Understanding Aggression
Behavior Brief
-------------------------------------------------------“The primary focus should be on the
prevention of aggression and on strengthening
individual assets and protective factors
surrounding the individual” (Keller &
Tapasak, 2004, p. 118).
---------------------------------------------------------
Andy’s Aggression
Andy sits in his algebra class hoping to make it through the period without
having the teacher call on him. He has a hard time understanding what the teacher is
explaining and currently has a D in the class. While in class, all he can think about is
getting out of there without the teacher noticing him.
Today Mrs. White decides to pair the students up to work on a particular
problem. Andy becomes instantly anxious and blurts out, “That’s a stupid idea!” Mrs.
White ignores his remark and starts to pair the students up. When she pairs Andy up
with Jason, who is sitting next to him, he angrily pushes Jason out of his seat and
yells, “I hate Jason! I won’t be his partner!”
Mrs. White instantly sends Andy to the office and informs the principal that
Andy was picking on another student and that he acted aggressively out of anger
towards the student. The principal assigned Andy two days of detention and informed
him that if he does not learn to control his anger there will be worse consequences in
the future.
---------------------------------“There are seven different
reasons for aggressive
behavior.”
----------------------------------
Aggression
WHAT:
When you deal with students who are aggressive, it is easy to assume that they
are acting out because they refuse to control their anger. However, this is only one of
the reasons that students exhibit aggressive behavior. Keller and Tapasak (2004)
acknowledge that there are seven different reasons for aggressive behavior in
students. The seven categories that they have distinguished are prosocial value
deficits, prosocial skill deficits, cognitive and academic skill deficits, arousal-heightening
interpretations of external stimuli, heightened affective arousal, ineffective
communication, and mismanagement of contingencies.
© 2008 Alexandra Debbas
Understanding Aggression
Behavior Brief
Page 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Interventions must be tailored to each individual student.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Prosocial Value Deficits: This is when students are choosing to behave aggressively
when they have the skills to control their anger. This means that the student has the skills
to find an alternative to their aggression but decides to act aggressively anyway (Keller &
Tapasak, 2004).
Interventions
Prosocial values training strategy
Aggression replacement training (anger control training, prosocial skills training, and
parent training) (Keller & Tapasak, 2004)
Prosocial Skill Deficits: This describes students who do not have the skills to control their
anger. Some students have never been taught skills to defer their aggression. Acting out
with aggressive behavior is the only way these students know how to cope (Keller &
Tapasak, 2004).
Interventions
Directly teach social skills (curricular packages available) (Keller & Tapasak, 2004)
Cognitive and Academic Skill Deficits: This is when academic instruction is beyond the
comprehensive level of the student and the academic frustration leads to aggressive
behavior (Keller & Tapasak, 2004). Andy falls into this category. He was not able to
understand his algebra class and acting out aggressively was a way for him to avoid doing
the work. His aggressive behavior also diverted the teacher’s attention away from his
inability to do the work.
Interventions
Modify instruction, teaching approach, and/or program
Be flexible and creative with the student
Peer/volunteer tutoring (Keller & Tapasak, 2004)
Focus on academic engagements through effective teaching (U.S. Department of
Health and Human Service, 2001)
Arousal-Heightening Interpretation of External Stimuli: This is when an “event is
accompanied or followed by kinesthetic or other physiological cues that signal anger to the
individual” (Keller & Tapasak, 2004, p. 119). The student is not reacting to the stimuli itself,
but rather their interpretation of what is taking place (Keller & Tapasak). For example, if a
teacher asks a student to stop talking and the student interprets the teacher’s tone of voice
as being angry; then the student acts out aggressively because of the tone of the
interpretation of the tone of voice and not the request itself.
© 2008 Alexandra Debbas
Understanding Aggression
Interventions
Anger control training (self instruction and effective coping self statements) (Lochman,
1992)
Help students more accurately interpret stimuli (Keller & Tapasak, 2004)
Heightened Affective Arousal: Students in this category are aggressive because of the
stimuli itself and not their interpretation of what is taking place (Keller & Tapasak, 2004).
For example, if the teacher asks them to stop talking they will react aggressively because
of the request.
Interventions
Self-relaxation training
Model calmness, encourage open-ended questions, and be an active listener
Help the student “save-face” (remove spectators and help student back down while
still feeling some power) (Keller & Tapasak, 2004)
Ineffective Communication: Students in this category are unable to communicate with
others to find a resolution, discuss differences, or even share their feelings (Keller &
Tapasak, 2004; Kerr & Nelson, 2006). There is a relationship between pragmatic language
and violence. Meaning when students understand what is being asked of them and are
able to express themselves in an appropriate way, then they are less likely to become
aggressive. Language delays and communications problems can lead to aggressive
behavior (Sanger, Moore-Brown, Magnuson, & Svoboda, 2001; Sanger, Moore-Brown,
Montgomery, Rezac, & Keller, 2003).
Interventions
Have the students work with a speech/language pathologist to acquire proper
language skills (Keller & Tapasak, 2004)
Work on problem solving skills, negotiation, and conflict mediation (Elias & Clabby,
1992)
Mismanagement of Contingencies: Keller and Tapasak (2004) explain that aggressive
behaviors will continue when the students receive reinforcement. For example, if a student
acts aggressively to get out of class and they are sent to the office, they are being
reinforced for their aggressive behavior.
Interventions
Rearrange contingencies by conducting a functional behavioral assessment
Use positive support (Keller & Tapasak, 2004)
Token economy, contracting, Good Behavior Game (Kerr & Nelson, 2006)
© 2008 Alexandra Debbas
Understanding Aggression
SO WHAT:
Understanding that students display aggressive behaviors because of many
different reasons is very important for the student, teacher, and classroom. If you
are able to identify what is triggering the aggressive behavior and classify what type
of aggression the student is displaying, then you will be better equipped to manage
the behavior (Keller & Tapasak, 2004). When students who are unable to
communicate receive punishment through school suspension there is nothing being
done to help prevent future episodes. However, if the student with communication
problems is given a communication intervention then the student will be less likely to
act out in the future because they will be able to communicate their problems with
others. It is important to tailor interventions to each individual student (Keller &
Tapasak, 2004).
-----------------------------------------“For those individuals for whom
preventative strategies have not
been effective, interventions
unique to the specific
characteristics of the aggressive
individual are more likely to be
effective” (Keller and Tapasak,
2004, p. 119).
----------------------------------------------
NOW WHAT:
It is important for you to begin to record what is taking place when the student
engages in aggressive behavior. One tool that Kerr and Nelson (2006) suggest is
the “after-the-fact” antecedent-behavior-consequence (ABC). They suggest this
because most of the aggressive acts that you will encounter will be sudden and
require you to recall the event. For an “after-the-fact” ABC it is important to describe
the aggressive behavior, write the date and time, identify the location and other
participants or observers, state who or what the aggression was directed towards
and any injury, and describe hat happened directly before and after the aggressive
act (Kerr & Nelson). Once you identify the type of aggression, you will be able to
adjust the intervention appropriately for the student. Keller and Tapasak (2004)
describe types of appropriate interventions for each type of aggression. They
tailored the interventions to fit the needs of the students within each category. It is
important to follow the appropriate interventions in order to produce maximum
success for the students.
© 2008 Alexandra Debbas
Understanding Aggression
Bibliography
Elias, M.J., & Clabby, J.F. (1992). Building social problem-solving skills:
Guidelines from a school-based program. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
This book gives interventions for the students who are showing
aggression because of ineffective communication. It discusses how
addressing ineffective communication can affect skills in problem
solving. Keller and Tapasak used this book as a source for ineffective
communication.
Keller, H.R. & Tapasak, R.C. (2004). Classroom-based approaches. In A.P.
Goldstein & J.C. Conoley (Eds.), School Violence Intervention: A
Practical Handbook, 2nd Edition (pp.103-130). New York: Guilford.
This is the book that contains the original ideas from which Kerr and
Nelson adopted the chart from. This book gives the background on
each of the seven types of aggression as well as explains them. It also
gives many sources of information from where they derived their ideas
from.
Kerr, M.M. & Nelson, C.M. (2006). Strategies for addressing behavior problems
in the classroom, 5th Edition. Columbus, Ohio: Charles E Merril
Publishing Company.
This book is the inspiration for the newsletter. It has the chart that
addresses the seven different types of aggression that children can
express. This chart also has the source of the original idea of the
seven types of aggression to show where the information came from. I
will be addressing the different types of aggression in the newsletter
along with providing different types of interventions that can be
helpful. This source gives examples of types of interventions and
warning signs as well.
Lochman, J.E. (1992). Cognitive-behavioral intervention with aggressive boys:
Three-year follow up and prevention effects. Journal of Consulting and
Clinical Psychology, 60, 426-432.
This article is useful because it discusses anger control training. This is
a technique that Keller and Tapasak identify as being useful for
interventions for students who display aggression because of arousalheightening interpretation of external stimuli. This will be helpful
when planning interventions for this type of aggression.
Roberto, A.J., Meyer, G., Boster, F.J., & Roberto, H.L. (2003). Adolescents’
decisions about verbal and physical aggression: An application of the
theory of reasoned action. Human Communication Reseach, 29, 135-147.
This article discusses how the theory of reasoned action plays into
aggression in adolescents. This touches on the ethics of students and
how they perceive a behavior. I feel this corresponds with the
© 2008 Alexandra Debbas
Understanding Aggression
aggression that takes place because of prosocial value deficits. This
article discusses why it happens, how to predict it and future ways to
prevent it.
Sanger, D.D., Moore-Brown, B, Magnuson, G., & Svoboda, N. (2001). Prevelance
of language problems among adolescent delinquents: A closer look.
Communication Disorders Quarterly, 23, 17-26.
This article describes the prevalence of language disorders among
delinquents. It discusses why their language problems are overlooked
as a source of their aggression. It also discusses implications for future
interventions. This is very relevant for the aggression group with
ineffective communication as the source of their aggression.
Sanger, D., Moore-Brown, B.J., Montgomery, J., Rezac, C., & Keller, H. (2003).
Female incarcerated adolescents with language problems talk about
their own communication behaviors and learning. Journal of
Communication Disorders, 36, 465-486.
This article discusses the relationship between ineffective
communication skills and violence. This is helpful because it relates to
the ineffective communication group that Keller and Tapasak define as
one group of aggressive behaviors. It explains through a qualitative
approach, how communication affects the schooling process for these
females.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Service. (2001). Youth violence: A
report of the Surgeon General. Retrieved on February 24, 2008, from
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/youthviolence/report.html.
This report gives an overview of youth violence. It discusses what is
provoking it and focuses on interventions to help. It points out that
focusing on academic engagement and achievement can successfully
help violent children. This is important because one of the seven
reasons for aggression is cognitive and academic skill deficits. This was
a source used by Keller and Tapasak.
© 2008 Alexandra Debbas