Behavior, Student

John Palladino

Historically, research about the etiology of student behavior has focused on the promotion of positive behaviors and the remediation of negative ones. The federal government also addressed student behavior as part of the 1997 Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), an act that governs the provisions of special education. Three perspectives summarize the different points of view about student behavior: (1) disability, (2) deviance, and (3) alienation. Professionals who support the disability perspective attend to medical-pathological conditions and profess that behaviors are devoid of individual control and responsibility. Medical professionals use psychiatric, psychological, and psychoneurological evaluations to treat behaviors in mental health settings. Strengths of the perspective include culture-free biases, normreferenced evaluations, and etiology emphases that lend to interventions. Weaknesses of the perspective include emphases on labels and exclusion of parents and nonmedical professionals. Professionals who subscribe to the deviance perspective label behavior problems as contrary to socially accepted norms. ...

Users without subscription are not able to see the full content on this title. Please, subscribe or login to access all content on this website.