In this master’s thesis, we examined the life of young people and explained the impact of individual factors of growing up, which may act as protective factors or risk factors in vulnerable young people. In relation to a vulnerable adolescent examined in a case study, the gender-, family-, school and peer-related factors had a negative impact on her life, as her emotional, behavioural and mental problems gradually exacerbated. This is mainly related to family dysfunctionality, poor performance at school, gender role, peers and later problems in terms of the adolescent’s functioning due to her burdensome past. In particular, the problems concern abuse or consequences of torture and neglect in her home environment and among her nuclear family members. Throughout years, the adolescent’s problems gradually led to different disorders and manifested themselves in several areas of life, to the extent where they started threatening her life. In her case, auto-aggressive behaviour with severe forms of self-injury and suicide attempts prevailed.
The main methodological approach used in this master’s thesis was an integration of qualitative and quantitative methodology, the aim of which was to exceed limits of only one approach. According to the data source, the qualitative or quantitative research approach was used in order to gain insight from different points of view. We tried to emphasise triangulation and address the research subject based on different types and sources of information on the one side and different fields and approaches on the other.
In the case study, we analysed sources of assistance provided to the adolescent (removing her from their family home, foster care, guardianship, placement into an educational institution) and forms of aberrant behaviour in relation to different factors of growing up. The qualitative analysis of secondary sources showed that the adolescent was removed from a harmful environment as early as in her childhood, first removed from her nuclear family and placed into a foster family, and was later admitted into an educational institution, where her aggressive outbursts were more or less successfully managed. A hypothesis test showed that her physical aggression was directed towards the employees mainly because they carried out surveillance (from safety reasons), set boundaries and considered a daily structure.
The adolescent underwent holistic treatment provided by a multidisciplinary expert team. Based on this, we can conclude that the multidisciplinary approach to working with the vulnerable population has positive effects. The qualitative analysis showed that prevention, early detection and appropriate action are key measures in case of family violence and essential for a child’s optimal psychosocial and mental development in their developmental period. The analysis of interviews conducted with professional workers showed that a social worker included into a multidisciplinary team is one of its important experts, as they have a crucial role in working with and providing support to families facing numerous challenges.
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