Date of Award

1996

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Leadership Studies

Abstract

My time at School X taught me the value of my freedom and the importance of my education. Given, I have never been a good student but after this experience i do wish to continue my academic pursuits. The institution itself is structured like a prison but with the interest of habilitating the inhabitants. The days are very regimented with a emphasis on group work. There is very little time for the juveniles to be by themselves unless it is in their rooms to sleep or being placed in solitary for some type of punishment. There are valiant attempts made by the staff to try to help these juveniles make sense of their lives and give them a chance to become productive citizens. The institution puts a high value on the education of its "students", however, I feel that the actual habilitation is somewhat lacking. The problem of over crowding has led to their counselors having too many case loads to work with. So the daily individual counseling sessions which each student has is very limiting. These kids' social and emotional needs are not being met and to me that is one of the major reasons and emotional needs are not being met and to me that is one of the major reasons that they are admitted into the institution. These juveniles may leave the center with a better education but the other vital needs are not being attended to that make us humans. The center tries to combat that in my opinion by having visiting hours on every Sunday. The families of the students get to spend most of the afternoon with their sons or friends. This time is highly valued by every student at the school, unfortunately bad behavior can lead to a restriction of time and even loss of visiting privileges. That kind of action been though it may be warranted can be extremely detrimental in terms of establishing a good relationship with the students. It might aid in creating opposition and resentment of the institutional goals and values.

I believe the learning center has made great strides in the development of a truly effective habilitation program. Like every government sanctioned and funded project however, it does have its glitches. This must be corrected in order for this program to take the steps it needs to achieve its goals. I for one, hope it succeeds for the sake of not only the juveniles it serves but also to teach a lesson to the world that it is habilation that makes a difference in diverting deviant behavior and not rehabilitation.

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