actual situations of story-based intervention in social work (micro level), narrativity is also important for the transparent and adequate functioning of the system (mezzo level); moreover, it can become a factor of paradigm shift in social and political discourse on social work and its target groups (macro level). The study is based on the research entitled <italic>Child Protection Trends Supporting Children’s Well-Being</italic> carried out within the Research Scholarship granted by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2017–2020). The research focused on the family concept of child protection professionals and their views of the clients that can be deducted from this concept. The research also examines the notion and functions of the family from the viewpoint of children, young people and their parents as well as the professional attitudes and interventions determined by these perceptions. Research results show that due to the diversity and complexity of the problems of families in the purview of the child protection system one cannot reflect on professional solutions along types of problems. Successful functioning and efficient child protection rely rather on revealing individual and specific needs. All this indicates that child welfare and child protection work is possible only if built on personal stories.</abstract>

Narrative Child Protection in Hungary. The Importance of Knowing the History of the Families in Need in the Social Work with Children

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Similarly to other countries in the Eastern European Region, the situation of medical assistants in Romania is fairly difficult. Due to the lack of personnel, health professionals are typically overwhelmed with work. The Quality of Life Research Centre at Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania conducted a non-representative survey among medical assistants in Romanian state-owned healthcare institutions. The sample size is 312 Romanian and Hungarian speaking nurses from six counties. The present study problematizes the mental health of medical assistants, more precisely burnout and depression, along demographic, social, and labour market features. The determinants of burnout and depression are being searched for among these structural and situational variables, and their controlled impact is being assessed with linear regression. Results indicate an excessive risk of burnout and depression for nurses with lower-qualification working in outpatient care. Differences in the mental health of medical assistants echo to a large extent social inequalities, so that controlled for covariates, household income has a significant impact upon burnout and depression. From demographic agents, the protective effect of partnership is outstanding, and the number of supportive relationships is a protective factor of its own right against both burnout and depression. Female assistants are more at risk for depression but not for burnout, whereas workload increases the risk of burnout but not of depression. The analysis takes sides of the distinctness of burnout and depression. Although both syndromes are largely influenced by social features, burnout seems to be more situationally influenced whereas depression more structurally affected.</abstract>

Burnout and Depression in Medical Assistants in State-Owned Healthcare Institutions in Romania

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The article discusses the analysis of the available resources in the <italic>Pro Educatione Network of Adult Education and Training</italic>. The study unveils the provided human resources, economic potential, organizational capacities and relationships as well as the surplus by the network of the 15 adult education organizations. The results show that networking brings access to different resources for network members. Half of the network member organizations affirm intense relationships, i.e. they often call for the collaboration of network member organizations for their adult education and training programmes, and significant co-creation activities are taking place. Despite the fact that several network member organizations have limited resources for the operation of adult education, they achieve significant efficiency; in other words, they can reach out to a considerable number of adult learners through their education and training programmes. The analysis identified passive, moderately active, and very active network members. It also identified areas with deficits in networking.</abstract>

Collaboration and Networking in Adult Education and Training. A Case Study

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Following a short review on the importance and challenges of digital education, we review some of the findings of a study which we conducted on the basis of an online survey among students of the teacher-training programme at the University of Debrecen (for the purposes of a pilot project) in 2019. The 75 respondents were between 18 and 23 years of age and mostly students of humanities and natural sciences. The survey is obviously not representative, its function being to serve as a ground of a pilot survey to further our work and to extend it to other universities. Among others, the results show that 62.7% of the students learnt the use of digital tools by self-improvement; the majority of future teachers (85.3%) are willing and motivated to use ICT tools in the context of education. The question regarding the importance of reading in a digital world showed that almost each of the respondents considered reading to remain an important activity. In order to make reading attractive, respondents emphasized the need to renew compulsory literature and to use digital tools for reading.</abstract>

The Digital Space Dimension in Education. A Review on a Pilot Research

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Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Social Analysis

 Acta Univerisitatis Sapientiae Social Analysis publishes original studies focused towards the analysis of various social phenomena and processes. We encourage the submission of both theoretical and empirical studies from the various fields of social sciences: i.e. sociology, anthropology, social history, social work, social policy, etc. The journal seeks to provide a stance for comparative perspectives and multiple methodologies (e.g., quantitative analyses, qualitative studies, narrative-ethnographic methods, etc.) in the approaching of these themes. Interdisciplinary approaches are particularly encouraged.   Several issues of the journal take the form of thematic issues focused on specific topics from the fields above. Proposals for thematic issues are always announced on the journal’s website.   Why subscribe and read   The focus of the journal is primarily oriented towards East-Central Europe and its regions. Empirical findings, policy analysis and critical essays aiming at describing the processes of social development, cultural reconfiguration and associated discourses taking place in this part of Europe are particularly welcome.   Why submit   Acta Universitatis Sapientiae Social Analysis is a peer-reviewed journal. All submitted manuscripts are reviewed by two anonymous referees. The journal does not have article processing charges (APCs) nor article submission charges.   Rejection Rate    27%      Archiving   Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.   Plagiarism Policy   The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process.   Article Processing Charge (APC)   The journal does not have article processing charges (APCs) nor article submission charges. 