Paradoxicality of the activity of institutional education institutions: principles and opportunities

ENThe article presents the problem of paradoxicality of the activity of juvenile institutional education (i.e., socialisation centres operating in Lithuania). Several important variables have not been considered in the interaction of the activities of the socialisation centre, simultaneously of pedagogical and other staff and learners, their families/foster parents, and this resulted in inconsistency of the implementation of the complex resocialisation process. The article calls for the scientifc discussion, actualising the essential principles of resocialisation observed in socialisation centres, grounded on empirical data of children’s subjective experience (N= 97) and assessment of specialists of the child socialisation centre (N=94). Scientifc and practical relevance of the research presupposes the following problem questions: How can the mission of child socialisation centres in the process of implementing juvenile resocialisation be described? What are possible contradictions in the context of aims raised by institutionalised resocialisation and actually implemented principles? Research subject: paradoxicality of activities of socialisation centres, implementing institutional education. The research aimed to disclose principles and tendencies of organisation of juvenile resocialisation processes in socialisation centres (in the context of paradoxicality). Analysing empirical research data, the assessment palette, submitted by both staff of the CSC and children, enabled to actualise several essential controversies of the principles of implementing institutional education and resocialisation processes, ranging from preventive-warning/intervention-penal principle to integration-socialisation/isolation-resocialisation principle.Also in the article, the principles of conduct modifcation (changing of conduct) vs conduct transformation, of integration-socialisation vs isolation-resocialisation and social fairness/social responsibility vs social isolation and freedom deprivation were discussed based on the empirical data. Paradoxicality of resocialisation processes in the context of fve principles actualised in the article are related to the aim to highlight tendencies of observed good practice, objectives and to state evident drawbacks in the activity of child socialisation centres, which are tried to be concealed. It is evident that controversies that have showed up are to be related both to the fact that it is attempted to view the situation from different standpoints of situation perception and assessment (of children, staff of the CSC), and to the fact that the very juvenile delinquency and their resocialisation is a huge challenge to the whole society, policy strategists, scientists and specialists working with such juveniles. The problem is related to the fact that there is no very clear, purifed vision of juvenile resocialisation. Search for strategies of juvenile resocialisation, constant discussions between practitioners, scientists, politicians’ communities should create more defnite visions of analysed centres, clearly regulating how children get into these centres, the system of their adaptation, education, staff selection and the system of its motivation to perform its functions with high level of responsibility. The principles highlighted in the article presuppose the idea that anyway it is important to establish CSCs according to the geographical principle so that learners have a possibility to maintain closer links with the closest social setting.This would create preconditions for the involvement of the subjects of the closest setting in juvenile resocialisation processes, seeking positive shifts in the juvenile’s conduct, and for affecting uneven functioning of separate social systems as well as for successful implementation of socialisation processes in a broader context (Bakutytė et al., 2013). Keywords: institutional education, child socialisation centre, juvenile resocialisation, principles and possibilities of activity. [From the publication]

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