SOCIAL COMPETENCE AND ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN BLIND AND SIGHTED STUDENTS/SOCIJALNA KOMPETENCIJA I ANTISOCIJALNO PONASANJE SLIJEPIH UCENIKA I UCENIKA TIPICNOG RAZVOJA

Social competence is the ability to achieve personal goals while maintaining positive relationships with others. In people with visual impairments, social competence is important for developing a positive self-concept, higher self- esteem, more assertive behaviour and acceptance of one's own impairment. The aim of this research was to examine social competence, anti-social behaviour and their relationship in blind students (N=30) and sighted students (N=30), as well as relationships of these factors with student gender and age. Students were 12-17 years old. The assessment of social competence and anti- social behaviour was carried out using a scale for the assessment of social behaviour at school, namely the School Social Behaviour Scales (Merrell, 2002). The results showed greater social competence among sighted students, while expression of anti- social behaviour was similar in the two groups. In both groups of students, girls showed greater social competence and exhibited less anti-social behaviour than boys, but there were no differences in terms of age. A significant negative correlation between social competence and anti-social behaviour was observed in both groups. The results indicate the need for early identification and monitoring of possible difficulties, as well as the need to create and implement appropriate measures and interventions to prevent and improve such difficulties. Key words: social competence, anti-social behaviour, blind students Socijalna kompetencija podrazumijeva sposobnost postizanja vlastitih ciljeva, uz istovremeno odrzavanje pozitivnih odnosa s drugima. Kod osoba s ostecenjem vida njezin znacaj ogleda se u razvoju pozitivnog self-koncepta, viseg samopostovanja, asertivnijeg ponasanja i sposobnosti prihvacanja svog ostecenja. Cilj istrazivanja bio je ispitati razvijenost socijalne kompetencije i prisutnost antisocijalnog ponasanja slijepih ucenika i ucenika tipicnog razvoja te njihovu medusobnu povezanost, kao i povezanost ovih varijabli sa spolom i dobi ucenika. U istrazivanju je sudjelovalo 60-ero ucenika u dobi od 12-17 godina: 30 slijepih ucenika i 30 ucenika bez ostecenja vida. Procjena socijalne kompetencije i antisocijalnog ponasanja provedena je koristenjem Skale za procjenu socijalnog ponasanja u skoli (School Social Behavior Scales; Merrell, 2002). Rezultati pokazuju da postoji razlika u razvijenosti socijalne kompetencije medu dvjema skupinama ucenika u korist ucenika bez ostecenja vida, dok glede ispoljavanja an