The purpose of this research was to compare the hierarchy of values among high school students, according to type of school (religious and secular) and sex. The sample was composed by 250 high school students (60.4% male, 52% religious school). The ages are in the range of 14 to 17 years (M = 15.47, SD = 0.63). The instrument used was the Portrait Value Questionnaire by Schwartz (2001), whose analysis of structure and internal consistency was satisfactory. To compare the hierarchy of values between the groups, top down correlations (rtd >) were used. According to the results, greater association (similarity) was found between the hierarchy of values depending on the type of school (rtd = .82) and, to a lesser degree by sex (rtd = .69). The comparative results show greater Benevolence, Self-Direction, Stimulation among women and Achievement among men. The implications of the comparative results are discussed.

This thesis deals with the value orientation and life plans of children and adolescents who are placed into young offenders' institutions because of their behavioural disorders. The theoretical part elucidates basic conceptions related to values and value orientations. It applies to individual development, family issues and education, behavioural disorders and refers to the difficulty of education and re-education in school facilities for the practice of institutional and protective education. The empirical part is a combination of a quantitative and a qualitative research. The questionnaire survey was used to determine the value orientation, life goals, preferred leisure activities, some attitudes and information about clients from the young offenders' institutions. The questionnaires were handed over to respondents from the six children's homes with school and young offenders' institutions. The established values hierarchy and life goals were compared with the results of a similar research. The unstructured interviews with children ending the compulsory education were mainly focused on the choice of study and career orientation. The research was supplemented with a case study for illustration and introduction to the issue. Key words values, value orientation, hierarchy of values, family,...