Paradox of School Discourse in Adolescents with Marginality Risk

Abstract

The purpose of this empirical research is to evaluate mental health risks, in a wide socio-cultural context, for specific groups of adolescents living in Georgia. The adolescents covered by the research were of pre- pubertal age. School discourse was analyzed using the narratives based on a specific stimulus material.

The research aimed to reveal similarities and differences in the contents reflected in school fears in the groups of adolescents with and without marginality risk, i.e. adolescent refugees, and adolescents in national minorities versus Georgian adolescents with a typical social-economic status.

During data processing fear and anxiety were considered as one of the important components of achievement motivation; accordingly, the indexes of fear and anxiety above and significantly below the norm were evaluated as the signs of maladjustment.

Find below the results of the given research:

1. Similarly to both target groups, the control group did not show high levels of fear or anxiety. Sub-normal indexes of fear and anxiety are interesting in terms of the deviation from the normative indexes, which can be related to the excessive tendency of spontaneity, supported by the culture.
2. Reactions of the control group and adolescents with marginality risk to the valid meanings of their mezzo system (educational process, teachers, peer group, family), show both similarities and differences. Emotional reactions that are similar in both groups represent sub-normal manifestations of the adolescents in the control group. This means, that  adolescents with marginality risk  are close to the authentic group of adolescents that are the bearers of Georgian culture (or try to overcome their marginality) in terms of non-optimal, non-adaptive manifestations of the given culture (subnormal index of social fear and its body manifestation).
3. The indexes of the emotional profile, which distinguish marginality risk groups from the control group, are of a particular character:

According to the data, the group of refugee adolescents shows the subnormal index of future oriented fear, which implies that this group is more confident about the future.

The group of national minorities tends to lower the self devaluation index. It also shows decreased indexes on the scale of emotional sensitivity, which indicates a deficit of insight into one’s own feelings as well as the feelings of other people.

1. A paradoxical character of the marginality risk groups’ emotional profiles, given the specificity of real problems facing these groups (indefinite and insecure near future for refugees and the need to adapt to a different local culture for ethnic minorities), indicates hyper compensatory character of their emotions and makes it possible to consider them as content characteristics in the evaluation of mental health risks.