Writing about the practical application of sociology in Poland, there is no way to refer to the concept developed by Adam Podgórecki. Even in the context of Sociology world hard to pinpoint other approaches to the problem of social engineering or applied sociology, which would be as developed and refined. Meanwhile, the concept of “social engineering” and “social engineering,” though often invoked in the scientific and public discourse, no longer function as categories for facing serious academic tradition. Podgórecki tests allow you to deal with at least part of the confusion around the concept of social engineering and restore him to the status of a scientific category. But when we Podgórecki proposals of alternative trends visible become all sorts of restrictions proposed by him. The text provides a presentation of the social engineering Podgórecki and discussion of humanistic and social context that has evolved. Unlike previous reconstruction, however, our focus is on trying to put this part of the acquis Podgórecki in contexts: (1) the modern understanding of the concepts of “social engineering” and “social engineering,” and (2) alternative approaches to the issues of applied sociology, which have developed in the democratic countries in the 20th century.