Czech Context Research Articles

Social inequalities in the prevalence and treatment of depressive symptoms in Czechia

Abstract Background Depressive symptoms are associated with achieved socioeconomic status (SES) in men and women. The aim of the analysis is to verify this association between severity of depressive symptoms and socioeconomic status in the Czech context. Another aim is to examine the use of psychiatric and psychological treatment among men and women. Methods The data come from the 2019 European Health Interview Survey (EHIS). The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) was used to measure the symptoms and severity of depressive symptoms among respondents. Participants were aged 20 and above and resided in households. Binary logistic regression was used to test the relationship for using of treatment and depressive symptoms. Results The weighted prevalence of mild depressive symptoms is determined to be 10.5% (8.0 % in men; 12.8% in women), with severe depressive symptoms recorded at 3.1% (2.6% in men; 3.7% in women) within the Czech population. The psychiatric or psychological treatment is utilized by 3.8% (2.8% in men; 4.7% in women) of the Czech population. Respondents with severe depressive symptoms (37.4%) use care the most, followed by those with mild symptoms (11.9%), and the least by those with none (1.6%). Individuals with tertiary education utilize treatment the most among respondents with moderate and severe depressive symptoms. Respondents differ in the utilization of treatment; however, after stratifying the model only for respondents with mild or severe depressive symptoms, these respondents do not differ in the utilization of treatment. Conclusions SES level is reflected differently in the prevalence and severity of depressive symptoms for men and women. But no difference was found in the use of psychiatric or psychological care in men and women. A treatment gap was found for depressive symptoms in the Czech population. Key messages • The results confirmed the relationship between the utilization of care and depressive symptoms. • It was revealed that respondents did not differ in the utilization of care after the stratification.

Whole Life Carbon Assessment of Buildings: The Process to Define Czech National Benchmarks

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in addressing human-induced impacts on the environment, with a particular focus on transitioning to sustainability and achieving carbon neutrality. However, the current implementation of Whole Life Carbon (WLC) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the construction sector in the Czech Republic is hindered by several challenges. These include gaps in stakeholders’ knowledge, limited availability of LCA data on construction products and buildings, insufficient market incentives, and low institutional capacity. This study, conducted as part of the INDICATE project, aims to streamline the process of WLC calculation and establish a consistent national assessment method specific to the Czech context. The project encompasses various phases, i.e., a case study collection of office, multi-family, single-family, education, and logistic hall buildings, followed by the development of a comprehensive unified materials database, classification of building parts and uniform work with the bill of quantities, stakeholder engagement, an LCA of case studies with a sensitivity analysis, and WLC policy suggestions, including the quality of the project data, simplifications, and a benchmarks definition. The Global Warming Potential (GWP) is calculated throughout the entire life cycle of each considered building, utilizing the EU Level(s) methodology incorporated in the OneClick LCA software. By adhering to these newly developed methodological steps, benchmarks for multi-residential buildings are shown. The same methodology could be replicated by stakeholders in other countries to enhance their evaluation processes and ensure consistent results across their projects.

Stát jako organismus? Kritická reflexe dosavadních interpretací konceptu státu Friedricha Ratzela

Friedrich Ratzel (1844–1904) is often portrayed in the Czech context as a controversial figure in the development of political-geographical or geopolitical thought. This is probably a consequence of the lack of attention and research interest in the Czech Republic. Nevertheless, his conception of the state resonates quite strongly in the domestic literature. Available sources indicate that under the influence of Social Darwinism he came up with the idea of the state as a (living or biological) organism that must grow (expand its Lebensraum), become stronger and occupy more and more space in order to survive (in the struggle for life). This interpretation, which is in fact very misleading, forms an important pillar of Ratzel’s overall negative perception. For it implies that his conception of the state is an application of Darwin’s natural selection and the struggle for survival to human society, states and international relations. Such an interpretation of Ratzel’s thought sounds truly sinister, and in this vein could be used to justify territorial expansion as the natural right of the stronger. On closer examination, however, it turns out that the Social Darwinist interpretation of Ratzel’s thought is highly questionable and that his conception of the state cannot be used in this way.

IZLASCI NOVOOSNOVANIH PODUZEĆA: DOKAZI IZ ČEŠKE REPUBLIKE

The aim of this paper is to identify the main characteristics of start-up exits in the Czech Republic. The research gap stems from the lack of research on the start-up exits. For this purpose, the unique Czech Founders database has been used, which includes data on 100 transactions for the 2007-2021 period. Data are evaluated using selected statistics methods. The results indicate that there are statistically significant differences between the industry and the location of the start-up. This research is the first ever to map start-up exits in the Czech context. The contribution of extending the current state of knowledge is the formulation and application of tools supporting the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems by policy makers.

Language exams as a policy instrument

Utilising language management theory (Jernudd and Neustupný 1987; Nekvapil 2016), this paper explores motivations for the language exam as an instrument of organised management in the form of policy in the Czech context and analyzes its outcomes more than ten years after its initial implementation. First, we provide an overview of research on language testing as a form of organised management, discussing how emphasis has been placed on citizenship, and explain the relevance of researching the use of language exams for permanent residence in the European Union, where an important distinction is made between EU and non-EU citizens. We consider the selection of the appropriate Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) level for the exam and the overall question of exemptions, which may raise doubts about the exam’s overall effectivity as a tool for the linguistic integration of foreigners. We show that there are several tendencies in the understanding of the situation by individuals who have already passed the exam, including the view of it as a mere formality, and, conversely, as a major hurdle. We conclude by exploring potential policy consequences of these outcomes, emphasising the idea that language support from the state and employers needs to be provided intensively and immediately following the individuals’ arrival in the country.

A Review of Science Diplomacy: Theoretical Evolution to a Post-Naïve Approach and Its Relevance for the Czech Republic

The paper critically reviews the evolution of the concept of science diplomacy and sheds light on the lack of theoretical reflection on the role of science diplomacy in the Czech context. The idealistic vision of science diplomacy presented by the AAAS and the Royal Society in 2010 has recently been replaced by a more constructivist vision that acknowledges the vulnerability of science and emphasises the political and international implications of S&T diplomacy by pointing to clashes between national interests and those of scientific communities. This post-naive vision relies on the growing strategic value of science and technology, which may lead to the acceptance of new policies regulating the inputs and outputs of scientific systems. The paper briefly outlines the current strategy of the Czech Republic within the EU, highlighting its geostrategic dimension and identifying relevant challenges for the future agenda.

HISTORICAL DEMOGRAPHY AND GENEALOGY. THEIR APPROACHES IN THE PAST AND PRESENT

This study is a reflection on the possibilities for cooperation between the fields of historical demography and genealogy. The first part of the paper summarizes the development of genealogy as a discipline in the Czech context. The paper goes on to recapitulate theoretical and practical examples of the involvement of genealogy in historical-demographic research in western historiography, especially in the North American context. The paper then discusses Czech development from the 1960s to the present. The paper compares the possibilities of both approaches by introducing the creation of a database using the classical application of the method of family reconstitution, discussing its pitfalls and the characteristics of such research in the Czech context. The paper then presents the possibilities of applying genealogical approaches and evaluations the situations in which applying such approaches is most appropriate.

Traductología digital: proyecto de nueva base de datos de traducciones de la literatura checa al español

The field of the historiography of literary translation is undergoing a digital revolution, offering new possibilities to explore the history of literary translation from different perspectives. This change not only brings but also demands constant modifications, improvements and refinements to continue progressing and adapting the study to new circumstances. Although Czech translations of literary works from the Spanish speaking world have been plentifully made and researched, the topic of translations of Czech literature into Spanish has not enjoyed so much interest and has only recently begun to be studied (Cuenca Drouhard; Nováková; Vavroušová; Strnadová). Although in the Czech context, there are several databases that include bibliographic information on literary translations, no online database that compiles such data on literary translations from Czech into Spanish and facilitates their consultation in a single digital platform has been created so far. In this regard, at the Institute of Translatology, a project entitled Databáze překladu české literatury do španělštiny (Database of translations of Czech literature into Spanish) is currently underway for the period 2022–2023. The project aims to question the methods of modern historiography, to respond to the needs of digitizing the study material, and finally, to offer a practical digital tool that collects bibliographic data on translations of Czech literature into Spanish that is updatable, freely accessible, and later extendable to other target languages

The Constitution of Andragogy in the Czech Context

The paper focuses on the evolution of attempts to integrate adult education in the Czech academia from approximately the mid-20th century onwards as well as on the various approaches to the concept of andragogy in that period. It applies the historic method mixed with elements of theoretical and comparative research. The paper starts by describing extended time periods in which the term andragogy was not yet in use. Then it sheds light on attempts to establish andragogy as an independent scientific discipline that seeks to cultivate adult individuals by means of (not exclusively) learning and education. The subsequent section pays attention to the recent period in which Czech andragogy lost some of its previous ambitions. Thus, the paper shows the main shifts in approaches to andragogy as well as the differences between the dominant approaches in the Czech and Western (European) contexts. A delayed mirroring of European trends is characteristic of the Czech development.

Christian Motives in Selected Works with Homosexual Themes in Czech Literature

The main aim of the paper is to highlight the relationship between Christianity and homosexuality based on selected fiction texts by Czech writers and poets (Zeyer, Fuks, Kuběna, Georgiev). The selected authors represent different historical periods and different currents of opinion. We are convinced that the theoretical part provides a suitable methodological basis for the part of the paper in which we discuss homosexual motives in selected works of the mentioned authors. To sum up, we can state that the explicit expression of homoerotic and other motives is only relevant today; in artistic narratives dating back to the 19th and 20th centuries, these symbols are expressed in a hidden way, and it is up to each recipient to decide whether and to what extent they see them in these narratives. Zeyer could not fully express himself; he was forced to use hidden symbols to be who he felt he was, at least in his works. Kuběna, in the context of the 1970s, treats the topic of homosexuality very openly, he is not afraid of being condemned by society. Fuks´ works are characterized by a considerable degree of autobiography. Despite Georgiev´s clear rejection of faith, a believing homosexual appears more than once in his work. In this paper we try to fill a certain gap in the field of comparative research in works of art and poems by authors who in some way tended to homosexuality because within the Czech context, we have encountered this area of scholarly articles sporadically.

Church charity fundraising in a decreasingly religious society: Case of the Three Kings Collection in the Czech Republic

AbstractOur research addresses the research gap of church charity fundraising in times of decreasing religiosity in the context of post‐communist countries while reflecting international trends. However, the research gap can also be understood more broadly as the inadequate understanding of faith‐based charities. We know “relatively little about how faith‐based NGOs practice policy advocacy and even less about their roles in the education and formation of faith communities in the donor countries” (Nelson, Religious voices in the politics of international development, Palgrave Macmillan, 2021, p. 14). The spiritual background of faith‐based charities and the impact of that background on society have been completely unexplored in the Czech context. The paper examines the “Three Kings Collection” (TKC), an annual fundraising event, during which tens of thousands of volunteer carolers dress as the three kings on their way to meet the newborn Jesus, visiting public places in cities and going door‐to‐door in villages, singing the Three Kings Carol, and asking for donations to the Caritas mission to help people in need. The paper aims to identify the size and scope of the revenues of the TKC and the size, scope, and value of volunteering against a background of decreasing religiosity and declining trust in churches. We also identify the Caritas strategies for overcoming periods of crisis and the challenges facing the TKC that may intensify over time. We articulate the research implications in the field of national and international giving and volunteering.

Validation of the Health Consciousness Scale among the Czech Population.

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of maintaining good health. It became has become apparent that health consciousness is a crucial factor in promoting healthy lifestyles, disease prevention, and the overall well-being of individuals. A higher level of health consciousness is associated with healthy habits, better adherence to medical recommendations, and a higher quality of life. Therefore, health consciousness is a critical construct in health care that reflects the degree to which individuals care about their health. This study, which is based on a representative sample of the adult population (n = 1372), aims to validate the Health Consciousness Scale (HCS) to assess its reliability and validity, and evaluate the factor structure of the translated version of the scale in the Czech language. The validation of the HCS in the Czech context is a significant step forward and provides useful information for healthcare professionals, policymakers, and researchers. The findings of this study contribute to the understanding of health consciousness in the Czech population and provide unique information for the development and evaluation of health interventions aimed at promoting healthy behaviors and attitudes.

Czech and Finnish Primary School Teacher in the Background of Inclusive Education

The paper discusses the issue of primary school teachers in the conditions of inclusive education in the Czech Republic and Finland. The aim of the thesis is to create and compare real profiles of Czech and Finnish primary school teachers with an emphasis on finding out what is behind the quality of inclusive education in Finland and how these findings can improve inclusive education and the teaching profession in the Czech context. The key aim is to create an ideal profile of a first grade teacher in inclusive education, i.e., a conception of the teachers’ own learning processes, competences and real conditions that a teacher needs for his/her work in a heterogeneous classroom. In order to achieve the goal, the comparative nature of the work and the design of the qualitative case study was chosen, where the case is understood as a primary school teacher against the background of inclusive education — the total number of participants is 20 teachers (10 Czech and 10 Finnish). The main methods for securing data were content and thematic analysis of Czech and foreign sources. The findings became the basis for further reflection and the creation of semi-structured interviews and observations. The first round of data processing used case studies of individual participants, which were subsequently supplemented by data obtained by axial coding. Real profiles of both Czech and Finnish teachers were then created. These profiles were compared and a draft ideal profile of a primary school teacher in inclusive education was created, which reflects the data obtained by the research of this thesis with the data from the thematic analysis and was created from below, based on the opinions and experiences of the teachers themselves. The results show that the professional primary school teacher has a positive attitude towards inclusive education; uses a variety of teaching strategies leading to active involvement of pupils; is involved in his/her own professional development and the development of the school as a community; uses individualisation and differentiation in his/her work and is part of a multi-professional team. Conditions must be created for the teacher to do his/her job where other teaching staff are available to take away from the teacher’s high demands for specific knowledge of special education and legislation; lower class sizes; the introduction of pupil assessment criteria and the use of appropriate forms of assessment.

Brandes in the Czech-speaking World: Dismissed as a Critic, Embraced as a Name

In our contribution, we explore the Czech-speaking discourse related to Georg Brandes in the Bohemian Lands in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century, which means before and shortly after Czechs gained their independence from Austria-Hungary in 1918. Our research of archival sources, especially periodicals and private letters, enables us to confidently claim that the impact of Brandes’s criticism on the Czech arts was rather insignificant. At the same time, the sources give a clear picture that the Czech-speaking intelligentsia were interested in using Brandes’s symbolic capital to promote their struggle for Czech cultural autonomy. Thus, it was not Brandes’s works that can be considered influential in the Czech context but his persona. This strategy of using Brandes’s symbolic capital mirrors his own efforts to be viewed as an international intermediary. Finally, we explore the East-West dynamics in Brandes’s relationship with Czechs and vice versa, and here, we identify a considerable asymmetry

Party Nomination Strategies in Flexible-List PR: Which Candidate Characteristics Lead to Realistic Positions?

This article addresses the candidate selection process for realistic list positions with regard to multiple-office holding and personal characteristics in flexible-list proportional representation (PR) systems within the Czech context. More specifically, this issue is explored in the 2006–2017 elections to the Czech Chamber of Deputies. Results of binary logistic regression analysis with observations clustered by party or constituency indicate that incumbents (with or without multiple office holding) stand a significantly higher probability of being selected as a realistic candidate. This probability increases only if the incumbent also has the regional mandate. The results also show that candidates with a PhD degree or higher, with a higher public office position, at the age of forty-one to fifty years, or with residence in a regional capital or in Prague have a significant probability of being selected as a realistic candidate. A specific gender bias was also found.

The Czech version of MAIN: adaptation, revision, pilot data from typically-developing and hearing-impaired children, and future steps

The article introduces the latest Czech version of the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN). The first Czech version of MAIN was published in 2020 and was piloted in 2020–2021. Subsequently, a revised Czech version of MAIN was created. This article introduces this latest version of MAIN, describes minor changes to the manual caused by typological features of Czech and a specific cultural context, and presents sample analyses of the pilot data collected from typically-developing and hearing-impaired children. The results from the pilot study indicate that MAIN functions properly in the Czech context, in particular for preschool children. The results show that MAIN can be fruitfully applied to assess speech and language skills in hearing-impaired children in the Czech context.

Způsoby označování osob z hlediska ne/binarity genderu: kvantitativní sonda do titulních stran vybraných českých periodik

Criticising the use of the generic masculine, feminist and gender linguists have proposed different alternatives. In the Czech context, the following three types of alternatives can be distinguished: (1)Â feminisation, (2)Â neutralisation and paraphrases, and (3)Â making non-binary persons linguistically more visible. Empirical studies on the usage frequency of these alternatives, however, are lacking. This paper addresses this issue by analysing agentive nouns and the feminisation of surnames in selected Czech newspapers. The results show that in references to individual women almost exclusive use is made of feminine expressions. Mixed-gender groups are still largely referred to using the generic masculine. In only a minority of occurrences are neutralising strategies used to refer to persons. What is more common, however, is to find neutralising strategies being used where the intention of expressing gender fairness was probably not the reason for their use, as referring to persons is not their primary function. Neither pair forms nor graphic symbols for non-binary reference are used. The surnames of female foreign nationals are almost always feminised, even though this is not necessary and the texts provide other linguistic means of identifying the persons as women. Based on an analysis of the distribution of generically-intended masculine expressions in the analysed texts, I propose dividing them into two types according to whether or not there is an obvious inclusion of females and non-binary persons.

Soudní proces ruského kněze Nikolaje Nikolajeviče Ryžkova

The text focuses on the Russian Orthodox priest Nikolay Nikolayevich Ryzhkov, who was appointed to work in Czech Orthodox churches at the beginning of the 20th century. During that period, many people in the Czech lands converted to Orthodoxy and Ryzhkov was one of the leading organizers of Orthodox life. His activity spanned a number of fields. The main aim of the paper is to point out Ryzhkov’s activity, which left a considerable mark in the Czech context. The study also focuses on the society of Pravoslavná beseda where Ryzhkov presided in 1909–1911. Ryzhkov’s activities were cruelly punished when he was accused of plotting against Austria, and he was found guilty of Panslavic propaganda amongst Czechs by a court in Vienna. He was also accused of organizing and inciting steps leading to intervening with the unity and security of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. The goal of this work is to introduce the circumstances of the trial, the interpretation of the court file and the reaction of Ryzhkov to the arrest and conviction. We will attempt to answer the question on what charges the suspicion of treasonable activity arose and what circumstances led to these conclusions. A part of the text will also be devoted to Ryzhkov’s appeal, in which he highlighted some problematic aspects of the trial process and the prosecution itself, as well as his familiarity with the court file.

Revisiting minority stress theory to understand psychological distress among Czech sexual minorities

Minority stress theory explains psychological vulnerability in sexual minorities; however, data is scarce in the Central and Eastern European region. Combining the minority stress model with the Psychological Mediation Framework, we tested a theoretically developed path model. Participants were 1452 (Mage = 24.9 years) Czech sexual-minority individuals (38.7% gay, 27.1% lesbian, 18.7% bisexual women). The model explained 55.5% of the variance of psychological distress in the overall sample, representing a total effect of 9.75% (p < .001) increase in measurement units by the modeled associations. Within the subsamples, the associations were similar between harassment and rejection, stigma awareness, and rejection sensitivity, as well as emotional dysregulation, rumination, and psychological distress. However, internalized homonegativity was a stronger factor of psychological well-being in gay men and lesbian women than in bisexual women. Bisexual women may have experienced less social support and more emotional dysregulation due to more concealment and rejection sensitivity, respectively. While we confirmed that the minority stress model applies to the Czech context and explained well psychological distress in sexual minorities, our data highlights notable differences between bisexual women who reported highest rates of distress compared to gay men and lesbian women.

‘What do we see when we look at people on the move’? A visual intervention into civil sphere and symbolic boundary theory

Photographs of migrants can evoke powerful reactions. Since the ‘migration crisis’ of 2015–16, politicians, media, and the public have all expressed strong opinions about people who cross borders. Within the civil spheres of Western democracies, debates about who belongs as a ‘good citizen’, and who should be excluded as an ‘anticivil’ outsider, result in consequences for migrants and locals alike. In this article, we engage in a visual intervention into theories of the civil sphere and symbolic boundaries. Through a cultural sociological analysis of 80 interviews conducted amongst Czech residents, we examine the boundary work surrounding two photographs of people crossing borders. The Czech context represents a compelling case through which to do so; Czechia is neither a primary transit or destination country, yet migration issues figure prominently in its civil sphere. Our findings are based on thematic and reflexive questions that organise the different grounds for boundary work amongst the RPs: ‘What are we looking at’? ‘Who are they?’ and ‘Should “we” help “them”’? The broader implications of our findings concern the role of visuality in conceptions of democratic civil spheres and the presence of boundary work that delineates who belongs and who does not.