Towards Five Decades of Research and Education in the Field of Social Pathology: Macedonian Experiences and Perspectives

Abstract

Almost five decades have passed since social pathology appeared as a new scientific discipline in Macedonian higher educational system, in particular, at the Faculty of Security. Decades of research and education, achievements and lessons to be learned. Although the history is relatively short, it is a period of time sufficient to strike a line and summarize the experiences and perspectives of its future development. As a sociological discipline, social pathology slowly but surely breaks its way to scientific prominence and deserved status in the contemporary Macedonian higher educational system. The paper deals with highlighting and assessing the development of the social pathology in Macedonia in the last almost five decades of its advent, focusing both on research as well as on educational developments. Theoretically, the paper is based on structural and chronological assessment of developments in the education and research in this field, while methodologically, the paper uses historical and comparative method, as well as content analysis of scientific and professional sources. The aim of the paper is to highlight the experiences of development of social pathology in Macedonia so far and on those grounds, to determine the possible future perspectives of its development. The findings of the paper could be of use to scholars and professionals in the sphere of social pathology, in terms of better understanding the place, role and importance of social pathology in the contemporary Macedonian research and education in the field of social and security sciences. Keywords: social pathology, research, education, Macedonia, experiences and perspectives