Aggressive Behaviour – Definition, Description, Common problems
Discuss about the Social cognitive theory of moral thought and action.
A reactionary and impulsive behaviour is a reflection of aggressive behaviour. Such behaviour is generally unpredictable and involves violence. The problem of aggressive behaviour tends to be generally associated with children, in both cases where the child is normal and the child is having psychological disturbances. Aggressive behaviour is intended towards harming another individual. Some theorists are of the belief that this behaviour is innate and comes instinctively (Aggressive Behavior – Definition, Description, Common problems, 2018). However some other theorists are also of the idea that the breakdown in commonly shared values, traditional family patterns changes of child-rearing, and the situation of social isolation can lead to increasing aggression in children, adolescents as well as adults. Aggressive behavior might be viewed as intentional or unintentional. In cases of some hyperactive, clumsy children who are aggressive but their intentions are quite compassionate (Shaffer & Kipp, 2013). This paper aims to illustrate the theories that can be related to the aggressive behaviour of a child in a classroom setting, whose behaviour undergoes a change after the teacher starts giving giving him attention when he does something positive and ignores the bad behavior.
According to Piaget, children are able to reach distinct stages in the cognitive development. This theory recommends that the teachers should play an active role towards mentoring of the students. According to Piagets’s theory, the teacher made sure that the students learn from their mistakes. This way they will be able to build knowledge about their surroundings through trial and error. The teacher displays patience and guides the students towards a different conclusion. The teacher also made sure that they focus not only on the right answer, but pay attention to all the steps that are involved in reaching a finished product (How to Apply Piaget’s Theory in the Classroom | Synonym, 2018). An example can be seen of application of this theory to mathematical instruction where in the several stages of the development theory the children grow symbolic thought in the preoperational stage, in the concrete operational stage, children can perform basic operations and in the final stage of formal operations, students develop the ability to think and act in an abstract manner. In accordance to this theory the teacher tried not to focus only on the mistakes of the child, but gave more attention to the positivity of the child’s behaviour. This way the aggression of the student subsided as there was a gain in confidence rather than fear that is required to deal with aggression (“Practical strategies for working with students who display aggression and violence”, 2018).
Applying Piaget’s Theory in the Classroom
Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development is based on the idea that development is defined both by what a child can do independently and by what the child can do when assisted by an adult or more competent peer. Knowing both levels of Vygotsky’s zone is useful for teachers, for these levels indicate where the child is at a given moment as well as where the child is going. According to Vygotsky, for the curriculum to be developmentally appropriate, the teacher plans activities that encompass not only what children are capable of doing on their own but what they can learn with the help of others (Moll, 2013). Example of application of this theory is related to education where language holds a central place in the theory development. Therefore the schools need to provide opportunities to the students so that they are able to reach the third stage of speech that is inner speech that is responsible for functioning in the higher levels. Applying this theory the teacher made sure that the child was left alone and not bothered every now and then for the behavioural displays. This way by avoiding confrontation the student was able to reduce display of aggression behaviour.
The theory by Lawrence Kohlberg suggests that as an educator it is required to consider the point where the student needs a personal development. According to the six step rule of Kohlberg’s universal principles, at stage one the students behave appropriately to avoid punishment. At stage two, students behave in order to earn rewards. In next stage, students start thinking about other people and learn to take care of the expectations. The fourth stage deals with morality where the individuals do their part to maintain order by reflecting on the impact of their words and actions. In the fifth morality stage, there is relation upholding a social contract. Kohlberg’s sixth staged deals with the idea that every person in society are worth considering (Shaffer & Kipp, 2013). The teacher applied this theory in managing the behaviour of the student so as to avoid competition for the child. By minimizing competition the students are made sure to feel safe and confident in the classroom setting, which in turn helps reduce their aggressive behaviour towards the teacher.
The Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory explains how natural environments can influence largely to the development of persons. This means that the development of person can be affected by the surroundings starting from home to the wider context such as culture. Bronfenbrenner stated that there were many different levels and types of environment effects which plays a role in the manner how a child grows and develops (Rosa & Tudge, 2013). Important role is played by the members of the Family, the teachers as well as the community in raising children. This is also related to application of values and customs so that they can be socialized in order to contribute to the society. According to this theory there is a need that the students are able to develop proper behavioural development through the influence of the environment around. Therefore following this, the teacher made sure to keep a constant supervision on the child, in order to maintain a calm environment around the child so that the levels of aggression do not increase (“Practical strategies for working with students who display aggression and violence”, 2018).
Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development
In accordance to Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, the psyche of every individual is shaped through a developmental crises. These crises generally occur during childhood and adolescence, which means that teachers who believe in Erikson’s theory need to focus on these crises in order to ensure that students develop healthy and realized identities. There are several stages of this theory like “Initiative vs. Guilt” and “Industry vs. Inferiority”. These stages give children the opportunity for making choices and acting upon those choices (Happ, 2018). Application of this theory allowed allow student the opportunity to set goals that were realistic. The teacher let the child go through this stages to implement the realizations which led to the decrease of the aggressiveness and increase of positive behaviour.
A theoretical perspective in which learning by observing others is the focus of study, is given by the social learning theory. Social-cognitive theory is grounded by several basic assumptions. People can learn themselves by observing others. By observing a model, learners can acquire new behaviors and knowledge (O’Connor et al., 2013). They are motivated to accomplish those goals. Self-regulation is another part of this theory. By applying this theory the teacher made a point by acting as the model of behaviour. The teacher tried to focus only on the positive behaviour of the child, this helped to set a goal for the child where it was necessary to display only positive behaviour. This is turn helped to reduce the aggressiveness of the child.
The social learning theory proposes that the real-life experiences and exposures of the children, can directly or indirectly shape their behaviour. The processes by which this learning takes place is usually diverse and includes limitations and reinforcement. Attachment theory is suggested as an alternative model for understanding the nature and the origin of the parent and child relationships. It also deals with the mechanisms by which their psychological developments are shaped. According to this attachment theory, children experiencing a sensitive and responsive caregiving will gradually try to internalize a sense of the attachment figure as responsive and available and of themselves as worthy and lovable. Such children are referred to as developing a secure internal working model for themselves as well as for others (The Outline for Urie Bronfenbrenners Children and Young People Essay, 2018).
The Kohlberg’s theory is related to moral development. This theory is able to keep a track of the individual’s moral reasoning by assigning to the one to six stages of the theory. The first stage deals with the basic submission to the authority and the final step being universal ethics for everyone. Other theories such as the Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is also related with the moral development (Brown & Desforges, 2013).
Conclusion
In conclusion to the above discussion it can be stated that the psychological theories such as the Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, the Kohlberg’s theory and other such theories are applicable to manage aggression in a child as most of these theories focus on the social and moral development of the child, especially in a classroom setting. Apart from moral development, these theories are also related to the aspects of parenting, attachment and child abuse.
Reference
Aggressive Behavior – Definition, Description, Common problems. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.healthofchildren.com/A/Aggressive-Behavior.html
Bandura, A. (2014). Social cognitive theory of moral thought and action. In Handbook of moral behavior and development(pp. 69-128). Psychology Press. Retrieved from https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781317783114/chapters/10.4324%2F9781315807294-15
Brown, G., & Desforges, C. (2013). Piaget’s theory. Routledge. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Piaget_s_Theory.html
Happ, A. (2018). How to Incorporate Social Learning into the Classroom – Training Industry. Retrieved from https://trainingindustry.com/articles/workforce-development/how-to-incorporate-social-learning-into-the-classroom/
How to Apply Piaget’s Theory in the Classroom | Synonym. (2018). Retrieved from https://classroom.synonym.com/apply-piagets-theory-classroom-7741298.html
Moll, L. C. (2013). LS Vygotsky and education. Routledge. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.in/books
O’Connor, T. G., Matias, C., Futh, A., Tantam, G., & Scott, S. (2013). Social learning theory parenting intervention promotes attachment-based caregiving in young children: Randomized clinical trial. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 42(3), 358-370. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15374416.2012.723262
Rosa, E. M., & Tudge, J. (2013). Urie Bronfenbrenner’s theory of human development: Its evolution from ecology to bioecology. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 5(4), 243-258. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jftr.12022
Shaffer, D. R., & Kipp, K. (2013). Developmental psychology: Childhood and adolescence. Cengage Learning. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.in/books
The Outline For Urie Bronfenbrenners Children And Young People Essay. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.uniassignment.com/essay-samples/children-and-young-people/the-outline-for-urie-bronfenbrenners-children-and-young-people-essay.php
Practical strategies for working with students who display aggression and violence. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cycol-0306-guetzloe.html
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