When a child is suspected of being abused or neglected the Child Protective Services are forced to investigate. A child proven to be abused or neglected is taken and placed in an out-of-home care facility. In Germany, parents that are not suitable to care for their children are protected under the German code of social law which “guarantees parents or caregivers support”(Nitkowski, F.Petermann, Büttner, Krause-Leipoldt and U.Petermann 2009). There are three specific ways that the welfare program will intervene. On the first level, the program will offer advice to struggling families. On the second level, the program will offer daycare groups. At this point, the children have not been taken from the household. On the third level, the children are taken to a residential home since the parents are deemed insufficient.
“Behavioral psychology is a branch of psychology that focuses on the study and alteration of people’s behaviors, including their actions, emotions and thoughts” (“What Is Behavioral Psychology?”). This specific study evaluates children with two different types of aggressive behavior, oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder. Oppositional defiant disorder is mostly prevalent in younger children. This behavior causes children to be extremely defiant, angry, irritable and vindictive. Conduct disorder can occur during childhood or adolescence and is a little more extreme than oppositional defiant disorder. This behavior causes children to behave aggressively towards people, animals and property. Some children with this disorder also tend to steal. Because children with these disorders are prevalent within the child welfare system, a study needed to be conducted to solve these behavioral problems.
The German psychologists and psychotherapists took 24 children from ages seven to eleven that were already in the German Child and Youth Welfare Institution. These children were divided into two equal groups of twelve. One group was a combined intervention of TAC and the child welfare system whereas the other group was a control group of just children from the welfare system without any type of behavioral fixing tactic. TAC or Training Aggressive Children is a behavior modification for aggressive children. This training teaches children how to adapt a different mindset when put in conflicting situations. The children are taught how to use self-control in these situations instead of acting out and being disruptive. The children are taught in individual and group therapy sessions and the parents are given counseling.
Throughout the experiment the children were measured using four different techniques: psychiatric diagnosis, psychopathological syndromes, aggressive reaction pattern, behavioral strengths and difficulties. The psychiatric diagnosis used was called Kinder-DIPS. This was a clinical interview done in the German language which would determine different types of psychiatric disorders within the children. The psychopathological syndrome consisted of a child behavior checklist and teacher report form. The Child Behavior Checklist was a questionnaire for parents to complete which allowed parents to tell if their children had symptoms for specific syndromes. The Teacher Report Form measured behavior problems in the classroom. The Aggressive Reaction Pattern was a questionnaire for the children. A child was given different scenarios to read and had to choose how he or she would respond. Based on the answer doctors could see if the child depicted a socially accepted or aggressive behavior. The Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire measured “emotional symptoms, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems and prosocial behavior” (Nitkowski, F.Petermann, Büttner, Krause-Leipoldt and U.Petermann 2009).
After five months of TAC paired with the German Child and Youth Welfare Institution, psychologists, psychotherapists and parents noticed a decrease in social and conduct issues within the children. Teachers also noted that the children were more socially acceptable in the classroom and knew how to handle conflicting situations. On the other hand, the control group of children continued to have their behavioral disorders. Behavioral disorders within our youth will always be a serious issue. This study was able to find a way to decrease these behavioral disorders and make the children more socially acceptable. All children suffering from behavioral disorders in child welfare systems should be exposed to TAC; this will allow them to better themselves and have better relationships with the people surrounding them.
Works Cited
Nitkowski, Dennis, Franz Petermann, Peter Büttner, Carsten Krause-Leipoldt, and Ulrike Petermann. "Behavior Modification." 1 July 2009. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. <http://bmo.sagepub.com/content/33/4/474.full.pdf html>.
"What Is Behavioral Psychology?" Degreedirectory.org. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. <http://degreedirectory.org/articles/What_is_Behavioral_Psychology.html>.
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