Cooperation Between Educators and Parents of Minors in Yuvenile Detention Centers

<ns3:p>The aim of the research presented in the article was to identify the features of cooperation between educators and parents of minors staying in juvenile detention centers. The research was conducted in 2023 using the method of structured interviews, which involved 7 educators from seven centers and 7 parents. The obtained results indicate that the educators more often organize contacts with parents in a professional management model than in a family-centric model. There is too much distance, distrust and blame in this relationship and too little acceptance, understanding and readiness to introduce changes. Mutual expectations regarding the scope of cooperation, responsibility and methods of agreeing and achieving educational goals are also contradictory. This means that the most common form of contact is telephone conversations, which more often concern on formal and organizational issues than psychological and pedagogical ones. Educators very rarely treat parents as partners in the upbringing process, while parents do not want to be only an extension of control exercised over children in the center.The results obtained are consistent with reports from other studies and confirm the need to improve cooperation with parents. Therefore, minors should be sent to centers as close to their place of residence as possible. Cooperation should be reorganized according to the assumptions of the family-centric model, which better takes into account the needs, deficits and resources of the family in overcoming crisis situations. When making changes, it is beneficial to conduct further research, which can provide knowledge about the factors determining its effectiveness.</ns3:p>