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Treatment classes (legislated in Section 27 of the Education Act; see Government of Ontario, 1991) provide for the special management of children and adolescents whose maladaptive behaviors cannot be controlled at home or in community schools. These youths, who have been placed in residential treatment or correctional facilities, require extensive counseling for deeply rooted emotional and behavioral problems. Treatment classes address the special educational needs of this troubled population by creating a safe learning environment, by tailoring lessons specifically to each student's ability and grade level, by helping students develop effective study habits, and by teaching interpersonal, vocational and life skills.

The needs of youths referred to a treatment class cannot be met even in a special education class due to a variety of problems, ranging from impulsive and aggressive behavior to depression and withdrawal. These youths have difficulty forming and maintaining satisfactory interpersonal relationships, which leaves them anxious. Rivers (1977) states that acting out is the typical way in which the emotionally disturbed youth relieves inner tension ...

The treatment class brings together mental health professionals and educators to provide for the socioemotional needs of disturbed youths. Staff must coordinate the different methodologies, strategies, and priorities of these two disciplines. Underlying this task is the belief that emotionally disturbed youths require intensive and prolonged intervention, tighter structure, and a simplified or basic curriculum. Thus, treatment is a resocialization process — a necessary precondition for these youths to benefit from instruction and, eventually, to return to the mainstream of family and community ...

The critical difference between a treatment class and a regular classroom is that the former has a higher tolerance for acting out and other disruptive behaviors. This is because mental health professionals, such as social workers, psychologists, and youth workers, are available to deal with some very troubled and needy adolescents. Youth workers also provide immediate support in crises, links to community services, advice to parents concerning child-rearing practices, and feedback to the teacher, who is not trained to deal with the host of problems mentally disturbed youths face (Kauffman, 1977).

Change can be difficult and confusing for youngsters with learning difficulties and emotional problems. Thus, it is vital for staff to maintain consistent expectations. Treatment classes offer tighter structure, which is imposed by the youth workers. Yet, in this milieu, there is an emphasis on dialogue; each youth is encouraged to develop a personal relationship with staff by talking about inner conflicts. Sensitivity to feelings and the emotional trust that ensues makes educational success more likely.

Emotionally disturbed youths are ready for community re-entry when their acting out of negative emotions has diminished significantly or ceased altogether, and their method of communicating is less hostile and defensive (Efran, Lukens, & Lukens, 1990). Behaviorally, they are neither aggressive nor withdrawn. They consistently demonstrate that they have substituted socially appropriate ways of dealing with stress and achieving goals.

The resocialization of the emotionally disturbed youth is achieved with integration into the community (i.e., regular school or work). It is hoped that the youth will successfully adapt to the demands of society, but also that society (e.g., the regular school system) will become more responsive to the needs of the individual. As Gunderson (1973) states, it is the failure to reintegrate emotionally disturbed adolescents that has created so many problems, not only for these youths and their families, but also for society.

DON PAZARATZ
Pazaratz, D. (1998). The counseling role of the child and youth worker in a treatment classroom. Adolescence. Winter 1998.