Features of experiencing psychological problems in deviant adolescents

Abstract

Background Experience as a psychological phenomenon is a subjective attitude of a person to the world around him, in which the ideological attitudes of the person are reflected. In the adolescent period, the cardinal changes of interests, values and outlook take place in general, thus experiences acquire a special course. Modern adolescents are especially concerned about the problems of the future: life planning after graduation, further relationships with friends and parents, career choice, establishing contacts with peers, etc. Objective The specific features of adolescents with deviant behaviour determine the relevance and novelty of this research. The objective is to identify the emotional experience of the specific psychological problems of deviant adolescents. A diagnostic method “Psychological problems of adolescents” (L.A. Regush, E.V. Alekseeva, A.V. Orlova, Yu.S. Pezhemskaya) was used as the main research procedure. Design The study involved 50 secondary school students divided into two groups according to behaviour type. The first group consisted of 25 subjects characterized by frequent behavioural disorders, the second group consisted of 25 subjects with socially acceptable behaviour. The compared groups are unified in terms of age (14-16 y.o.) and gender (male). Results The data analysis showed that in adolescents with behavioural disorders average indicators are much higher (except for the scale “issues related to the society development”) than in adolescents with socially acceptable behaviour. The excess of an upper limit of the permissible values for deviant adolescents is fixed according to scales of psychological problems connected with “the self”, “school”, and “parents’ place”. Based on the statistical analysis using the Mann-Whitney U test, significant differences in the scales on “school related issues” (p≤0,000), “future related issues” (p≤0,011) and “self related issues» (p≤0,014). The differences in the experience issues related to the society development (p≤0,016) and the parent’s place related issues (p≤0,023) were recorded in adolescents with behavioural disorders. The lack of the statistical support of the number of assumptions (the severity of the experience of problems related to peer interaction, leisure, and health) is due primarily to the fact that the content of the method «Psychological problems of adolescents» does not take into account a full range of the needs, motives, values, attitudes, etc., specific to the system of experiences of adolescents with deviant behaviour. This aspect actualizes the need to design a diagnostic tool for solving the social-psychological and psychological pedagogical objectives of deviance studies in their applied orientation. Conclusion The revealed differences point to the need for timely development of the measures for the social psychological prevention of emotional destabilization and / or the reconstruction of the system of experiences of adolescents with a deviant development trajectory. Based on the obtained results, an educational experiment designed to amplify the experiences of adolescents with deviant behavior has been developed and is being tested.

Keywords

• deviant behaviour
• adolescents
• emotional experiences
• psychological and pedagogical assistance