The presenter will introduce the characteristics and social-behavioral challenges associated with autism and their incompatibilities with the nature of and types of activities in faith based-communities and congregational activities. The presenter will then discuss various programs, training models, and interventions that are used by various faiths in their worship. He will stimulate discussion on best-practices and research-based interventions in an effort to include individuals with autism and their families in congregational activities.

Paauglių delinkventinė elgsena – svarbi socialinė problema šių dienų visuomenėje. Tikslingai veikianti tikinčiųjų bendruomenė gali tapti vienu iš efektyvių tokios elgsenos prevencijos šaltinių. Šio darbo tikslas - teoriškai ir empiriškai išanalizuoti paauglių delinkventinės elgsenos prevencijos vykdymo galimybes tikinčiųjų bendruomenės kontekste. Tyrimas parodė, kad paaugliams skirtos tikinčiųjų bendruomenės veiklos iliustruoja delinkventinės elgsenos prevencijos principus, taip pat buvo atskleista, kad ypatingai didelis vaidmuo tikinčiųjų bendruomenei tenka vykdant pirminę ir antrinę delinkventinės elgsenos prevenciją. / Delinquent behaviour of adolescents is an important social problem in a modern society. A religious community acting persistently may become one of effective sources of prevention of such behaviour.The conclusion is, that the social role of a religious community is based on the history of the church, while a modern religious community unites believers belonging to organization based on various religions who use different forms to solve problems of people feeling social exclusion, among them – adolescents of delinquency risk. Manifestations of delinquency arise from biological, psychological, social and pedagogical, social and economical and ethical and moral reasons that (except for biological reasons) may be effectively influenced and eliminated by activities carried out in a religious community, therefore primary, secondary and tertiary prevention possibilities get expressed here. The study showed that activities of religious communities meant for adolescent’s illustrate principles of prevention of delinquent behaviour, it has also revealed that a religious community plays especially significant role in primary and secondary prevention of delinquent behaviour.

This is a case study of the restructuring of the Jewish community schools in Johannesburg, South Africa. The purpose of this research is to explain why, how and with what impact, economic and ideological forces shaped the restructuring of the Jewish community schools. This is explored by drawing out the views of the different stakeholders as well as the meanings that they attached to the change and by recalling their experiences and understandings vis-à-vis the restructuring process. This study investigates what was considered to be the “first stage” of restructuring – a stage that aimed at ejecting the past, establishing new management and designing a blueprint for the future. The study follows the process as it evolved from April 2001 when a CEO was contracted to manage the schools until March 2003 with the 27th National Conference of the South African Board of Jewish Education, at which the changes were endorsed and constitutionalised. The study suggests that the restructuring evolved through the interaction and convergence of two globalised forces: one force pulled the schools towards marketisation and managerialism; and the other force pushed the schools towards the intensification of their religious identity. The study explores the impact of these two sets of dynamics as they came together in the context of a faith-based community school, and the contradictory forces that were set in motion. The main argument is that the synergy created between new managerialism and religious extremism, in a transitional and unstable context, undermined the fragile democracy of the faith-based community schools and caused them to change, thus shifting them towards ghettoisation, exclusion and autocracy. The study identifies and explains the global, national, local and institutional conditions and realities that enabled and constrained this process. This qualitative case study relies on insider accounts of the process of change and contestation, and raises important methodological and ethical questions around the difficulties of researching one’s own community and colleagues. / Thesis (PhD (Education Management and Policy Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted