Pedagogics

Structural components of social worker’s training for socio-pedagogical rehabilitation of young offenders.

Paatova M.E.

Adygh State University, Maikop

Annotation: the article shows characteristic features of social worker’s training for socio-pedagogical rehabilitation of young offenders in the conditions of limited freedom on the basis of structural components expressing the author’s point of view on this problem.

Key words: preparedness for professional activity, social worker, socio-pedagogical rehabilitation, young offenders.

I. Introduction. Nowadays one can observe sudden changes in the number of socially-dangerous actions committed by children and teenagers because of crisis phenomena in our society. The number of teenagers with deviations in behavior has increased and it can be seen in such asocial actions like alcoholism, glue sniffing, prostitution, breaking the public order. The most serious forms of asocial actions in teenager’s environment are various offences (V.M.Litvishnikov, V.G.Petrynin, A.M.Pechenuk, V.F.Pirozhkov).

Nowadays progressive international penitentiary practice shows that specialists – social workers – must competently give various social help, support the condemned at different levels of their correction and make them ready for free life. Included into the system of means of correction, re-socialization and rehabilitation of young offenders, penitentiary social work may considerably improve the results of custodial institutions’ activity.

The specific feature of educational environment in a custodial institution such as operation demands or pupils’ isolation from the outer world considerably sets a social situation limit on teenagers’ development. From our point of view such a situation shows the necessity of creating custodial institutions’ educational environment on basis of humanistic paradigm that may express the realization of ideas of person-oriented approach. According to this phenomenon there is pressure in specialists’ training for the activity of young offenders’ rehabilitation on basis of personal approach in the context of humanistic paradigm of education. This is a new type of a pedagogue who is professionally competent and ready for work with different situations and also has a number of special means, resources and personal humane qualities that help to feel, understand or accept the inner life of a problem child and to look at the world through his eyes.

II. Assignment formulation. It is necessary to note the fact which shows that the socio-pedagogical activity refers to a scheme «human-to-human» because the specialist of this sphere pays much attention to the professional competence that allows him to cooperate with the human component effectively. The professional activity in such difficult spheres as preventive maintenance of breaking the law, young offenders` rehabilitation demands constant intellectual and emotional pressure of the specialists.

FSES (Federal State Educational Standard) of the third generation in the specialty “social work” (040400) sets the following demands for the fulfillment of the professional socio-technological activity: the development and effective use of social technologies that take into consideration the main specific features combined with modern global, national and regional phenomena, the specific of socially-cultural development of a person or the whole society providing its social well-being; purposeful and effective design and realization of modern technologies in psycho-social, structural and complex oriented social work of social protection, social service and population’s social support; providing high culture technologies of social protection, social service, population’s social support, inhabitants’ well-being, and also their physical, psychical and social health; personal participation in mediatory, socio-preventive and consulting activity, organization of harmonious business communication between co-workers and clients on the subject of social adaptation, habilitation, rehabilitation, independent ( at technological progress level) and creative realization, searching the best way of giving social help and service to individuals or social groups.

After analyzing socio-cultural development of the last 10 years (L.I. Starovoytova, V.A.Slastyonin, N.B.Shmelyova) we arrived at a conclusion that a professional social worker must express all the qualities described in the Standard for young offenders’ socio-pedagogical rehabilitation [1].

As preparedness of a future social worker for young offenders’ complex socio-pedagogical rehabilitation in the condition of a penitentiary institution we understand the professionally-personality new formation of a specialist expressed in special focus on problem teenagers’ social support and reflecting the unity of theoretical and practical readiness that may be shown in integrated ability realizing a pedagogical project of problem teenagers’ rehabilitation.

III. The results. First of all it is necessary for us to give the characteristic of main professional functions of a social worker in the conditions of penitentiary institutions. The functional side of social worker’s activity reflects the main directions of his work. Being guided by N.A.Golovan’s, W.V.Kyzmina’s, S.E.Semenak’s, V.A.Slastyonin’s, V.A.Sitarov’s, V.V.Teterskiy’s and A.I.Sherbakov’s researches we have marked out some main functions of a social worker which is ready for cooperation with young offenders: a) diagnostic (diagnostication of the situation of young offender’s rehabilitation); b) valuation (evaluation the degree of effectiveness of the various forms of rehabilitation in the conditions of a penitentiary institution); c) designing ( projecting the ways , methods, and means of rehabilitation of teenagers with different types of deviant behavior in the conditions of a penitentiary institution); d) executive ( realization of a pedagogical project of young offender’s rehabilitation in the conditions of a penitentiary institution).

The analysis of the following scientists’ points of view (O.A.Abdylina, K.I.Dyrajnovakova, N.V.Kyzmina, V.A.Slastyonin, A.I.Sherbakov and others) let us make a conclusion that the quality of specialist’s preparedness for the professional activity generally depends on the type of his training. Both professional socio-pedagogical practice and practice in social workers’ training in the system of higher education are just being developed in our country. The most serious defect in the process of future social workers’ training at the university is a gap between theoretical and practical parts of education. Qualitative theoretical psycho-pedagogical preparedness of seniors isn’t supported with experience in organic supervisions, readiness for quick and skilled professional reactions.

T.D.Molodzova notes “Seniors leave the university theoretically and psychologically prepared but often practically helpless. As a rule during two or three years after graduating from the university they work out such skills out of control often making mistakes, following the wrong way of prohibitions, authoritarianism, categoricity, tactlessness and alienation” (T.D.Molodzova, 2005). Besides, while gaining experience a young specialist sometimes forgets theoretical bases that causes the impression of separating theory from practice. The theory works with models, schemes and generalizations that are mediately updated in certain socio-pedagogical situations. It is possible to find perspectives for decision of certain tasks when a specialist is able to conceptualize an observed situation, join it with a scheme, combination of schemes or to work out a new scheme. However, the most of present courses are based on systems of education that were created centuries ago. According to many specialists’ opinion (L.I.Starovoytova, N.B.Shmelyova and others) the main idea of the training for a profession is forming of preparedness for it. Most of scientists consider preparedness for professional activity not only to be the main idea of the training but also as a result which is expressed in gaining knowledge, abilities, elementary professional experience.

The personal side of a future social worker’s activity identifies personally-professional qualities. Being guided by M.P.Gurjanov’s and R.V.Ovcharova’s researches we sort out the following qualities of a social worker who is oriented to cooperation with young offenders: humanity, empathy, sensitiveness, confidence in own forces, emotional stability, sociability, tactfulness, benevolence, authenticity and openness.

IV. The conclusions. The analysis of difficulties in social workers’ activity that are connected with making friendly relationships with young offenders, lack of knowledge, abilities to understand the reasons of aggression and its elimination in a teenager’s behavior let us raise the following question – how to form professional preparedness of students to work with such a category of children. This problem of finding the ways of effective work with young offenders should be settled by practical realization in the theory and practice of higher education.

In a basis of this problem’s research we offer an integrated approach for creation of a system of important professional knowledge, skills, motivation and personality qualities of future social workers. We define a social worker’s preparedness for young offenders’ rehabilitation by presence of appropriate needs and personality qualities; by good knowledge of theory and methods of young offenders’ complex socio-pedagogical rehabilitation; by abilities and skills for young offenders’ rehabilitation.

During our research we have found the following constructs of preparedness: motivational and personality, cognitive, practical, that show the professional preparedness for pedagogical activity under consideration.

Motivational and personality component is characterized by wish to understand the technology of cooperation with young offenders, by being interested in this activity, by personality qualities of a social worker, by main style of pedagogical communication, by ways of self-regulation of a specialist’s behavior.

The cognitive component includes knowledge content of young offenders’ complex socio-pedagogical rehabilitation.

The practical component assumes that students should have organizational, diagnostic and rehabilitational skills that help to eliminate successfully the first deviations in teenagers’ behavior.

The main components of a future social worker’s professional preparedness for young offenders’ rehabilitation are connected and interdependent. On the ground of mentioned criteria during our research we have defined the levels of the students` preparedness: high, average and low one.

At the same time a social worker of penitentiary system should have qualities, knowledge and skills that are typical for all the representatives of this profession and that are stated in the State Educational Standard of higher education. Along with this fact a social worker who works in penitentiary institutions can realize above-mentioned tasks only if he has a number of specific knowledge, abilities, skills and other characteristics conditioned with professional peculiarities. Among them we mark out three groups: generally professional, special and specialized.

Thus, on the ground of foregoing information we understand preparedness of a future social worker for young offenders’ rehabilitation in the conditions of a penitentiary institution as a professionally-personal formation of a specialist that is expressed in target orientation on socio-pedagogical support of problem teenagers and reflects the unity of theoretical and practical preparedness that becomes apparent in integrated skill to realize a pedagogical project of young offenders’ rehabilitation in the conditions of a penitentiary institution.

Literature:

1. Starovoytova L.I. Professionalization as a necessary reason for students of getting technological competence of social work. / L.I.Starovoytova// Pedagogical education and science.-№5.-2008.-p.4-7.