Aggression is a word that people use every day to indicate their behavior and that of others. Social psychologists indicate aggression as the behavior which aims at harming other people that do not want to be harmed and which diminishes individuals’ quality of life (QOL). There are different forms of aggression based on their intensities. Social psychologists indicate violence as aggression which causes extreme physical harm that includes injury or death. The level of intent that is behind the aggressive behavior results in the differences between different kinds of aggression that result from different psychological processes. Impulsive or Emotional aggression is a form of aggression that happens with a small amount of intent or forethought. However, cognitive or instrumental aggressive is a form of aggression which is considered to be intentional and planned. It can be cold and calculating and aimed at harming someone to gain something. According to social psychologists, aggression can be physical or verbal where physical aggression includes physically harming other people while verbal aggression is non-physical aggression that includes yelling or name-calling. Social or rational aggression involves intentionally harming other people’s social relationships. Individuals can present multiple forms of aggressions as in the case below.
Case Study Description
John is a twenty-year-old man who has recently experienced changes in behavior. A month before visiting the hospital, his parents notice that he had become more talkative, started talking to himself, and was often found roaming around the house and school aimlessly. He became verbally abusive especially when people told him to be quiet. He also started disturbing the neighbors and was destructive to their property. He also started having sleepless nights, was delusional, and had a poor appetite. Also, it was discovered that he tended to be aggressive by engaging in tantrum behavior if he does not get what he demanded and at the same time did not want to be told what to do. Throwing tantrum means crying with tears and loudly to the extent that many people can hear him. The healthcare officers considered diagnosing John for mental retardation with the schizoaffective disorder which was found to exist in the patient. Rabia & Khoo (2008) indicate schizoaffective disorder as a chronic mental disorder that is linked with symptoms of schizophrenia including delusions and symptoms of mood disorder that include depression. He was urgently admitted to the hospital’s psychiatric ward for treatment.
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John enjoys engaging in activities such as swimming, watching movies, going to the zoo, and playing basketball but he has now been restricted because of his aggressive behaviors. The restrictions are because his parents fear that he can physically harm people as a result of his aggressive behavior considering that he has been physically aggressive to them where he hit them. Hitting, in this case, means that he used his open hand to forcefully make contact with the other person.
Generally, aggression in the case of John is in the form of property destruction, verbal abuse, engaging in tantrum behaviors, and physical abuse which needs to be dealt with.
Definition of Target Behavior
In Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) target behavior is seen as the behavior that has been planned to be modified. Before the behavior of an individual can be dissected, it first has to be characterized in a manner that is targeted, reasonable, and succinct. Considering the fact that people take information on the individuals’ advance, it is critical to determine what needs to be recorded. A definition is a brief, clear, and target when someone can use it and also know exactly what needs to be searched.
In this case, the target behavior is aggression which is in many forms. A topography-based definition is useful in describing John’s dysfunctional behavior. According to Cooper (2014), topography-based behavior is the manner in which the behavior looks like. In this case, aggression is any time when John intends to destroy people’s property, to physically harm other people, to disturb others, and when he is abusive. It is when he tries to harm other people by yelling, kicking, biting, throwing objects to other people, screaming, and hitting. Aggression in the case of John also includes property destruction and verbal abuse. This behavior would be in the community or at home.
John’s aggressive behavior happens often like six to seven times a week and is caused by various elements such as not getting what he wants and being told what to do, and has become a safety concern. As stated above, he damages properties and is at risk of causing physical harm which can get him into trouble with the law authorities.
Social Significance
The behavior which is presented by John is socially significant in different ways. To start with it is socially significant because it can result in physical harm in addition to resulting in damages to other people’s property. His aggressive behavior puts fear on those around him at home and at school because he is often verbally abusive when he is requested to be quiet. The neighbors are especially fearful because he has started disturbing them and was destructive to their property
John’s behavior is also socially significant because his parents have had to take him to the hospital so that he can get a psychiatric evaluation. It means that his parents, who John gets verbally aggressive with, are also vulnerable to physical aggression. In addition, dealing with John’s behavior in this early stage will ensure that the corrective measures taken would be more effective. It would prevent John from engaging in more aggressive behaviors and would prevent him from getting into problems with the justice system.
Dealing with John’s behavior would provide him with many opportunities like living in the community. He will get the opportunity to engage in activities which he enjoys doing such as swimming, watching movies, going to the zoo, and playing basketball. It would also ensure the safety of his parents, students, neighbors, and others in the community.
Outcome Criteria Definition
The target behavior would be measured by how aggressive John is. The expected behavior would be for John to act in a civilized manner by nor being verbally aggressive and where he does not destroy people’s property. Upon meeting John, strangers need to see him behaving without any sign of aggression. They need to ascertain that he is well based on the way he acts and talks to people. The expected outcome also involves John sleeping and eating well because currently, it is evident that these have become problematic to him.
John would like to go back to the community and engage in social activities that he previously enjoyed. However, to succeed in doing these activities, he needs to decrease his aggression. He needs to reduce his outburst of aggression from six/seven times a week, to three times a month. This will then be reduced to three times every six months because the number of outbursts is expected to decrease gradually to zero. After one-year John will have no outbursts of aggression. Eliminating aggressive behavior is critical because it will ensure that those around John are at no risk of being physically hurt (Fisher, 2011) . It will also reduce the risk John destroying the neighbors’ properties. The best preventative measure that will be implemented to reduce the number of outburst of aggression is the Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA).
The FBA will be done on John and will include five steps to get the needed information. The first step involves defining the behavior that is considered to be aggression. The second step involves collecting data that is in the ABC form as filled by the patient’s parents. The third step involves developing some hypotheses that include the reason and function of aggression. The reason for aggression includes being restricted from doing the activities that John likes and being told what to do. The next step includes planning an intervention that includes teaching John positive skills that would replace negative aggressive behavior. John also needs to be involved in skills and behavioral training approaches that would help him function considering that he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Developing a support system in his environment will also help him develop good behavioral skills ( Scheuermann, 2016) . The fifth step includes evaluating how effective the plan is to determine if the new skill reduces and even eliminates negative aggressive behavior.
A behavioral plan will also be developed and the staff that is working with John will get the necessary information on the plan. The staff will be trained on the aspects of the plan to ensure its effectiveness. They will then work with John based on the plan to ensure the success of the process. Throughout the treatment process, the staff will document John’s progress to improving his aggression. John’s parents and his caretakers will be required to fill out the antecedent, behavior, and consequence (ABC) data sheet that includes the date, behavior, antecedent, and consequence as it relates to John’s aggressive behavior.
Conclusion
The aggressive behavior presented by John is in the form of property destruction, verbal abuse, and physical abuse which needs to be dealt with as it had a negative effect on his QOL. Dealing with John’s aggressive behavior will involve the implementation of FBA and a behavioral plan. Dealing with John’s behavior would provide him with many opportunities like living in the community. The benefits of this process also include improving his behavior, it will help him continue engaging in the activities which he loves, he will be able to relate with other people without harming them, and will keep away from destroying other people’s property. Generally, the process will improve his QOL.
References
Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2014). Applied behavior analysis . Harlow: Pearson.
Fisher, W. W., Piazza, C. C., & Roane, H. S. (2011). Handbook of applied behavior analysis . New York: Guilford Press.
Rabia, K., &., Khoo. E., M. (2008). A Mentally Retarded Patient with Schizophrenia. Malaysian Family Physician, 146–150.
Scheuermann, B., & Hall, J. A. (2016). Positive behavioral supports for the classroom . Boston: Pearson.
