Ethical Issues Regarding Behavior Management in the Schools

Description of the Strategy

Children routinely bring their lives to school and into their classrooms. School can be a wonderfully therapeutic experience for students, giving them the opportunity for stability, nurturance, and consistency that they might not otherwise have in their lives. School staff and families are an integral part of the learning and behavior management process. Working as partners, school and home are powerful factors in the lives of children and can make the difference between children who are vibrant, healthy, and ready to learn and children whose behavior disrupts the learning process for themselves and others. Behavior management is an integral part of all human interaction in one form or another. Although misunderstood and maligned at times, sound behavioral change principles are the cornerstone of how human beings operate.

On June 4, 1997, amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) became law (Pub. L. No. 105-17). These amendments introduced some important concepts affecting the education of children whose behaviors violate schools' codes of conduct or who are outside what is commonly felt to be norms of accepted social behavior. The concepts of positive behavioral support (PBS) and functional behavioral assessment (FBA) addressed the need for implementation of behavioral interventions for children's educational difficulties. Behavioral intervention implies the use of a variety of strategies and approaches intended to influence or modify the overt behavior of a child or to assist those working with or responsible for that child in their efforts to effect positive changes in the child's functioning.

Behavioral approaches have been utilized for many years to affect the ways in which children behave and learn in schools. Early on, less sophisticated behavior modification programs attempted to focus on “target behaviors” designated by teachers or parents. Often, school staff received limited instruction in the basic concepts of behavior modification, and utilization of positive and negative reinforcers was employed to change the child's problematic behavior. Sometimes the child would be remarkably successful as a result of this approach, but often the process would fail.

A clear understanding of the ethical implications of behavior management increases the likelihood of desirable behaviors from children, both at school and at home. The successful implementation of the letter and spirit of laws related to provision of services to children in educational settings is affected by the ethical elements that will be highlighted in this entry. Several authors have outlined ethical-legal issues associated with behavioral interventions that help guide this discussion. Most guidelines indicate that in the process of the selection and implementation of behavioral interventions and procedures, it is important to ensure that no harm is done; the dignity and integrity of the children are maintained; professionals and parents work collaboratively to manage children's behaviors; behavioral procedures maintain the dignity and basic human rights of the individual; and sensitivity to the physical, social, and cultural differences of all those involved in the intervention process is shown.

One of the key first steps for school professionals in developing or implementing ethical behavioral interventions is helping to clarify and define the [Page 1303]essential components of the child's problem behavior as viewed by teachers, administrators, or parents. Such problem definition is crucial to the selection of desired positive alternative behaviors that will be established in the child. Sometimes this process takes much longer than might be expected, due in part to the difference in perceptions of participants as to what specific behaviors are or are not “problems.” Additional difficulties may arise at this point due to cultural differences. Behaviors that are considered inappropriate in one cultural setting might be better tolerated or even encouraged in other settings. Care should be taken to ensure that behaviors identified as problematic reflect generally agreed-on impairments to educational progress rather than individual differences in background and cultural expectations.

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