Causal Factors for Behaviors of EBD Students, Research Paper Example

It is true that students with emotional and behavioral disorders can acquire the problem before birth, because of the genetic or biological predisposition. However, it is not always so, and the majority of cases deal with the acquisition and sharpening of symptoms throughout the students’ lives, with the influence of various internal and external factors. Nobody lives in an isolated environment; hence the causal factors affecting the level of EBD, the expressed behaviors and the overall quality of EBD students’ lives have to be known in depth. The importance of causal factors lies within the sphere of individual approach to intervention and prevention, as well as finding the most effective ways of symptom and deviant behavior mitigation while addressing the key problems real for every individual EBD student. Therefore, the present paper will deal with discussion of such causal factors as biological, family, school and cultural ones, as well as to the discussion of their causal role in the formation of EBD students’ behaviors and attitudes.

Biological Factors

There is much discrepancy about considering the main source of causal factors for the development of EBD in people. However, one of the categories contains the biophysical model of causal factors for EBD; it argues that the biological factors are the main cause of EBD. The proponents and researchers in the field name such causal biological factors as the genetic predisposition, the brain disorder that mostly reveals itself in the process of embryo development and right after birth, and some neurological disorders that may also come naturally without any other causal factors arousing the health problem (Visser, Daniels, & Cole, 2001).

This group of risk factors for the formation of EBD in your people can surely be called a causal one, because it is often impossible to fix these health problems even by means of a medical intervention and treatment course. people with in-both physiological and neurological problems are disposed to stress and aggression more than others, and the criteria chosen to identify the physiological factors as causal ones can be found in the person’s clinical diagnosis. If the individual has neurological problems from early childhood, if his or her parents used to have the same problems, and if some brain disorders were identified at early stages, one will surely have much more potential for developing EBD than others without evident biological factors.

Mitigation of biological factors is rather complicated, since the initiating reason for EBD lies not within the behavioral but biological resources of the student. Hence, the procedures for mitigation should include the reinforcement of alternative behaviors, exclusion of reinforcement from the surroundings of the student with EBD, and even medical treatment to reduce the impact of biological deviations. Since the problem is biological, it is essential to involve clinical professionals into the mitigation process; they possess the clear knowledge of biological processes governing the formation of EBD, so their assistance will be invaluable in the intervention.

Family Factors

Besides the biological factors, there are some causal family factors that can become the drive for EBD development in children and young people. These are family problems such as parental criminality, harsh and ineffective parental discipline, lack of parental involvement etc. (Yell, Meadows, Drasgow, & Shriner, 2009). The effect of these factors can be destructive because of the early disposition of the child to violence and neglect, resulting in the decrease of emotional stability and resistance to deviant behaviors. Such negative effects can often act as a virus, destroying the human immunity to criminal and aggressive behaviors and attitudes, making the individual weaker and less controlled (Yell et al., 2009).

Criteria for the assessment of the family effect on the students’ EBD formation can be chosen from the assessment of emotional, learning and social areas of development, as proposed by Howarth and Fisher (2005): the authors state that the tool generated for their project in a London Junior School helps assess the level of EBD severity and the causes of its appearance. Hence, some guidelines for assessment can be taken from the tool to identify the effect of family problems and/or violence on the EBD symptoms of a student.

As for mitigation procedures, it is evident that the main mitigation element should be the extinction of reinforcement. The reinforcing factor should be clearly identified, be it family neglect or family violence, and the alternative behaviors should be first created within the student’s family. The intervention in this kind of problem may be conducted either through the family gatherings, discussions and counseling, or even through the law enforcement methods (if the situation in the family is too dramatic to persuade parents to change their behaviors on a voluntary basis). Active participation of parents in the creation of the individual education programs (IEPs) for their children with EBD may also have a positive effect on the outcomes of intervention.

School Factors

No matter how strange it may seem, school factors can also become causal for the development of EBD in students. Such factors may include the ‘hands-off’ approach to bullying and harassment at school, which leaves students unprotected against peer violence, the absence of clear behavior rules and policies in the school regulations, exposing some students to groundless reprimands. One more causal factor may be the zero tolerance policy that leads to the authoritarian discipline at school, with lack of flexibility towards some acceptable range of student behaviors (Yell et al., 2009). These factors are very strong in the process of EBD formation for two reasons: firstly, students spend a great part of their life at school, being exposed to them continually, and secondly, students attend school in the adolescent period, while they are vulnerable and emotionally unstable. These factors thus have a very high risk of their impact on the psychological stability and emotional development of a student’s personality.

Criteria for assessing these factors as causal should include the administrative assessment of school policies towards deviant behaviors, harassment and bullying. The drop-out levels of the school should be analyzed in detail, and acceptable behavioral patterns allowed in the school should also be considered. The occurrence of EBD in the school should be investigated, with the proper assessment of reported reasons for violence and aggression. In case either parents or students report the direct impact of harsh conditions at school, the school risk factors may be considered causal.

Mitigation can also be conducted through the extinction of reinforcement; the harsh school discipline crippling students should be reviewed by the counseling board or committee for consistence with the norms of adolescent development and behaviors. In case the review of school policies is impossible, the student has to be moved to safer school surroundings by changing the school to a more liberal one. However, it does not mean that the student should be moved to the school where violence is permitted; the change of school is appropriate in case the normal behaviors of students are regarded as unacceptable, punished and unwelcome, which causes the student’s nervousness and development of EBD.

Culture Factors

Culture factors, also known as community factors, can also play a major role in the formation of EBD. They include such examples as living in high-poverty neighborhoods with a high level of crime and disorganization, high turnover of residents and lack of monitoring child behavior in the district are, and lack of opportunities for recreation (Yell et al., 2009). The impact of these culture factors can be truly strong in the process of EBD formation; disposition to criminal behaviors and lack of discipline erode the internal discipline mechanisms and make the individual degrade emotionally. Lack of supervision from the side of adults may reinforce the deviant behaviors with the group of peers, while lack of recreation opportunities in the neighborhood have the similar effect – children who have nothing healthy and right to do try to entertain themselves with criminal and aggressive games or even attacks at other children, creating the strong basis for EBD occurrence.

Criteria for identifying these factors as causal ones should be chosen from multiple sources – teachers, parents, healthcare professionals and students themselves (Seifert, 2006). The reason for this is that some participants may not regard those factors as causal ones, while others see the clear threat in them. Here attention should be drawn to the origin of deviant behaviors (if students come home and bring swear words or bad opinions about other people from the street), the physical appearance of students (if they do not care about their appearance, their clothes are untied and dirty) etc.

It is extremely hard to generate mitigation procedures for the culture causal factors, as they reflect the quality of living that cannot be changed in a moment. However, active involvement of parents in the intervention process, more attention from them and their ability to show the constructive approach to life, healthier recreation habits etc. may serve as real mitigators for EBD. In case students feel there is much more than adolescent violence and destructive street behaviors, they will be able to eliminate the reinforcement in the form of ‘bad companies’ from their life.

References

Howarth, R., & Fisher, P.E. (2005). Emotional and behavioral difficulties. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.

Seifert, K. (2006). How Children Become Violent: Keeping Your Kids Out of Gangs, Terrorist Organizations, and Cults. Boston: Acanthus Publishing.

Visser, J., Daniels, H., & Cole, T. (2001). Emotional and behavioral difficulties in mainstream schools, Vol. 1. Oxford: Emerald Group Publishing.

Yell, M.L., Meadows, N.B., Drasgow, E., & Shriner, J.G. (2009). Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. London: Pearson Education.