Identifying emotional and social behavioral problems in students is necessary for children to have the best developmental outcomes. If the problems continue to persist overtime that are harder to change as children get older. Through numerous research that are strong correlations that exist between childhood behavior problems that continue into delinquency, and finally criminality. Letting children behavioral problems persist can lead to developmental problem that place children at a higher risk of emotional and social problems, underachievement in school that leads to school dropout, and other serious issues. There are various factors that are needed in and outside of the classroom that include providing a sense of security, stability, and healthy continuous relationships, with families, adults, and the community. The purpose of this paper examines the quote by, NSW, “Aggression that begins in the earliest years of life is clearly linked to delinquent and criminal behaviour in later life.” (New South Wales Government, 2004) The focus of this quote can be explained through the perspective of learning behavioral theory, primarily the behavioral theory approach used inside the classrooms.
In today’s society there is alarming rate of cases involving children at younger ages committing violent crimes. The public concern regarding child delinquency is rising, in comparison with children that develop delinquency later in adolescence, younger children are at a greater risk to be involved in criminality. Children’s behavior at ages young as 5 are established, where the foundation of is development is coupled with children’s exposure to environmental, social, and risk factors. (Wasserman, Keenan, Tremblay, Cole, Herrenkohl, Petechuk, 2003, pg. 1) These factors will likely influence the likelihood of children becoming delinquents as they get older. The emotional and social impact on children’s development is centered in three major areas; brain development where experiences and early relationships can positively or negatively affect gender identity, neural connections, and the organization of the mind. The positive influences help distinguish the correct foundation for healthy growth in thought development and future behaviors. Social ability and emotional self-being development in the early years plays an essential role in shaping the young children learn, think, develop relationships, and react to challenges.
These development are greatly influenced by the role of the family. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), “risk factors for child delinquency operate in several domains: the individual child, the child’s family, the child’s peer group, the child’s school, the child’s neighborhood, and the media” (Wasserman et al, 2003, pg. 1) Research can agree that family factors do play a major role as, children that come from homes that provide a lack of support or warmth, usually have parents that lack the behavioral management skills to discipline their children. According to Farrington (2002), “parental monitoring or supervision is the aspect of family management that is most consistently related to delinquency” (Farrington, 2002, pg. 203). Family roles of race, income, poor involvement, and other family characteristics such as size, discord, and stress, are a strong prediction of childhood behaviors usually showcased in the homes and in the schools.
Aggression is highly offensive behavior that can range from being physical and attacking someone, and psychological using verbal threats causing emotional harm. Aggression encompasses the behaviors that include: “verbal aggression, bullying, physical fighting, robbery, rape, and homicide” (NSW, 2004) Aggression in individuals is linked by biological, psychological, and sociological influences. One of the best factors that draw from behaviors in aggression are linked to early life influences from family through acts of aggression such as abuse, neglect, or sexual. In Lansford et al (2007) longitudinal study they followed over five hundreds from age 5 to 21 in order to examine the links in combination with race and gender factors, between physical abuse in their early life and the violent delinquency that was extended into criminal behavior as an adult. Research has shown that African Americans compared to European American children suffered worse effects on the females of maltreatment. (Lansford, 2007) The results of the longitudinal study showed that adolescents that were physically abused in the first five years of their life were more likely to have been involved in delinquency by being arrested as a juvenile for violent, and nonviolent offenses. Also they were likely to be the perpetrator in relationship violence and have externalized behavioral problems. (Lansford, 2007) The data also correlated with teacher concerns of behavioral problems that stem from family maltreatment at an early age that has led to drop outs in high school, being a teen parent, or have been fired in the past year. According to Lansford et al (2007) on their 17 year study that, “our findings extend the literature on delinquency and aggression by showing that physical abuse predicts subsequent violent delinquency, at least according to arrest data” (Lansford et al, 2007).
In the context of the classroom, it can be a problematic situation for the teachers. Aggressive behavior begins at the early stages of life and reaches a peak age of four and declines thereafter. One of the first places that aggressive behavior is shown is inside the classroom. The usual explanations of the behaviors include pinpointing to “the terrible twos”, “boys being boys” or “she’ll grow out of it”. According to NSW, “these reassurances are contradicted by the mounting evidence which suggests that a substantial proportion of aggressive, defiant, overactive toddlers and pre-schoolers continue to have problems at school entry age” (NSW, 2004).Continuing research has shown (2004) that the physical aggression behavior in elementary schools years can be used as the best behavioural predictor of delinquency, violence, and criminality during adolescence into adulthood. As shocking as these research has shown only a small percentage go on where aggressive behavior persists into a serious concern. It is usually a task for the teacher in the absence of parental guidance to not only identify but also learn how manager behaviors in the classroom.
For teachers to identify the social and emotional capabilities of addressing aggressive behavior is challenged by developmental and cultural variability that shows differences in child temperament and changing behavioral expectations. The role of the teacher is to provide a combination of motivational qualities, social emotional skills, and intellectual skills that allows for young children to learn to recognize and understand their own feelings. (Porter, 2007) The best way that teachers manage these behaviors in the classroom is through classroom management theories that overlapped with learning behavioral theories that tie into behavioral theories. They are “highly procedural and focus singularly on modifying observable behaviors” (Lyons, Ford, Arthur-Kelly, 2011). The Applied Behavioral Analysis by Paul Alberto and Anne Troutman purposes that the behaviors (aggressive) are influence by the environmental factors that results in increase the aggressive behavior and that discipline will decrease the aggressive behaviors. Teachers and schools that utilized the Applied Behavior Analysis is paired with reinforced consequences, usually using a system of hierarchy reinforcement to decrease the aggressive behaviors, (Lyons et al. 2011) The basic classroom management skills are used synonymously with the theory however, it is manifested more once the challenging behavior such as aggression is present.
The factors of Applied Behavioral Analysis include the steps that involve, “defining, observing and recording focus behaviours in the context of their antecedent conditions and consequences” (Lyons et al. 2011). The behavioral theory in its approach to deal with aggressive behavior encompasses the factors of influence the emotional and social development of children. Research has provided more insight on links to delinquency and criminality in adolescences,
“most professionals agree that early on in a child’s life, the most important risks stem from individual factors (e.g., birth complications, hyper-activity, sensation seeking, temperamental difficulties) and family factors (e.g., parental antisocial or criminal behavior, substance abuse, and poor child-rearing practices)”(Wasserman et al, 2003, pg. 2).
Behaviors such as aggression is learned and the emphasis of behavioral theory is placed on the responses or consequences to experiences, reinforcement, and punishments as consequences of behavior and learning. The ABA theory used for aggressive behavior is used through an authoritative approach that uses conditioning that draws the relationship between consequences and behaviors. Mechanisms of the theory such as, punishment, reinforcement, extinction, and rewards are effective at different times of use. Through a develop relationship with the student, knowing how to apply the teaching skills, evaluating the problem, and knowing the desired outcome will beneficial to both the student and the overall classroom.
Children at a young age need to be molded and supported through the use of positive reinforcement and experiences that create a long lasting effect that influences powerful behaviors. The promotion of emotional and social development is needed in order to combat children that grow up and are influenced by social and environmental factors such as maltreatment, physical and sexual abuse, lack of knowledge for parent discipline, and other essential factors that increases their likelihood to fall into delinquency and criminality in adulthood. There are strong links that suggest negative behaviors such as aggression learned at a younger age creates a domino effect where the individual will eventually lead a life of crime. Teachers have the ability and the responsibility to identify these behavioral problems and learn to manager through use of different techniques in correlation with the classroom basic management skills. Using the Learning Behavioral theory, primarily the behavioral theory, the learned behavior can be unlearned through the use of punishment, positive reinforcement, extinction, and finally rewards for positive behavior preventing serious potential future problems.
References
Agasoster-Jones, Sherry. (1982). Behavioral Disorder: Theory into Practice A Reflective Journey of A B.E.S.T. Teacher. University of Calgary. Retrieved from https://www.uleth.ca/dspace/bitstream/handle/10133/1045/Agasoster_Jones_Sherry.pdf?sequence=1
Farrington, David. (2002). Family Influences on Delinquency. Crimes Run in Families. Jones and Bartlett Publishers. LLC.
Lansford, Jennifer E., Miller-Johnson, Shari, Berlin, Lisa J., Dodge, Kenneth, Bates, John, Pettit, Gregory. (2007). Early Physical Abuse and Later Violent Delinquency: A Prospective Longitudinal Study. Child Maltreat. 2007 August; 12(3): 233–245. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2771618/
Lyons, Gordon, Ford, Margot, Arthur-Kelly, Michael. (2011). Classroom Management: Creating Positive Learning Environments. Cengage Learning. Australia.
New South Wales Government (2004). The Development of aggressive behaviour in children and young people: Implications for social policy, service provision and future research. S.o.F.a.C. Services. Sydney, NSW: 1-17.
Porter, L. (2007). Student behaviour: Theory and practice for teachers (3rd ed.). Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.
Smallwood, Diane. (2003). Defusing Violent Behavior in Young Children: An Ounce of Prevention. NASP Behavioral Problems. Retrieved from http://www.nasponline.org/resources/handouts/revisedPDFs/defusingviolbehavior.pdf
Wassermen, Gail. A, Keenan, Kate, Tremblay, Richard E., Cole, John, Herrennkohl, Todd, Loeber, Rolf, Petechuk, David. (2003). Risk and Protective Factors of Child Delinquency. U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/193409.pdf
