Self-Concept Education: An Ethnography of a Residential School and Treatment Center for Emotionally Distrubed and Delinquent Adolescents
Self-Concept Education: An Ethnography of a Residential School and Treatment Center for Emotionally Distrubed and Delinquent Adolescents
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Date
1983
Authors
Witmer, Kenneth Diller
Advisor
Huden, Daniel P.
Citation
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Abstract
The premise that a person's view of himself greatly
influences the way he behaves is of particular significance
to those operating therapeutic and rehabilitative programs
for emotionally disturbed and delinquent adolescents, as it
suggests that in order to change and control certain behaviors
of the adolescent, some aspects of his self- concept
will have to be altered.
The purpose of this study, as developed in the research
setting, was to investigate those components of an
ongoing rehabilitation program which focused on influencing
the student's self-concepts. Particular emphasis was placed
on describing and analyzing the educational mechanisms and
constructs involved in the process of teaching emotionally
disturbed females to gain awareness and control of their
feelings toward themselves, their behavior, and, ultimately,
their lives. The program studied was in operation at Glaydin
School, a coeducational residential school and treatment
center for students between the ages of 13 and 18 of mixed
socioeconomic backgrounds who needed help with social and
emotional problems. Glaydin's program was designed to offer
student s appropriate educational training in conjunction with
necessary therapeutic treatment.
The research employed an ethnographic methodology
which produced the descriptive materials and evidence needed
for the resulting qualitative analysis of the self-concept
education components of the program. The researcher entered
18 months of field observation work as a complete participant
(researcher involved with interaction, observer status unknown)
and completed the data collecting as a complete observer ( researcher not directly involved in interaction,
observer status known). An extensive recording system based
on the field methods of Schatzman and Strauss (1973) was designed
to note and organize information gathered in the field.
The resulting self-concept education model reflects the 2,752
data entries collected during observations and interviews in
the research setting, a review of related studies, and the
personal experience and prejudices of the researcher. Four
categories emerged during the analysis that became the basic
components of the theoretical model. These components were
stated in instructional terms as follows; students were taught
to confront and control their behavior, recognize and control
their feelings, examine their self-concept objectivity, and
build strategies that would facilitate an improved self-concept.