PSYCHOSOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF REACTION TO LOSS OF EMPLOYMENT

Unemployment is a complex social problem with sociological, psychological and economic dimensions. Therefore, any action taken against it or focusing on limiting its consequences requires an interdisciplinary approach, encompassing both the social context o f the phenomenon and the mental conditions of handling it by an individual. The article deals with the latter area. The relevant literature points to the following personal variables as especially significant: age, sex, period of unemployment, value attached to work and the so-called self-destructive lifestyle (defined as the tendency to ignore the potentially negative consequences of actions taken). The objective of the article is to present the relations between these elements and the methods of coping with the lack of work and increasing sense of hopelessness, in extreme cases leading to suicidal reactions in the population of the unemployed, registered in the Municipal Social Support Centre in the town of Żary in Poland. The results indicate varying efficiency in the strategies of managing resignation and hopelessness. These feelings can be largely accounted for by such subject properties as the amount of value one attaches to work and self-destructive lifestyle. All the variables included in the regression equation, including stress management during crisis, account for 72% of variability of the analysed reaction to the loss of employment in the population of the unemployed people covered in the study. This result is also potentially applicable in practice. From a practical viewpoint, while designing social activities among the unemployed, recognition of areas reducing the efficiency of these actions and defining the group with the increased risk of suicide allows the application of individually adapted forms of intervention