Old and new areas in Polish social work in research and practice

The article attempts to review the knowledge about research conducted since 1990 on social work, in social work as well as for social work. It showed that the definition of areas of social work by social policy generally coincided with the fields of research activity of theoreticians and practitioners, seeking answers on the determinants of many social problems. The main aim of the article was to show the changes that have occurred in the perception of the importance of social work in practice and in research. The second goal was to show the state of knowledge on old and new areas of social work, taking into account the methodological approaches and types of research carried out. The last part of the article indicates which areas may be the subject of social work practice due to the emergence of new social issues, the existence of which has been revealed by the latest research.

