Matthew does not like the teacher to behave formally around him because he like attention and this does not make him feel special. Formal interactions involve speaking to the class as a whole when setting work pr giving instructions. When the teacher does this Matthew becomes disruptive, as he wants to get his teachers attention he also does this by showing violence’s towards other students sitting by him. Other formal interactions can be teaching the class at a steady pace and involving all students in classroom discussions.
Verbal Communication: verbal communication involves how you talk to the client.
When talking to Matthew it is essential the teacher makes him feel comfortable, the teacher does this by talking in a clear but soft voice but also being careful that its not just Matthew that she talks to like this as this could single him out from other students. Verbal communication can say a lot about how your trying to speak to the client, as the pitch and tone can create atmosphere when speaking. It is important to speak in a soft voice to Matthew as when shouting or telling him of in a loud voice this makes him aggressive and he can become violent as this would upset and make him feel uncomfortable.
Non-Verbal Communication: non-verbal communication can mean many thing suck as moving hands when you speak, posture, how you sit or even facial expressions.
Non-verbal communication is very important in any interaction. When interacting with Matthew he likes to be made to feel at ease. To do this the teacher should sit in an open posture with no objects blocking communication, also slightly leaning towards him being careful not to invade his personal space and keeping good eye contact at all times. Matthew’s teacher does not alas do this as when he is being aggressive she ignores him and does not keep any eyes contact, this makes Matthew more aggressive as he is trying to gain the teacher attention by being aggressive and disruptive so therefore his behaviour worsens. Facial expression also helps the interaction, as positive expressions such as smiling when Matthew is talking make him feel the teacher is interested in what he is saying so therefore may contribute to class discussions more in the future. Prompts can also be very helpful as when Matthew is uncomfortable speaking such prompts as ‘carry on’ or ‘that’s right’ may give him confidence when he is speaking.
Outcome of Patterns: When all of the above have been taken into consideration a successful interaction will come of it. The above ways are how Matthew likes to be communicated with, as this way is the most effective as it does cause aggression.
Overall Matthew has shown less aggression in the class and is interacting appropriately with his teacher and other student around him.
E3: Identify and clearly describe relevant psychological theory for clients with the chosen behaviour in a particular health and social care setting.
Theories:
- Bowlby. Attachment/Separation theory
- Berkowitiz. Aggression theory
How theories relate to specific behaviour
The first theory Bowlby’s maternal deprivation relates to Matthew as he is the oldest of four children and his father left when he was only seven, since then he has lived with his mother and has been the only male in the house.
In studies using the strange situation Bowlby found that infants maybe securely attached to one parent but not the other or in securely attached to both. Bowlby also agrees that man are capable of providing adequate parenting and becoming attachment figures for there young children, and the ‘mother does not even have to be female’.
Bowlby’s separation theory relates to Matthew as his parents divorced when he was seven and since then he has had no contact with him. Bowlby calls separation anxiety, namely the fear tat separation will occur again in the future. This can result in aggressive behaviour and greater demands towards the mother, which has been shown by Matthew in the case study. It’s also shown that the consequences of divorce are more serious and damaging then those following the death of a father. Which is why children who commonly experiencing parental divorce show separation anxiety, and they may begin to question the security of their remaining relationship, since if the father can leave, why not the mother too?
Children usually deeply resent their parents separation and may retain fantasies of reunion for many years to come. They experience separation as a course that has been chosen by the parents in the knowledge that they do not want it. This especially applies to Matthew as he resents he mother for his father leaving. This makes children feel powerless, disregarded and angry. Where as Matthew has become very aggressive towards his mother because of his father leaving. Divorce has a far greater negative effect on the child’s school work then the death of a parent. As a result of these factors, the relationship between the child and the custodial parent is bound to suffer. Mothers become more authoritarian, increasing the number of demands and restrictions and becoming less affectionate. The children (especially boys) become more aggressive and inflexible.
Berkowits aggression relates to Matthew as he has show violence towards his mother, which his father display to his mother in front of him before he left. Berkowits describes aggression as ‘behaviour which is physical or symbolic, that is carried out with the intention to harm someone’. He reserves the term violence for an extreme form of aggression, a deliberate attempt to do serious injury. Freud sees aggression as instinctive, with aggression energy needing to be released regularly if it is not to built up to dangerous levels. The frustration-aggression hypothesis see instinctive and learned reactions as involved, while the social learning approach deindividuation emphasize cognitive aspects of learning from others behaviour and the influence of others on the individual behaviour respectively. Berkowits aggressive-cue theory is bases on the fact that aggressive or violent behaviour is at least partly a reaction to specific features of the surrounding situation which ‘pull out’ responses that heighten the strength of the behaviour. This happens when the aggressive meaning for the aggressor and or when they some how remind the aggressor of decidedly unpleasant experiences; this is the aggressive-cue theory. This theory will relate to Matthew as when he’s reminded of his fathers aggressive behaviour towards his mother he then becomes aggressive himself and uses violence in the same way as his father.
Justification of theory: I chose to apply these theories because it supports the behaviour that I am applying them to. As the case study shows aggression and separation the two theories will explain why such thing as aggression is caused and will also back up my work.
E3.B Describe your chosen research technique, methods and sample size.
Population size: The people involved in my research will be a total number of three. This will include Matthew his mother and teacher.
Research Method
I have decided to carry out the research out in Matthews’s school, where I will observe him in his class to find out how much the theories relate to Matthew in his behaviour shown in class towards other students and his teacher. I will do this by observing Matthew for one of his lessons, while doing this I will record types of behaviour shown in the class. After I have finished observing Matthew I will use a structure interview for his teacher and his mother, asking basic question about Matthew to find out how much the theory relates.
Once I have finished the research I will compare what I found when observing and join this with the questionnaires to relate to the theories and question how far I agree with these from the findings of the research. To find this out I will try to answer these questions when comparing the research findings with the theories.
- Can long term separation of parents cause a child to show aggressive behaviour?
- Does divorce have a negative effect on the schoolwork?
- Is aggressive behaviour a reaction to specific features of the surrounding situation which ‘pull out’ responses that heighten of the behaviour?
- With out the love of both parents, children grow up with a sense of insecurity and lack confidence, also finding it harder to form relationships with others?
E4: Provide a clear explanation of how relevant psychological theory relates to clients and care workers chosen behaviour in a particular health and social care setting.
Theory related to care workers
The theories relate to care workers such as teachers, helpers or assistants in the school where Matthew attends as they deal with the behaviour shown by Matthew, this would include violent or aggressive behaviour.
The first theory that will relate is Berkowitz aggressive-cue theory as Berkowitz argues that ‘aggression is partly, a reaction to a specific features of the surrounding situation which pull out responses that heighten the strength of the behaviour’. This shows that by the teacher telling Matthew of or shouting may ‘pull out’ responses as they could remind Matthew of decidedly unpleasant experiences so they Matthew becomes aggressive. Matthews teacher Mrs Jones is not helpful in many ways as from looking at E2 you can see from the start of the lesson Matthew is singled out and told to sit and the front by him self. This is where you start to see Matthews’s aggression when he bangs his chair against other tables behind him as he sits down, but the teacher does well here to ignore the behaviour then Matthew accepts he has been moved and stays in his seat. However this did work well here but towards the end of the lesson when Matthew decides to move back to his seat to work in pairs and he does not do as he is told the teacher ignores him again not involving him in the discussion in the class and also, letting him do as he wants, by staying at the back of the class and she does not even give him the hand out for the work. So here the teacher fails Matthew as he is forgotten at the back of the class.
How the theory applies to service users
The aggression theory relates to service users (other school children) as they are effected through the social learning theory as ‘observational learning is a fundamental form of social learning. As by the other children in the class being exposed to aggression from Matthew they are therefore learning form his aggression, they may also start to copy his aggression as if they see Matthew doing this and then being ignored by his teacher they may also want to copy this behaviour. Even friends of Matthew will act the same way when around him.
Peculiar aspects of the school
The secondary school Matthew attends is only short term as he only goes there for the day then he comes home and stay with his family. This school has no religion and welcomes children from all backgrounds and social class, like Matthews, as the school is government funded. The theory that will relate to the school, is Bowlbys theory of separation as Bowlby argues that children like Matthew who parents are divorced do less well in school that other children who still live with both parents. As you can also see from E2 that this is true for Matthew as he lacks in class and he very behind other children in the class.
E5: A clear description of the outcome of your research findings.
Observations
When observing Matthew I did not state to the class why I was there but I was hidden from Matthew’s viewpoint, as I was at the back of the class so therefore his behaviour could not be affected by me being in the class.
When I first started to observe Matthew he was very quiet to begin and I could not relate the theory to him, but when a class discussion was started Matthew started to then become aggressive as he was arguing with another student about the topic they had to discuss, when he could see that he was not right he then became violent towards the student, so the teacher therefore had to tell Matthew off and move him away to a desk by himself away from any other students this made Matthew worse as he use abusive language towards his teacher and refused to attempt any work so therefore was left. When his teacher did try to involve him he refused to respond or be involved in anyway.
Responses of service users: When carrying out the observation the students responded normally as they were not initially told before the research was carried out so they were unaware why I was there, although the teachers and the school knew as I was given permission. I was not asked any questions by the students. This may have been because I was out of there eye view at the back of the class room.
When carrying out the interviews Matthews teacher was very helpful answering questions fully and tying to include as much information as possible. However was restricted in answering some questions due to the schools confidentially policy. Matthew’s mother was less helpful as she did not answer questions fully only giving one word answers in some questions. I also felt like she was holding back on some of the questions she was answering and did not want to open up. This made it hard for me to gain any information of Matthew’s home life.
Objective
- Fulfil the research as part of my unit 16 AVCE health and social care course.
- Apply psychological theory in human behaviour.
- Understand human behaviour in care settings.
Limitations of research: The main limitation of the research was gaining access to the school and to observe Matthew in his class this only gave me one option in carrying out the observation, as I could only observe for one of his lessons so the time was also limited. Finance was also another limitation as the research had to be very cheap to carry out swot her for the research had to be kept simple.
How effective application of theory has been: I found that when observing Matthews teacher did not have much knowledge of the social learning or the psychoanalytical. The only theory that was used was the social learning theory in applying positive reinforcement to Matthew. This really helped Matthew as he liked the attention and seemed to benefit a lot from this as he was more interested in the work as he wanted the positive reinforcement from his teacher which was therefore correcting his behaviour.
