The book addresses the issue of personal and social resources of adolescents placed in youth educational centres and examines their relationship with mental well-being. The author discusses the significance of psychosocial resources in human life and highlights their rehabilitative potential. She also points out the futility of situations in which the secondary socialization of adolescents takes place in isolation from external, natural living environments. Drawing on the relevant literature, she demonstrates the detrimental impact of institutional isolation on the mental health of adolescents. Based on this and on the results of her own research, she presents new solutions for working with young people placed in correctional and educational institutions. She proposes directions for change focused on fostering mental well-being and recommends appropriate programs that have been successfully implemented in many countries around the world.

The publication is intended for both theorists and practitioners. It will be particularly useful for students of pedagogy and social work, school counsellors, probation officers, as well as teaching and educational staff of correctional and rehabilitation institutions.  

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By drawing especially on the foundations of contemporary positive psychology and on rehabilitation pedagogy — in both its theoretical and practical dimensions — the author has designed a research project centred not on identifying the socialization deficits of delinquent youths, but on uncovering their psychosocial resources, which serve as the starting point for appropriate care, educational, and rehabilitative interventions. Thanks to this approach, the book represents a genuine novelty among the numerous works currently emerging in the field of rehabilitation pedagogy.
From the review by prof. dr hab. Wiesław Ambrozik