Risk and protective factors in the school environment. Case study of two former charges of social rehabilitation centres

Abstract

The article discusses the issue of the risk and protective factors in the school environment of women who, during their adolescence, were formally controlled by the institutions of the system to prevent the demoralization of children and adolescents. The theoretical basis for the analyses was the concept of resilience. The main research problem is presented in the following question: What (risk and protective) factors occur in individual experiences of women – former charges of social rehabilitation centres. The study used the method of individual cases, while the technique of obtaining data was an autobiographical narrative interview. Based on the analysis of the obtained material, risk and protective factors in the school environment of narrators were listed. The configuration of these factors was reconstructed and their protective or risky value from the point of view of the development of the demoralization process was estimated. The most important conclusion is that the same factors (close relationship with a teacher, inadequate education) constituted a different value in the narrators' lives. The studies also showed the processual nature of the formation of the cumulative risk in the school environment. The conclusions confirm the importance of a case-by-case approach in assessing the value on individual (protective and risk) factors.