Original scientific paper
STRENGTHS OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH AT RISK ENTERING INTERVENTION SYSTEM: GENDER SPECIFICS
Ivana Maurović
; Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of the insufficiently explored strengths of children and youth at risk. Specific objectives
are to determine:(1) strength characteristics of male and female participants in different areas (2) differences between male
and female participants in frequency of strength areas, and (3) relationship patterns between strengths and risk areas for both, male
and female subsamples. The study was conducted on a sample of 510 male and 102 female participants, whose average age was 16
and who were newcomer in the intervention system for children and youth at risk due to behavior problems. Data were collected with
Croatian version of Youth Level of Services/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI), and analyzed trough quantitative and qualitative
methods. Both, male and female respondents have modest amount of assessed strengths in all areas.
Qualitative analysis showed a very similar description of the strengths of both male and female respondents, and the possible classification
of described strengths with respect to their level and type. According to the results of robust discriminative analysis, chi
squared test and quasi - canonical correlation analysis, female possess more strengths in the substance abuse area, whereas males
score higher in leisure domain. Furthermore, the strength of male respondents are associated with areas of risk, while female aren’t.
The results were discussed using one of the models of understanding the interaction of risk and protective factors. The paper also
considers some difficulties in strengths assessment that could have affected the results.
Keywords
children and youth at risk; strengths; risks; gender specific
Hrčak ID:
77208
URI
Publication date:
10.2.2012.
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