Substantiation of the "Horticultural therapy" method for the correction and prevention of deviant behavior

Abstract

The problems of correction and prevention of deviant behaviour are one of the main issues and challenges for modern society. Such deviant behaviour as aggression, drug addiction, crime, sexual deviation and other antisocial manifestations has a negative impact on various spheres of people's lives, including family, education, work and society as a whole. Various pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical approaches are examined to manage or reduce deviant behaviour. The purpose of this research, based on our own findings, as well as on a number of results of national and foreign experience, is to substantiate the possibility of wider application of "Horticultural therapy" as an interdisciplinary non-pharmacological method of correction and prevention of deviant behaviour. The authors based their research on the methods of interdisciplinary studies at the intersection of biology, botany, social sciences and psychology, as well as on the study of the experience of "Horticultural therapy" in more than 200 botanical gardens and their analogues in 32 countries of the world, the practice of application to children and adolescents requiring special methods of upbringing, as well as convicted persons detained in the institutions of the Federal Service for the Execution of Punishments. Research results and practical experience revealed that "Horticultural therapy" as a non-pharmacological method has a significant potential in working with persons with deviant behaviour. Its applicability is due to the fact that regular participation in special horticultural sessions contributes to the development of skills to overcome stress, cope with life challenges, strengthens self-regulation and self-control skills, develops patience, diligence and constancy. This enables participants to develop disciplined and responsible behaviour, communication skills and abilities to cooperate, skills of constructive social interaction. The possibility of applying "Horticultural therapy" for people with special causes of deviant behaviour, including participants and veterans of war, and members of their families, is substantiated. The authors make a conclusion about the perspectives and possibility of its use for adaptation and rehabilitation of this category of persons, who are assisted in finding positive and healthy ways to cope with post-traumatic and life challenges.