Individuals with mental development disorders show an entire spectrum of behavioral and cognitive characteristics. Although they can learn social skills in the time of adolescence, their development (and learning) is slower than in neurotypical individuals. Russel and Harris (1993, in Duperouzel, 2008) state that professionals employed in the services of educating individuals with mental development disorders encounter physical aggression out of all forms of aggression most often. The former is treated inappropriately too often indicating the importance of the comprehensive training of professionals who interact with individuals with mental development disorders daily and often respond aggressively. The consequences of aggressive behaviour of an individual with mental development disorders do not only affect him (social exclusion, stigmatization, the use of restrictive measures, and medicamentation, etc.) but are also evident on the level of the organization in which the individual is involved. Injuries resulting from aggressive behaviour can lead to sick leave, high compensation claims, loss of staff, and, consequently, the search for new, properly trained staff who need to be trained, and so on.
The research in our master's thesis examines the influence of aggression on the occurrence of burnout in professionals and how it affects their work. We were also interested in what signs of stress and burnout are observed by professionals due to exposure to aggressive behaviour (and whether these observations differ concerning the working position or the years of service). We were determining whether there were differences between individual working positions in the frequency of exposure to aggressive behaviour, the use of strategies, the sense of competence, and the average number of signs of burnout and stress. We further examined whether there were differences in the average number of signs of burnout and stress concerning the years of service. The research was carried out using the descriptive and causal-non-experimental method of empirical pedagogical research. The sample included 114 people, the professionals employed at the Labor and Care Training Center of different occupational profiles and different years of service.
We ascertained that the employees are often exposed to aggressive behaviour similarly, regardless of the working position. We did not ascertain any statistically significant differences when comparing the average years of service and the signs of burnout and stress, and the feelings of competence and fear. Professionals (regardless of the working position) mostly use similar strategies in responding to aggressive behaviour. There were statistically significant differences in the comparison between individual working positions and the use of strategies "the individual must leave the room" and "I punish the individual for the aggressive behavior". Statistical significance was also shown in the comparison between the years of service and the average number of the strategies used.
Based on the research, we highlighted the influence which the aggressive behavior of individuals with moderate mental development disorders has on them and also on the employees and the organization. We also provided the instructions for which we believe would be necessary to deal more effectively with such a complex problem as the aggression of individuals with moderate mental development disorders is. Thus, we improved the quality of working life of the Labor and Care Training Center employees.
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