Special Educational Needs, Social Risk And Self-Concept: A Proposal For Socio-Educational Intervention

Abstract

Students with Special Educational Needs and those from families with social risk are more likely to develop problems in their personal adjustment, so that it is thus necessary to outline educational strategies promoting self-concept. The aim of this study is to understand the influence of sociodemographic and occupational variables in the development of self-concept in students with neurodevelopmental (Special Educational Needs - SEN) and social risk, in order to outline actions, which will promote their personal and social adjustment. This is an exploratory, cross-sectional study, using a non-random, convenience sample for this purpose, comprised of 124 pupils with developmental (SEN) and social risk, aged between 13 and 17 years of age. The data collection instruments were as follows: a sociodemographic questionnaire and Adolescents’ Self-concept Short Scale (ASCSS) by Veiga and Leite ( 2016 ). This instrument consists of six subscales that assess specific aspects of self: Anxiety, Physical Appearance, Behaviour, Popularity, Happiness, Intellectual Status. The results show that there are statistically significant differences in self-concept, depending on the type of risk, gender and participation in free time activities; however, no differences were found as a function of age. The results show promising lines of analysis, and as our aim was to outline socio-educational actions, which promote the self-concept of students with developmental (SEN) and social risk in their lives (family, school and community), thereby enhancing better personal adjusted and well-being.

Keywords: Special Educational Needssocial riskself-conceptintervention

Introduction

Self-concept plays a central role in the psychosocial adjustment process and participation in the social lives (school, family and community) of children and adolescents at risk due to neurodevelopmental disorders and adverse social and family situations.

Currently, there is a broad consensus in the scientific community about the importance of the construct for development and its relationship with other internal and environmental factors (Piers & Herzberg, 2002; Veiga & Leite, 2016).

Problem Statement

Students with Special Educational Needs (neurodevelopmental disorders) and those from families at social risk are more likely to develop problems in their personal adjustment, so that it is necessary to outline educational strategies which promote self-concept.

Research Questions

We posed the following research questions: What are the perceptions of self-concept in two risk groups, developmental (SEN) and social disadvantage, and to what extent do they vary according to gender, age and free time activities? What implications arise from the results, in order to outline strategies which promote self-concept?

Purpose of the Study

Our aim is to understand the influence of sociodemographic and occupational variables in the development of self-concept in students with neurodevelopmental (Special Educational Needs – SEN) and social risk, in order to outline development actions to promote students personal and social adjustment.

Research Methods

It is an exploratory and cross-sectional study.

Findings

In terms of internal consistency, the Cronbach’s Alpha values are acceptable to good, and were found to be close to the studies by the authors of the ASCSS scale (Veiga & Leite 2016), as can be seen in Table 2 . Specifically in the total scale (30 items) the alpha was the same α=.87; in the subscales, the highest was for Happiness (α=.85), followed by Behaviour (α=.80), Physical Appearance (α=.72), Intellectual Status (α=.71), Popularity (α=.70) and with the lowest alpha, Anxiety (α=.63). In the studies by Veiga and Leitão (2016), the subscale with the highest alpha was Physical Appearance (α=.79) and the lowest was for Intellectual Status (α=.70).

We performed inferential analyses using parametric tests. Regarding the effect of the type of risk on self-concept, as shown in Table 3 , we find there are significant differences between students with SEN and those with social risk in the following subscales: Behaviour [t(122)=2.039, p=.044] and Happiness [t(122)=3.525, p=.001], with the SEN means higher, respectively, M=21.30 (6.05 SD) and M=24.98 (4.33 SD) compared to the scores of students who are at social risk, with lower means: M=19.19 (5.43 SD) and M=21.13 (7.06 SD). As for the total value of the scale, the SEN group showed a higher self-concept (M=127.30, 19.62 SD) than the other group (M=122.21, 24.01 SD), although not statistically significant. We should also emphasize the higher values for Anxiety for the social risk group (M=17.84, 5.56 SD), compared to students with SEN (M=16.06, 4.90 SD).

These results are in line with previous studies regarding the influence of the type of problems children and adolescents have regarding their self-concept (Wei & Marder, 2011). Moreover, situations of social risk, which generate increased anxiety, may have an adverse effect on self-concept. This is consistent with results reported by Wilson & Rapee (2006).

As regards the self-concept (ASCSS) and subscale results by gender, as shown in Table 4 , there are statistically significant differences for the following subscales: Anxiety [t(122)= 5.076, p=.000], Popularity [t(122)= 1.984, p=.049], Happiness [t(122)= 2.695, p=.008], and the total ASCSS scale [t(122)= 2.710, p=.008], with boys presenting higher means, respectively, (M=19.47, 5.09 SD), (M=24.05, 5.93 SD), (M=24.42, 5.60 SD) and the total ASCSS scale (M=130.16, 21.82 SD) compared to girls (M=15.01, 4.67 SD), (M=22.06, 5.24 SD), (M= 21.43, 6.58 SD) and the total ASCSS scale (M=119.55, 21.62 SD).

The research is not consistent with regard to gender effects, but some studies have reported differences in self-concept (Wei & Marder, 2011). The group of girls has a lower self-concept, which makes them more vulnerable to negative situations. These results show some similarity with other research reported in the literature (Shields et al., 2006).

No differences were found in the partial and overall values for self-concept in the age categories ≤ 14 years and > 14 for the total ASCSS [t(122)= -.052, p=.958] as well as the subscales Anxiety [t(122)= 1.349, p=.180], Physical Appearance [t(122)= -.564, p=.574], Behaviour [t(122)= -.790, p=.431], Popularity [t(122)=.111, p=.912], Happiness [t(122)=.199, p=.843] and Intellectual Status [t(122)= -.543, p=.588]

As for the effect of participating in free time on self-concept, as shown in Table 5 , we found significant differences between the those who participate in these and those who do not for the total self-concept ASCSS scale [t(122)= -3.876, p=.000] and most subscales: Anxiety [[t(122)= -2.444, p=.016], Physical Appearance [t(122)= -2.719, p=.008], Popularity [t(122)= -3.187, p=.002], Happiness [t(122)= -2.485, p=.014] and Intellectual Status [t(122)= -2.753, p=.007], with the exception of the Behaviour subscale [t(122)=-1.589, p=.115]. We noted higher means for young people participating in leisure and free time activities, especially for the total scale (M=132.14, 8.94 SD), as opposed to the scores of young people who were not involved in leisure activities (M=117.43, 22.88 SD).

These data are consistent with most research in the area, where the positive effect of participation in free time activities and recreation is mentioned as improving personal and social skills, health and well-being (Caldwell & Gilbert, 1990; King et al., 2003; Simeonsson et al., 2001).

Conclusion

Considering the objectives of this study, the results lead us to implications for research and socio-educational intervention.

As the literature emphasizes, self-concept is a central factor in children and adolescents’ evaluation processes (Dunn et al., 2007) because it works as a powerful protector of adverse, individual social and family conditions, Educational and therapeutic actions and programmes enable its development. Thus, technicians and educators can help adolescents improve their thoughts, deconstruct personal beliefs and negative feelings about themselves and thereby prevent emotional and behavioural difficulties in the future (Kenny & McEachern, 2009; Polack et al., 2012).

In this regard, we stress the increased vulnerability of adolescents from social risk environments with negative life stories, with profound implications for personal and relational development, as described in the literature (Rutter, 1987; Sameroff, 2010; Sameroff & Seifer, 1990; Werner & Smith, 1982). Therefore, we understand the poor results in self-concept that the adolescents in this study revealed, especially in the Behaviour and Happiness dimensions. Whatever actions are to be developed will have to be mainly in the behavioural area and in the management of feelings and emotions.

Gender differences were also found in this study, with the girls showing greater vulnerability, as their scores were lower than those of the boys for overall self-concept and the Anxiety, Popularity and Happiness dimensions. These data give us information on the need to intervene in this specific group, in order to prevent additional difficulties and enhance their personal adjustment.

With regard to participation in recreational and free time activities, the results are in line with other studies (Caldwell & Gilbert, 1990; King et al., 2003), which accentuate the powerful effect of this variable in the development of personal and relational skills, and in particular in self-concept. Efforts should therefore be made in this area with the design of formal and informal programmes and socio-educational activities, both individually and in groups, to encourage the participation of adolescents in these enriching activities.

As mentioned above, self-concept is an important aspect to take into account in assessment and intervention and should be explored in relations with technicians, teachers and parents or other caregivers, in order to demystify conceptions, often erroneous ones, of self-concepts which are normally low in these populations. It is important to clarify and involve caregivers in adolescents’ personal (re)structuring processes, encouraging participation in life (Dunn et al., 2007).

Despite the contribution of this study to improving understanding of the functioning of the self-concept in adolescents at risk, this issue requires more research, in particular with different types of disability, with longitudinal methodologies and broader samples.

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the Centre for Studies in Education, Technologies and Health (CI&DETS) of the Viseu Polytechnic Institute, Portugal.

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