Each individual incident needs to be
viewed both as unique and as a part of the youth's growing process.
Regardless of any
internal driving force, each situation is real, unique and immediate
for the youth. One youth that had often been disruptive and
disrespectful during programs was given charge of a particular
program. She became very upset – ran off crying and hid under a
kitchen cabinet – when the other youths did not cooperate with her.
Yes, the situation could been explained in terms of social pressure
and her underdeveloped sense of perspective, but at the moment she
was hurt and the only proper way of handling it was by consoling and
empathizing with her. That was not the time to teach her a lesson or
explain how I felt when she was disruptive.
Developmental
Psychology is useful in understanding the feelings and actions of
young people, but should not be used to as a means of “psyching
out” or manipulating them.
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