Human Rights and Their Application in Helping Poor Families

Introduction

Poverty must be understood comprehensively, because it appears in all spheres of a person’s life and often leaves a person with a feeling of their dignity being trampled. Family poverty brings with it the threat of multiple human rights. It concerns insufficient nutrition, restricted access to education, healthcare, inability to integrate into the school community through extracurricular school activities, and absence of cultural life. Therefore, organizations helping families in need should specifically focus on supporting the threatened human rights and human dignity of families in need.

1 Life in Poverty

Poverty represents one of the areas of social exclusion, with families in need confronting it.

1.1 Social Exclusion

Social exclusion occurs when individuals or groups are excluded from society through restricted access to opportunities and resources (for example, because unemployment prevents them from reaching a normal economic standard) and through exclusion from institutions commonly available to members of society (for example, educational and healthcare systems) (Matoušek et al., 2013).

Navrátil defines social exclusion as a process or state that restricts certain individuals, families, groups, or even entire communities from access to resources necessary for participation in the social, economic, political, and civic life of society. This state has many causes. They include poverty, low income, discrimination, low educational attainment, degraded living environment, ethnic belonging, or poor health condition. Through this state, people are cut off for significant periods from institutions and services, social networks, and development opportunities that are available to most members of society (Navrátil, 2003).

With social exclusion comes deprivation of the socially excluded person, limitation of their civil, social, and political rights, and differing perceptions of their social status or identity. For the individual, this can be experienced as isolation from the mainstream of society; for society, it can be experienced as a disruption of social cohesion (Matoušek et al., 2013).

Social exclusion can affect multiple areas; it is a multidimensional phenomenon: the economic area (poverty, unemployment), the social area (breakdown of the traditional family, unwanted teenage pregnancies, crime, youth delinquency), the educational area, the living-space area (locality, housing conditions, amenities), political marginalization (denial of civic, political, and even basic human rights), the cultural area (prohibitions on cultural expression, denial of participation in societal culture), the ethnic area (ethnic minorities, migrant families), social relations (family, friends, neighbors, broader environment), health (healthcare), social services (access, variability, and capacity of services), and the individual area (disability, absence of self-esteem and self-confidence, shame) (Matoušek et al., 2013; Džambazovič, Gerbery, 2005; Vancáková, 2014).

“A paradoxical contributor to social exclusion is often municipal policy, which in trying to solve some problems tends to choose mechanisms of exclusion without realizing that this generates new and possibly more severe problems” (Nová, 2016, p. 19).

1.2 Poverty

Today poverty is a global problem. It is no longer true that poverty concerns only Third World countries. Almost all countries acknowledge the existence of poor individuals and families. Poverty must be understood comprehensively because it appears in all spheres of life and leaves a person with a sense of their dignity being trampled (Vancáková, 2014).

According to the National Framework Strategy for Social Inclusion Support and Combating Poverty (p. 5), “since 2010, the Europe 2020 strategy has been in force, which lists the fight against poverty and social exclusion among the key goals of the European Union. Unlike previous periods, it includes a transparent, quantified commitment in this field. The Slovak Republic has joined the joint effort and toward a common goal aims to contribute by reducing by 170,000 the number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion by 2020. The National Framework Strategy for Social Inclusion Support and Combating Poverty is based on a national poverty and social exclusion goal and presents the background, priorities, and social inclusion policies, mechanisms for monitoring developments in the field, and formulates principles and forms of cooperation with key stakeholders.”

We distinguish four basic types of poverty: economic (lack of money and resulting absence of food, drink, clothing, and roof over one’s head), cultural (lack or total absence of opportunities for education, successful future prospects, social and cultural exclusion), social (caused by loneliness, lack of relationships, discrimination, and marginalization), and spiritual (inner emptiness, loss of meaning in life, desperation, anxiety, moral confusion) (Vancáková, 2016).

Poverty can also be divided into generational (involving at least two consecutive generations) and situational (a shortage of resources due to a specific event, such as death, illness, divorce, etc.) (Payne, 2010).

Poverty measurement depends on the choice of a poverty concept and definition, and there are many approaches to classifying poverty. Among the commonly used approaches are the absolute and relative concepts, objective and subjective concepts (Želinský, 2014). “According to the absolute concept, the poverty line is usually defined as the value of income or consumption necessary to ensure a minimum standard of nutrition and other essential goods, or the estimated cost of a basket of goods and services needed to satisfy basic needs” (Želinský, 2014, p. 14). “The relative poverty measure is based on assessing (comparing) incomes against a certain midpoint, in our case against the national poverty threshold” (Štatistický úrad SR, 2019, p. 7). “The subjective approach to defining poverty expresses that poverty boundaries are inherent subjective judgments by people about what they consider to be an socially acceptable minimum standard of living in a given society” (Želinský, 2014, p. 15). With the objective concept, “the poverty threshold is not set subjectively, but on the basis of independent and objectively selected criteria” (Štatistický úrad SR, 2019, p. 7).

The poverty risk threshold is set at 60% of the national median equivalent disposable income. The poverty risk threshold is expressed in PPS (purchasing power standards) and in EUR. The total annual poverty risk threshold calculated from EU SILC 2018 for 2018 was 4,477 € for a single-person household, which is 373 € per month. For a household of two adults with two children under 14, the total annual poverty risk threshold was 9,402 €, which is 784 € per month (Štatistický úrad SR, 2019).

Poverty can be understood as the degree to which an individual lives without necessary resources. We can divide resources into these categories: a) Financial resources—meaning not having money to buy goods and services. b) Emotional resources—these belong among internal resources and are among the most important ones because they allow a person to break out of long-entrenched patterns. Here we include perseverance, perseverance, and making choices. It is the ability to self-regulate and not resort to self-destructive behavior in difficult situations. They provide endurance when facing difficult and emotionally charged situations and states. c) Mental resources—these are mental abilities and acquired skills (reading, writing, arithmetic) needed for everyday life. If a person has mental capacities, they have an advantage and can be more self-reliant, because they have access to information from different sources. d) Spiritual resources—through these resources, a person can perceive themselves as a unique being of value rather than as an unnecessary and hopeless creature. This is faith in a divine plan, respect for a higher power and meaning in life, which gives hope. e) Physical resources—these include a functioning, mobile, and healthy body allowing an individual to lead a self-reliant life. f) Support systems—these are external resources: family and friends who are available to an individual in times of need. These resources are not only about financial and emotional support, but also about mediating knowledge. For example, whom can a person turn to for help? Who can advise on finding new employment? g) Relationships and life patterns—this means being in contact with suitable adults who do not turn to self-destructive behavior in times of difficulty. Every person has some model; it simply needs to be a suitable and beneficial one. Can that model bring up children? Does it do well at work? h) Knowledge of unwritten rules—these are typical norms of different social strata. There are specific principles used by people from affluent classes, and others used by people from poorer classes. Unwritten rules of poverty culture include, for example, noise (the television is always on and everyone shouts over each other). Across all social strata, if a person wants to move from one stratum to another, they need someone from the target stratum who can act as a model and teach them its unwritten rules. i) Techniques for overcoming difficulties—The ability to have an inner voice (the so-called procedural monologue) and to think about things not only in a concrete way but also abstractly. This includes being able to objectify oneself from the problem (Payne, 2010; Vancáková, 2014).

Poor families experience an absence of basic values—not only material ones, but also absence of love, close relationships, understanding, support, and mutual sharing—which are necessary for a person to live with dignity and happiness (Vancáková, 2016).

1.3 Families in Need

Any family can enter severe material crisis from many causes and fall to the bottom of the social safety net. In such a situation, families are often dependent on state support. Causes of material crisis are varied, e.g. unemployment, low education, little marketable qualification, poor health condition, inability to cope with a critical life situation, lack of responsibility, antisocial way of life, and so on.

For failing families, a rescue social network should operate in the state. This network is made up of legislation through which the state guarantees all citizens a minimum level of help in emergencies. A family’s social dependency is directly related to the incomes of its members (Gabura, 2012).

This links to the concepts of material need and subsistence minimum. Material need is the condition in which household members’ income does not reach the amount of the subsistence minimum, and household members cannot earn or increase income by work, exercise of ownership rights or other property rights, and enforcement of claims. The main two types of family material need are current material need (which may sometimes mobilize a family, but longer duration may lead to passive resistance) and chronic material need (characterized by passivity, relying only on outside help) (Gabura, 2012). The subsistence minimum is “the socially recognized minimum income boundary of a natural person, below which this person enters a state of material need” (Zákon č. 601/2013 Z. z. o životnom minime, § 1).

According to research, incomplete families belong to the category of families most threatened by poverty and social exclusion to the margins of society (Vancáková, 2015). A large share of poor families are single mothers with minor children. The problems of single mothers include: risk to basic family functions (especially ensuring emotional support for all family members, preparing children for life in society, and economic security of the family), economic disadvantage (material problems for single mothers with low social status, not only due to lower income but also due to a larger number of children and a less responsible life style), unemployment (for single mothers unemployment is a major risk, because poverty affects not only the mother’s life situation but also causes child poverty, while in the labour market a single mother with a child is unattractive to an employer), housing issues (single mothers with children can rarely afford independent housing, and because rents are expensive, their only option is often crisis accommodation centres, which have strict rules and limited duration of stay), social isolation (a single mother must play both parental roles in household functioning, limiting her free time and social contacts mainly to family and work ties), and social exclusion (single motherhood often also involves exclusion from society, whether due to long-term unemployment or loss of social contacts) (Matoušek, 2005).

Family poverty also brings child poverty. EU demographic statistics indicate that of 490 million inhabitants, 94 million are younger than 18 and 72 million live in poverty. Every fourth child is at the level of extreme poverty. In the EU, 19% of children are at risk of poverty. In some countries, more than a quarter of children suffer from poverty and deprivation, and in most countries children are more vulnerable to poverty than the total population. Child poverty is lowest in Nordic countries and highest in Poland, Latvia, and Romania (Antolová, 2013). Growth and adolescence in poverty negatively affect opportunities and life chances in later years and can also influence current and future development. Poor family background may cause entrapment in poverty, but a person who grew up in good conditions can, under pressure of circumstance, also become poor (Antolová, 2013; Žilová, 2005).

Poverty also affects seniors. Seniors are dependent on pensions; many cannot even work part-time, mainly due to deteriorating health. “Poverty among seniors is an economic problem associated with the current demographic situation and its future development. The most common reasons for entering poverty are: increasing housing costs, food and medication expenses. The economic situation worsens significantly among older persons in higher age groups, among one-person households of seniors, among people with low pensions, and those with poorer health. Further, reduced capacity to pursue necessary claims within the social system and lack of awareness about using available services.” (Nová, 2020, p. 217).

2 Human Rights

A social worker needs to know basic human rights and freedoms so that his or her interventions respect client individuality.

2.1 Basic Human Rights and Freedoms

The baseline for understanding human rights is their collection contained in the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Constitution of the Slovak Republic in Articles 12 to 53 also contains a list of human rights and dedicates its entire second chapter, “Basic Rights and Freedoms,” to them (Horná et al., 2013).

The basic human rights and freedoms under the Universal Declaration include:

• Every person has the right to life, liberty, and personal security.
• No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
• Everyone is entitled to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
• All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal legal protection.
• Everyone has the right to effective redress by competent national courts for acts violating rights granted by the constitution or law.
• No one shall be arbitrarily arrested, detained, or exiled.
• Everyone has the right to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal in the determination of rights and obligations and in any criminal charge against them.
• Everyone charged with a penal offense shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty in accordance with law in a public trial at which they have had all guarantees necessary for defense.
• No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, nor to attacks upon their honor and reputation.
• Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within and outside any state.
• Everyone has the right to leave any country, including their own, and to return to their country.
• Everyone has the right to a nationality.
• Men and women of full age have the right to marry and found a family without any limitation due to race, nationality, or religion.
• The family is the natural and fundamental unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the state.
• Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
• No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of their property.
• Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
• Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
• Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
• Everyone has the right to take part in the government of their country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
• The foundation of governmental authority lies in the will of the people, and this will must be expressed in regular and free elections.
• Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and entitlement to economic, social, and cultural rights indispensable for dignity and free development of personality, guaranteed through national effort and international cooperation according to the organization and resources of the state.
• Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable working conditions, and to protection against unemployment.
• Everyone has equal pay for equal work without discrimination.
• Every worker has the right to just and fair remuneration ensuring for themselves and their family a livelihood corresponding to human dignity, and, where necessary, supplemented by other means of social security.
• Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, to reasonable limitation of working hours, and regular paid holidays.
• Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being for themselves and their family, including food, clothing, housing, medical care, as well as necessary social services, and is entitled to assurance in unemployment, sickness, invalidity, old age, and other cases of loss of earning capacity under circumstances beyond their will.
• Mothers and children have the right to special care and aid. All children, whether born in or outside marriage, have equal social protection.
• Everyone has the right to education.
• Everyone has the right to freely participate in cultural life, to enjoy the arts, and to share in scientific progress and its benefits.

2.2 Human Dignity

The Latin term for dignity, “dignitas,” means value in itself—not beauty, intelligence, or skill. This kind of value is the basis of human rights.

Dignity represents the moral relationship of a person to themselves and of society to an individual, whose awareness is a form of self-control of personality. On dignity are based the individual’s demands toward themselves: to act in ways that do not humiliate one’s own dignity. It is therefore an expression of the idea of the personal and social value of every human being. First and foremost, it expresses a relationship to oneself, to other people, and to society. Awareness of one’s own dignity is a form of self-awareness and self-control (www.dostojnost.eu).

We might characterize the dignity of a person as their inestimable worth. It is not an economic value, nor does it have a material character. It is a spiritual value that means a person should always be the end, and never a means. A person cannot ever be treated as a means to another end, because that would be an unworthy attitude toward a person. What does it mean to be a means? It is when one person uses another for their own goal, for example an owner uses a slave for work, or researchers (illegitimately) use people in experiments. Here we see a problem: the owner’s goal and the researchers’ goal are not aligned with the affected people as persons. The person is an end. If this is not the end, then another goal is being prioritized. A person—human person—is the most complete being in the earthly world and therefore the highest end. All other ends are lower. In the examples, a lower goal is always preferred over the person, which is irrational action (Degro, 2007).

The value and nobility of a person are also shown in that the person is able to initiate action. One could say a person is that kind of value for which it is worth doing something. This is very common between us as human beings: for example, friends meet one because of the other, social life unfolds precisely due to meeting—that is, closeness between persons, and we routinely do small services for each other because of that friend relationship. Degro (2010, pp. 73–74) says in this regard: “The ultimate cause of human activity is ultimately the person as a being ‘in itself’ and ‘for itself,’ as a subsistent being, an end and not a means toward an end.”

This specific property of personal being reminds, for example, scientists, educators, psychologists, and physicians that a human being cannot be interpreted as a means for any goals, whether scientific or pedagogical. Everything should be directed toward the good of the person, because the person must be the end of all activity, arts, science, technology, politics, and religion. That is, the person as a person has value in and of themselves, an inalienable value, and thus cannot be used as a means; they must always be the end (Degro, 2007).

2.3 Rights and Responsibilities in Providing Social Services

Social services must be provided in accordance with basic human rights and freedoms, natural human dignity, principles of non-discrimination based on gender, race, skin color, language, faith and religion, and other beliefs regarding nationality or social origin, ethnic affiliation, property, lineage, or any other status of the recipient of the social service, and they must be provided in an environment chosen by the recipient of the social service (Zákon č. 448/2008 Z. z. o sociálnych službách).

In providing social services, the principle of equality of opportunity and non-discrimination must be respected, meaning that all human beings have the right to freely develop their abilities and choose among possibilities without limitations due to gender, religious belief, race, nationality or ethnic affiliation, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, skin color, language, political or other belief, national or social origin, property, lineage, or other status (Zákon č. 365/2004 Z. z. o rovnakom zaobchádzaní v niektorých oblastiach a o ochrane pred diskrimináciou).

Because of their nature (scope, form, and manner of provision), social services enable the realization of basic human rights and freedoms:

• the right to dignified treatment (by its very nature, social service enables the preservation of human dignity; it leads to recognizing the needs of a person dependent on social service as deserving special attention and public support),
• the right and freedom to choose (to choose a social service, its form, and its provider),
• the right to support informed decisions, to express disagreement, and to accept reasonable risk (this means ensuring access to information about the social service, the fee, and the target group to whom it is provided in an understandable form; a standardized way of expressing disagreement with different aspects of provided social service and requesting appropriate remedy),
• the right to individualized and person-centered social services (in service provision, preventing all forms of institutionalization and the preference of institutional and collective culture over an individual approach; attention to the individual needs, ideas, and wishes of the recipient of social service),
• the right to self-determination, support for activation and participation (the recipient of social service has the right to influence the conditions of their life and living environment, to determine key persons for questions of their everyday life, to protect their own rights and legally protected interests, to create and maintain contacts with family and community; they also have the right to pursue activation aimed at strengthening self-reliance, control over their own life, and support for social inclusion and dignity),
• the right to respect for private life (for all forms of social services, ensuring the right to non-interference in the personal space of the recipient of social service, except in situations that do not allow delay and when entry into personal space is essential to protect life, health, or property),
• the right to family and maintenance of broader family relations (the right to creating conditions for maintaining contact with family and broader support network; this involves cooperation with family, community, and local community in creating conditions for return to a natural family environment),
• the right to compensation for damage caused by the provider of social service in its provision or in direct connection with it (Zákon č. 448/2008 Z. z. o sociálnych službách; Repková, 2015).

3 Human Rights in Work with Families Living in Poverty

For investigating the application of human rights, we chose Lighthouse of Hope, which operates a registered low-threshold social service for children and families and a street-level crisis intervention social service. Their target group are families in material and social need.

3.1 Rules for Respecting Human Rights

Lighthouse of Hope makes an effort to support and protect clients’ human rights in line with human dignity and principles of non-discrimination.

Employees are trained in respecting basic human rights and freedoms according to the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms. Respecting clients’ human rights and freedoms is each employee’s duty in all activities.

Each social worker is educated about respecting the Code of Ethics of Social Workers, issued by the Slovak Chamber of Social Workers and ASP.

Clients are informed in understandable terms about their rights and obligations before signing the Social Services Contract. Rights and obligations are also codified in writing in the Social Services Contract. Human rights issues may also be addressed directly during social interventions.

3.2 Activities Aimed at Supporting Human Rights

Lighthouse of Hope creates conditions for the exercise of human rights for families in need. Clients have the possibility to take part in regular formative activities (monthly family formation meetings, psychological workshops, lectures), which help their personal development and support competencies also in the area of human rights.

Employees have access to various courses and trainings, whose content includes protection and development of human rights approaches, methods of advocacy, protection, and achieving outcomes.

Lighthouse of Hope organizes once a year, for the broader public and professional audience, an international scientific conference called “Človek na periférii spoločnosti” during October on International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, focused on helping people in need. An output of the conference is a peer-reviewed proceedings volume through which information can be disseminated further.

Attention to protection and safeguarding of human rights is also part of publication activity and research. They have carried out several studies in the area of support for families in need. In these studies, they point to the crisis state of families in Košice and nearby areas, to unsuitable living conditions in which they live, to insufficient internal resources of these families at society’s margins, and to insufficient external resources that would help improve their life situation. Based on their research, they published books that point to the current state of families in need and possibilities of help: Rodiny v núdzi (Vancáková, S.), Aktivity Cirkvi zamerané na pomoc rodinám (Vancáková, S.), Rodina a pomoc štátu … realita, alebo utópia? (Vancáková, S.), Keď rodina trpí (Vancáková, S.). They also published: Milosrdenstvo voči trpiacim (Vancáková, S. a kol.) and Utrpenie bolí, ale má zmysel (Vancáková, S. a kol.). Through book writing and publishing the journal “Maják nádeje – časopis o rodinách v núdzi,” public awareness is raised about the crisis situation of people in need and ways to help people who are socially excluded.

Support for the human rights of families in need is also pursued in the media. They have frequent media appearances on television, radio, and newspapers.

3.3 Specific Support for Threatened Human Rights of Families in Need

At Lighthouse of Hope they try to focus specifically on supporting the threatened human rights of families in need.

• Right to basic needs – food, hygiene, clothing

Poor families at Lighthouse of Hope regularly receive dry food or food vouchers, with which they can buy food and hygiene items according to need. For families where appropriate seasonal clothing and footwear are missing, Lighthouse of Hope helps by providing clothing, collecting shoes, and in cases of sudden hospitalization of a child, purchasing required items for the hospital personally. - Right to housing

An increasing number of families become unable to pay rent, and this problem affects especially single mothers who lost housing after divorce. In Lighthouse of Hope, they encounter situations of single mothers with small children who ended up on the street, who had no family support and were forced to look for shelter in crisis centers. In many cases, this right to decent and dignified housing is suppressed. Families accompanied by Lighthouse of Hope often live in inhuman conditions—in garden bungalows and in old houses without electricity and water. Some families have also ended up on the street due to inability to pay rent and slept with children at a train station, or in a tent at the edge of a forest. Within current possibilities, they sometimes also help families with rent payments. It is also standard to provide counselling in the area of finding affordable housing. - Right to healthcare

Special attention must be paid to families with disabilities, where serious illness overturns balance, desires, and expectations. A large part of families in Lighthouse of Hope are families where one parent or a child has a serious health disability. Household income in these families is very low and cannot cover expenses for basic needs. For families with sick children, Lighthouse of Hope helps in several ways: it reimburses medicines and medical aids not fully covered by health insurance, ensures eye examinations and then helps with purchasing glasses, and for postoperative conditions helps reimburse medical materials, among other things. Families with oncologically ill children are visited in the home environment or directly at hospitals.

3.4 Preventive Measures Aimed at Compliance with Human Rights

In work with the target group of families in material and social need at Lighthouse of Hope, they identified the following rights and freedoms that are at risk and could be violated by their own side. They also analyzed preventive measures to prevent such violations.

• Inviolability of the person and privacy

In field social work, the social worker first calls the client and does not visit without prior notice. The social worker enters the client’s home only with their consent. In the home, they behave respectfully also toward the client’s property (as an example, they remove shoes, etc.). They do not touch items without asking (for example, photo albums and the like), because the client may not want to share this aspect of privacy. - Safe working conditions within field social service

In the case of a first home visit, field social work is performed by a pair of workers. Similarly, where it is known that a dangerous family member is present, for example, a violent partner, field work is conducted in pairs.

Conclusion

Poverty can be both a cause and a consequence of human rights violations. The connection between human rights and poverty is obvious: Most people whose rights are denied usually belong to the poor social layer. Generally, they have difficult or limited access to the labour market and their ability to participate in basic services and resources is significantly constrained. Sometimes poor people cannot exercise their right to healthcare or housing for a simple reason—they cannot afford it. Poverty has many components, but it is always characterized by factors such as discrimination, inequality of access to resources, social exclusion, and stigmatization. These factors, however, have another name: denial of human rights and human dignity (Enviroportal, 2006).

Autorka: PhDr. Michaela Šuľová, PhD.
Teologická fakulta v Košiciach Katolíckej univerzity v Ružomberku

Zoznam použitej literatúry

ANTOLOVÁ, V. a kol. 2013. Objektívne znaky chudoby detskej zložky populácie a regionálne rozdiely v ich subjektívnom vnímaní chudoby. Bratislava: Iuventa. 70 s. DEGRO, I. 2010. Filozofická antropológia. Bratislava: IRIS, 215 s. ISBN 978-80-89238-29-3. DEGRO, I. Atribúty ľudskej osoby. In Verba Theologica. ISSN 1336-1635, 2007, roč. 6, č. 2, s. 5-14. DŽAMBAZOVIČ, R. – GERBERY, D. 2005. Od chudoby k sociálnemu vylúčeniu. In Sociológia. roč. 37, č. 2, s. 143-176. ENVIROPORTAL. 10. december - Deň ľudských práv. 2006. https://www.enviroportal.sk/clanok/10-december-den-ludskych-prav. GABURA, J. 2012. Teória a proces práce s rodinou. Bratislava: Iris. 318 s. ISBN 978-80-89256-95-2. HORNÁ, D. a kol. 2013. Vybrané texty k ľudským právam. Bratislava: UK, 175 s. ISBN 978-80-223-3623-2. MATOUŠEK, O. a kol. 2005. Sociální práce v praxi. Praha: Portál. 352 s. ISBN 80-7367-002-X. MATOUŠEK, O. a kol. 2013. Encyklopedie sociální práce. Praha: Portál. 576 s. ISBN 978-80-262-0366-7. Národná rámcová stratégia podpory sociálneho začlenenia a boja proti chudobe. 73 s. NAVRÁTIL, P. a kol. 2003. Romové v české společnosti. Praha: Portál. 224 s. ISBN 80-7178-741-8. NOVÁ, M. 2016. Poverty and social exclusion. In: Suvada J., Czarnecki P., Mrazova M. Interdisciplinary Updates on Health in Europe. Warsaw: Management University, Warsaw 2016. p. 13-21. ISBN 978-83-7520-214-4. NOVÁ, M. 2020. Chudoba ve stáří. In Ondrušová, J., Krahulcová, B. Gerentologie pro sociální práci. Praha: Karolinum, s. 217-223. ISBN 978-80-276-4383-0. PAYNE, R. K. a kol. 2010. Mosty z chudoby. Stratégie pre profesionálov a komunity. Košice: Equilibria. 293 s. ISBN 978-80-89284-53-5. REPKOVÁ, K. 2015. Implementácia podmienok kvality do praxe poskytovateľov sociálnych služieb – metodické východiská. Bratislava: MPSVaR. 181 s. ŠTATISTICKÝ ÚRAD SR. 2019. EU SILC 2018. Indikátory chudoby a sociálneho vylúčenia. Demografia a sociálne štatistiky. Bratislava: Štatistický úrad. 57 s. ISBN 978-80-8121-695-4. Ústava Slovenskej republiky. VANCÁKOVÁ, S. 2015. Aktivity Cirkvi zamerané na pomoc rodinám. Ružomberok: Verbum. 112 s. ISBN 978-80-561-0277-0. VANCÁKOVÁ, S. 2015. Rodina a pomoc štátu … realita, alebo utópia? Ružomberok: Verbum. 169 s. ISBN 978-80-561-0313-5. VANCÁKOVÁ, S. a kol. 2016. Milosrdenstvo voči trpiacim. Košice: Maják nádeje. 146 s. ISBN 978-80-972547-0-4. Všeobecná deklarácia ľudských práv. www.dostojnost.eu Zákon 417/2003 Z. z. o pomoci v hmotnej núdzi a o zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov. Zákon 448/2008 Z. z. o sociálnych službách a o zmene a doplnení zákona č. 455/1991 Zb. o živnostenskom podnikaní v znení neskorších predpisov. Zákon 601/2003 Z. z. o životnom minime a o zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov. Zákon č. 365/2004 Z. z. o rovnakom zaobchádzaní v niektorých oblastiach a o ochrane pred diskrimináciou a o zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov (antidiskriminačný zákon). ŽELINSKÝ, T. 2014. Chudoba a deprivácia na Slovensku. Metodologické aspekty a empíria. Košice: Equilibria. 244 s. ISBN 978-80-8143-134-0. ŽILOVÁ, A. 2005. Chudoba a jej premeny na Slovensku. Badín: Mentor. ISBN 80-968932-2-X.