Aims

- to sensitize the students to the meaning of severe and chronic aggressive behaviours in minors, analysed in a biopsychosocial perspective.
- to show that this relation with aggressivity concerns us all, and not only some "official delinquents"
- to describe the coaching of these juvenile delinquents, i.e. its declared and undeclared aims and its content.

Main themes

- From a psychological point of view: a) by referring to a model of development evolving towards social integration, to analyse according to which biopsychosocial factors and according to which processes the severe and/or chronic aggressive behaviours crystallize; b) on the background of these, are there some moments of typical structuration of the personality, in interaction with the functioning of the various socialisation environments; c) is it possible to correlate these momentary structurations of personality with various categories of aggressive behaviours?
- From an educational point of view: a) the educational factors likely to influence the 'choice' between pathological aggressiveness and socialisation; b) the appeal to educational measures to prevent or to cure an evolution towards pathological aggressiveness; c) the differences between a family education and an institution education; d) the appeal to foster families (foster or adoption), the relation of these with the family.
- From a scholar point of view : a) the learning problems appearing in these juveniles; b) the difficulties of psychosocial integration in the educational institutions; c) the answers to the pathological aggressive phenomenons likely to occur in schools.

Content and teaching methods

The course is a detailed thinking on the severe transgressions committed by minors. Some of these transgressions constitute violations to the penal code; others do not. But they are all worrying enough to strongly summon the parents and the persons responsible for the socio-judiciary teams: murder, sexual or physical aggressions, pyromania, thefts...
In the first part, discussion on the notion of transgression and its relations with the aggressive and sexual drives.
In the second part, discussion on the general principles of the psychotherapeutical, educational and socio-judiciary coaching of the juveniles having committed severe transgressions.
In the third part, study of some current functionings of the personalities, which, in inter-relation with their life system, lead these juveniles to commit severe transgressions. In this perspective, survey of : good mental health; immaturity; psychopathy; experience of exclusion; essential delinquency; nevrosis; perversity with or without sexual perversity.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Written examination with a case study (half of the points) and some questions on the lectures (half of the points).

Programmes in which this activity is taught

Other credits in programs