Vocational Interests and Skills that Influence the Occupational Choice of Adolescents in Conflict with the Law

Abstract

The research was conducted with the objective of
determining vocational interests and abilities that
influence the occupational choice of adolescents in
conflict with the law of the NGO Crecer en Familia.
To achieve this, a quantitative approach study was
employed, with a field and descriptive design, with a
representative sample of 67 beneficiaries belonging to
the Specialized Care Center and a sample of 20
adolescents enrolled in 9th, 10th, and 11th grades of
formal education levels. To obtain the data, the
population was characterized by applying the
following instruments: Inventory of Professional
Interests (IPP), Assessment of Motor and Processing
Skills (AMPS), Comprehensive Occupational
Therapy Evaluation Scale (COTE), and Mini-Mental
State Examination (MMSE). The results showed that
adolescents in conflict with the law are interested in
performing activities not associated with formal
and/or informal education in predominant
professional fields such as economic-business,
administrative, sports, and manual mechanics.
Regarding interest in professions, they are associated
with professional fields in which the beneficiaries
would like to participate in formal and informal
education contexts to work, finding: economic
business and manual mechanics. It can be concluded
that the population has difficulty in setting long-term
goals and projects complying with protocols and
procedures established for the acquisition of
professional knowledge, which is why activities that
can be carried out empirically are more appealing.