The treatment of young people with multiple developmental disabilities and behavioural disorders

Abstract

One of the central questions within our modern social system is the reaction to the problems of developmental and behavioural disorders found in young people (children and youth) and their conflict with the law. This refers to the immediate actions aimed not only to change and amend their behaviour, but also on how to potentially harmonise their social environment. The association of behavioural disorders with significant difficulties in social functioning of young people and their frequent contact with other developmental disabilities and mental disorders, makes these activities more accepted, and from their point of view their success is significantly lower. On the other hand, it is evident there is a lack of serious scientific papers aimed at the promotion and development of programs tailored to the needs of this treatment, in many ways heterogeneous population of young people. Confusion among experts is increasingly apparent regarding the dilemma of how to help children and young people with multiple problems, whose families are not competent enough to take care of them, and at the same time ensure a safe environment for members of the local community. One of the possible solutions that one study has produced was a number of programs for children with multiple problems, especially intensive programs resulting in the treatment and institutionalisation of young delinquents. In question are the attempts to resolve the increasingly visible problem of treatment for the not criminally responsible children of young people with multiple behavioural disorders for which a classic institutional and non-institutional treatment has not yielded expected results. The main objective of our work is to stimulate interest in scientific circles for the proper positioning of the treatment of this population in our social system of social reaction to the developmental problems of children and youth.

Jedno od centralnih pitanja savremenog sistema društvenog reagovanja na probleme razvoja i poremećaja u ponašanju mladih (dece i omladine) i njihovog sukoba sa zakonom, odnosi se na neposredne aktivnosti (načine postupanja) usmerene ne samo na promenu njihovog ponašanja već i na to kako uskladiti i aktivirati potencijale užeg socijalnog okruženja. Povezanost poremećaja u ponašanju sa značajnim teškoćama u socijalnom funkcionisanju mladih i njihova česta veza sa ostalim razvojnim smetnjama i mentalnim poremećajima, čini ove aktivnosti još složenijim, a sa stanovišta njihove uspešnosti značajno nižim. Na drugoj strani vidljivo je odsustvo ozbiljnijih naučnih i stručnih radova usmerenih na promociju i razvoj programa prilagođenih potrebama tretmana ove, po mnogo čemu heterogene populacije mladih. Zbunjenost stručnjaka je sve vidljivija pred dilemom kako pomoći deci i mladima sa višestrukim problemima, čije porodice nisu kompetentne da o njima vode brigu, a u isto vreme osigurati bezbedno okruženje za članove lokalne zajednice. Jedno od mogućih rešenja koje je praksa iznedrila jesu raznorodni programi za decu sa kombinovanim smetnjama, a posebno programi intezivnog tretmana nastali u institucijama za tretman mladih prestupnika. U pitanju su pokušaji da se razreši sve vidljiviji problem tretmana krivično neodgovorne dece i mladih sa višestrukim poremećajima i smetnjama u ponašanju za koje klasičan institucionalni i vaninstitucionalni tretman nije dao očekivane rezultate. Osnovni cilj našeg rada jeste podsticanje interesovanja naučne i stručne javnosti za adekvatno pozicioniranje tretmana ove populacije u sistemu društvenog reagovanja na razvojne probleme dece i mladih.