The Rules at the Youth Educational Centre – from the Perspective of Caretakers and Adolescents

Abstract

Staying in a Youth Educational Centre meets the isolation criteria. Therefore, it may deprive adolescents of important needs and trigger specific group processes characteristic of subcultures. This article concentrates on the creation of norms and rules in the group of teenagers placed in social rehabilitation institutions. The research question referred to the similarities and differences in the perception of norms, rules and hierarchy in Youth Educational Centres by their employees and the minors.The Focus Group Interview and the method of competent judges were used as the research method for the caretakers, and the survey was used when researching the adolescents. Interviews were conducted with the caretakers and the adolescents. The study group consisted of 32 adolescents and 7 employees. It was conducted at Youth Educational Centre in Lower Silesia as a pilot study.The research results reveal a similar perception of rules in the centre by the caretakers and adolescents. Despite the mixed research methodology and the changing environment of modern adolescents (globalization and functioning in cyberspace), the research confirmed the earlier results in terms of the content of the rules functioning in the centre. Moreover, the caretakers listed a richer range of the determinants of the observed behaviour and the process of rule formation. The adolescents focused mainly on situational factors and used masking strategies.

Keywords: adolescence, prison rehabilitation, subculture, rules

DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/11-11-02

Publication date:June 30^th 2021