SUMMARY :
The program of entraînement à l’amour-propre (Manseau, Blais,
Brouillette and the Centre jeunesse de Laval, 2000) is intended for adolescents
housed in a Youth Centre (YC). The Youth Centres are mandated by the Ministère
de la Santé et des services sociaux to take into custody youth aged less
than eighteen years old whose security and development are compromised or who
have committed a criminal offence. In following with the mission of Quebec’s
Youth Centres, youth are sometimes placed in boarding institutions (closed treatment
environments) when conditions of specialized supervision are deemed necessary
for the youth to be socially reintegrated. Over the previous seven years, the
research program outlined in this article has concentrated specifically on the
troubled young women housed at a Montreal area YC.
This program appears to grant the participants a time of reflection, upon themselves,
their sexuality and the importance their current choices have for their future.
It is thus not surprising this form of sexological reflection is accompanied
by an improvement in psychosocial adjustment, namely in the area of professional
and educational aspirations. Therefore, the unexpected and beneficial impact
of sexological intervention on psychosocial factors appears important to explore
further. For too long have we invested in the belief that psychosocial interventions
act upon sexual equilibrium. Our results suggest instead that sexual rehabilitation
can have a positive effect on social integration.