Volume 15, No. 3
|  | Summer 2012 |
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Georgian Youth Trade Troubled
Pasts For Promising Futures
 Rehabilitation classes included team building exercises that helped them practice patience and develop skills to become more adaptable to change. (Photo credit: Zaza Macharashvili/IOCC) |
They came together sharing a common thread ... 92 young men and women on probation for troubled pasts filled with anti-social behavior, petty crime and substance abuse. Left on their own, young men like Levan, 20, seemed destined for a life outside the law. When he was selected to participate in a new rehabilitation project offered by IOCC in partnership with the Anti-Drug Center of the Patriarchate of Georgia, Levan saw it as a waste of time. "In the beginning I did not expect anything good at all, I saw distrust and skepticism in almost every participant’s eyes. I could not tell what I was doing here."
Antisocial behavior among young people is one of the biggest problems facing Georgian society today. The IOCC project included at-risk juveniles as well as young probationers over 18 who were in more critical need of rehabilitation. During a month of intensive group counseling sessions with psychologists and a Georgian Orthodox priest, Levan and his fellow probationers learned new communication and coping skills needed to help transform their rebelliousness into constructive life skills. "I learned a lot here, and decided to become a successful man," said Levan. "I became more communicative, I saw that other probationers too are ordinary normal people. The rehabilitation really exceeded my expectations." For 23-year-old mom, Aleona, it inspired a new career path. "This training has really helped me. Now I want to become a psychologist myself."
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