FUNCTIONING YOUTH EDUCATIONAL CENTERS IN THE TIME OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The presented article analyzes the functioning of youth educational centers during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on our own research. This topic is extremely important because youth educational centers are currently the social rehabilitation facilities where most minors stay on the basis of a court decision. The research was intended to answer the research problem posed in the form of a complementary question: How did youth educational centers function during the COVID-19 pandemic? The research procedure took the form of exploratory research, therefore the initial assumption in the form of a hypothesis was abandoned. The research was carried out using a quantitative-qualitative strategy, hence pragmatism was chosen as the leading paradigm. The quantitative method was a diagnostic survey, carried out using an online survey technique, sent using a questionnaire acting as a research tool. The second part of the research, of a qualitative nature, was carried out using the qualitative content analysis method, for which an original tool was constructed. The research showed that youth educational centers had certain problems related to their functioning during the coronavirus pandemic. The areas in which certain irregularities were noticed concerned primarily the infrastructure of the facilities, the behavior of the pupils, and the work of the staff.