Abstract
The book is authors' third comprehensive report based on field research conducted in the Kappa region since 2008. Their fundamental research approach is based on ethnography, which allows them to take a holistic view of the topics researched under individual projects focusing on the areas of education and help in exclusion.
Their analyse and compare data gathered during two projects supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic in 2008-2010, "Function of Cultural Models in Education" (GACR Grant No. 406/08/805), and in 2012-2015, "Decision-Making Processes of Helping Professions in the Area of Intercultural Relationships" (GACR Grant No. P407/12/0547).
The main purpose of this monograph is to describe decision-making in situations where social help is provided from the perspective of the beneficiaries (clients) and from the perspective of the helpers (outreach workers and officials). In the case of outreach workers, the help includes psychosocial assistance, support and education, while the officials from the Labour Office provide material resources and the officials from the Department for Social and Legal Protection of Children (OSPOD) protect the rights and safety of the child.
When studying decision-making processes, it is not authors' intention to study the mental steps and decision-making algorithms involves. Instead, their focus on ways how their informants interpret the helping situation and how they perceive themselves as initiators of action, on their perceived agency.