Specificity of psychological defensemechanisms and copying strategies of deviant teenagers
The identification of the adaptive resources of the personality is one of the most significant problems of psychology. This problem is particularly relevant in teenagers with deviant behavior.The problem of social norms and deviations from these norms causes undoubted interest both among philosophers and sociologists, and among educators and psychologists.The multidimensionality of this problem determines the diversity of its research areas. However, the question of the genesis of deformations in the system of social relations of an individual, despite numerous studies, is still open.The article shows: in the formation of behavioral deviations in adolescents as a leader-determined phenomenon, historical, social, psychological, and individual personality factors are also involved.Increased sensitivity and emotional lability make teenagers helpless in front of life's difficulties. Inability to make independent choices, lack of skills of responsible taking decisions is a source of deviant behavior.Authors submitted: the research of unconscious defense mechanisms that neutralize anxiety and reconcile the individual with reality in frustrating situations, and consciously selected coping strategies aimed at transforming the situation, can contribute to the formation of adaptive behavior skills.The scientific novelty of the study is to determine the specifics of psychological defense mechanisms and coping strategies of deviant teenagers.Purpose: to study the defense and coping behavior of deviant teenagers. Psychodiagnostic methods were used: “Coping behavior in stressful situations” (S. Norman, D.F. Endler, D.A. James, M.I. Parker), a questionnaire of psychological defenses by R. Plutchik, G. Kellerman, H.R. Conte, copy test R. Lazarus; descriptive statistics, comparative analysis (Mann-Whitney U-test).The results obtained allowed us to state:· most deviants are characterized by the use of non-adaptive copings;· revealed a greater number of ontogenetically early and most primitive psychological defenses;· the dominant mechanisms of psychological defense and coping strategies significantly differ among deviant and non-deviant teenagers.