Challenging Behaviour Means The Behaviour Psychology Essay

Behaviorists believe that origin of all behaviours is as per a stimulus response. As per their assumption our action is largely controlled by the environment in which we are surviving, which results to rendering of stimuli which makes us respond, and also in environment in which we have survived in past, which thus enable us to learn responding to stimuli in a specific manner. Behaviourists can be considered as unique among psychologists who possess the thought that internal process of mind should be speculated at the outset while explaining behaviour. They also keeps the notion that people only take birth with very limited reflexes and it gets complex as a consequence of learning by interacting with environment.

“Behaviorism is clearly a monist theory that does not believe in mental substance.”(Susan J.Fleck,1992)

Attachment theory means the dynamism of long lasting relationships which exist between humans. The vital component of this theory is that an infant require development of a relation with minimum one primary caregiver for emotional and social development that happens normally.

“Because of the need for an infant to maintain close proximity to his or her primary caregiver, the infant behaves in certain ways that encourage this close proximity and, therefore, protection.” (Sandra Donovan, 2010)

Psychodynamic theory is a perception that provides explanation of personality in terms of forces which can be conscious and unconscious, say for instance an unconscious belief or desire. As per the theory a personality is generally shaped by childhood experiences.

“By Addressing the causes of an individual’s behaviour, we would expect breach rates to fall in the long term.” Clarke, A., Williams, K., Wydall, S., Gray, P., Liddle, M. and Smith, A. (2011)

The social learning theory elaborates the vitality of observing and thereby modelling the attitudes, behaviours and emotional reactions of other individuals. Thus the main focus of the theory is on learning by observing and modelling.

Cognitive theory is a mode of learning theory that tries to provide explanation of human behaviour on the basis of their thought processes. The major assumption of this theory is that human beings make logical choices which prove them to be sensible.

“In accord with Reiss’s main thesis, social cognitive theory assumes that values and standards of conduct arise from diverse sources of influence and are promoted by institutional backing.” (Albert Bandura)

The major focus of Humanistic theory is based on the self, which thus gets translated to “YOU” and “your” experiences and “your” perception. As per this view human beings are free to opt for their own behaviour rather than expressing reaction to environmental stimuli and other such reinforces. Paramount Issues are those which are dealing which self fulfilment, self esteem and needs. Two vital theorists who are in association with the view are Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.

One of the crucial strength of the behaviourist theory is that it stresses only on those behaviours that can be noticed and manipulated. Secondly, The behaviourist approach focuses on the present rather than dealing with a person’s past or medical background. This can be considered as a major advantage as most of the people are not aware of the reasons of the past causing their abnormal behaviour and they are more concerned on getting rid of their bad habit rather than analysing the cause. But side by side the weakness of this approach is that if the underlying cause doesn’t get the treatment there is a high probability of the behaviour to return back in future.

“…..that mental states supervene on behavioural dispositions. But supervenient behaviourism could be refuted by something less ambitious.”(Alex Bryne,1994)

The major strength of attachment theory is that it is vitally implemented in the healthcare and for those kids who have taken birth in prison. The major flaw can be pointed as the lack of scientific rigor which is non testable. Another important point which proves its non worth is that women used to be at home with their kids long time back and in this present age since most of the mothers work the kids are used to spend their vital part of the day in nurseries.

“The nature of interactions between children and their primary caregivers have important implications for the formation of attachment relationships with these caregivers.” (Janice Schischka, 2009)

One of the major strength of Psychodynamic Approach is that gives an insight on how adult personality gets affected by prior relationships and experiences. For example, fixation can happen at the Oral Stage of Psychosexual development like when a separation happens from the primary caregiver at a very early stage or having problem with feeding. These fixations may result to such psychological issues like drinking or round eating. Another crucial strength of Psychodynamic Approach is that it is the preliminary approach given to provide explanation as in mental illness psychologically and it has extensive influence on the understanding and the treatment in association with mental disorders. One of the flaw of this Approach is that majority of Freud’s is depending on case studies evaluations, single individual where cases can be considered to be often exceptional and having issues in terms of generalization. Another weakness of the theory is that Freud did not consider the importance of variation of culture. Majority of his research were performed on white people from middle class origin. Since each culture and class of people have different values and modes so his research may not be considered to be generalised to all the cultures.

Social Learning Theory also comprises of its strengths and weaknesses. One such important strength may include dependence and permission of cognitive procedure. The theory uses experimental as well as non experimental data as well and side by side provides explanation of bulk of behaviours. Certain weaknesses which can not be overlooked here is that the theory fails to provide explanation of each behaviour. Say for instance, how can, X, say an individual, continue acting in a manner which is known to be punishable. The theory is generalised and does not stress on the basic differences as well. Say people in spite of being brought up in similar environment do not always act similarly. The theory also mostly depends on subjective perceptions. For instance, if A perceives something as punishment B may consider it as a reward.

“Almost every circumstance one can think of can be “good” or “bad”; close examinations of all the repercussions in the context of temporal change is bound to reveal the flip side of the coin.” Darling, N. (2007)

Crucial strength of cognitive theory is it is an accumulation of a research record which is impressive. This theory mainly deals with vital social behaviour of human beings. The theory being a flexible one is open to get changed as and when required. So this theory can also be termed as an evolving theory. The theory centres on major theoretical issues like behaviour stability, importance of rewards in learning. The perception of people is considered quite reasonably by the theory and it stress on the theories’ social implications. The Major limitations of the theory are that the theory is organised loosely and it can be perceived as fully systematic one. Various controversial issues pertaining on this theory are on the necessity of reinforcement in terms of performance and stability, importance of self efficacy, excessive reliability on self efficacy. The theory highly neglects the on the subject related to maturity and alteration over the lifespan and provides least attention to conflict, emotion and motivation.

“The researchers who have produced and disserminated the evidence that was interpreted in the fetishistic style could quite legitimately complain that they had never claimed that cognitive behavioural programmes were single form of interventions that worked and worked so well that they ought to displace everything else. Burney, E. (2002)

The major strengths of humanists theory is the emphasis give on the uniqueness of every individual as well as group wise as we are identified with (like caste, religion etc).The theory recognises human beings as rational being who may get influenced by their past but they are not determined on that basis and human beings can get changed with time. Side by side the theory’s main weakness can be highlighted as the difficulty to attain the result and difficult in measuring the success. Thus the theory can be considered as unscientific as well.

Challenging behaviour may appear to be a complex phenomenon but in a nutshell it is a behaviour which may include extreme frequency, intensity or duration. This behaviour may challenge the safety of the person or any other person in proximity or the resultant behaviour may result in serious denial or limitation of access of the usage of normal community benefits. This abnormal behaviour of an individual provides the information on the reason of such behaviour and what they are exactly seeking for. By assessing the problematic behaviour various approaches and strategies can be followed which may provide a positive result.