Psychological factors limiting institutional rehabilitation

The understanding of whether and what kind of institutional rehabilitation is needed depends (a) on the method used, and (b) on the objectives (values, goals etc.) of such analyses. The results of such analyses of dysfunctional or functional elements depend on the frame of reference. The best methods used for diagnosis are not very effective if the data are not interpreted in a broader frame of reference, e.g. in relation to other institutions and, more important, in relation to the social and economic problems at hand. Furthermore, social change implies difficulties. The understanding of the problems at hand is especially difficult in times of rapid socio-economic change since the people involved in such diagnosis have been socialized in the systems which are undergoing change. Another problem of institutional rehabilitation lies in the transformation of the diagnosis into practice. Are the policies chosen in the way that they are taking into account the problems of the present situation and its embeddedness in a global situation, plus its embeddedness in future development and change?Finally, any institutional change will be ineffective if the needs and goal of the individual persons who have to make the institutions work do not match with the institutional goals and constraints. Not only the question of accepting certain institutions and changes of institutions is relevant here. The question rather is how far do individual goals and abilities fit with institutional resources and constraints. The goodness of fit must, again, be seen in the context of change; (a) in the context of socio-economic and institutional changes and (b) in the context of change, of the individual person during his or her life course. Institutional change will not successfully achieve the level of institutional rehabilitation if individual persons could identify with such changes and cannot match their own interests with the goals for such changes. Thus, the goodness of fit between individuals and their qualification and goals on the one side and institutional resources and constraints on the other side in the process of socio-economic change are to be taken into account