Coercive Transaction Cycle

Coercive Transactions

Imagine an argument you've had with either a child or significant other, one that spins out of control and get's pretty heated.  Keep this in mind while you are reading the interaction described below.  The interaction might be triggered by your child not doing something, not taking the trash out, or moving too slowly, like while getting ready for school.  The interaction can also be triggered by your child doing something undesirable. Do you recognize the pattern?  

“Coercion refers to a sequence of interactions between the child and parent. The sequence includes actions and reactions that increase the frequency and amplitude of angry, hostile, and aggressive behaviors. The sequence may begin with an argument over some action that has or has not been performed. It intensifies through verbal statements (e.g.: yelling, swearing) to more intensive actions (e.g., hitting, shoving). Ultimately, one person gives in or backs away from the interaction. In other words, the high-intensity interaction of one person ends the aversive behavior of the other person." (Kazdin) 

Basically, Person A (the child in this case) in the interaction responds to a parental action (comment, limit, etc) with mild hostility.  Person B (the parent) responds with mildly hostile behavior.  Person A increases the level of hostility as the interaction continues.  Person B increases hostility as the interaction continues.  Person A increases hostility high enough to cause Person B to discontinue their hostile behavior.  The discontinuation of Person B's hostility inadvertently rewards / reinforces the use of Person A's hostile behavior. 

This is a win-lose outcome.  In this case, Person A "wins" the interaction and will be more likely to utilize hostile behavior in the future.  Person B "loses" the interaction.  Losing fosters anger and resentment, which makes it more likely that hostility will be present at the very beginning of the next interaction. 

Note: it's not recommended that either person persist in using hostility instead of discontinuing the interaction.  It's also important to know the outcome can be reversed, in which case Person B "wins" the interaction and is inadvertently rewarded for using hostile behavior.  Who ever is the person in charge, is responsible for disengaging from the argument and calling for a short break to cool things down.  After cooling off period, the adult invites the child to enter into a conversation that will solve the problem in a mutually agreeable manner: win-win, instead of lose-win or win-lose.       

“In the context of oppositional and aggressive behavior among children … Several [adult] practices are known to foster child deviance, particularly child aggression. These practices include:

• attending to and reinforcing deviant child behavior,
• using commands excessively,
• using harsh punishment,
• failing to attend to appropriate child behavior,
• engaging in coercive adult-child interchanges,
• and failing to monitor children (e.g., their whereabouts).

This research has established that adult practices can directly foster and increase aggressive child behavior.” (Kazdin, 2005, p. 167)

Bibliography:

Kazdin, A. E. (2005). Parent Management Training: Treatment for Oppositional, Aggressive, and Antisocial Behavior in Children and Adolescents. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.

Behavioral Problems

Behavioral Problems

Families and schools have a wide range of ideas and beliefs about what constitutes a behavior problem and a range of expectations for what level of behavioral compliance is reasonable. Further, our understanding of what "normal behavior" is not well understood. One informal study estimates that average children follow approximately 70% of their parent’s instructions. Is that good, bad, or medium? That depends on the family’s expectations for compliance. Family "A" may think that 70% compliance is fantastic, while family "B" sees it as horrible.

The same applies to school systems and teachers. Expectations for behavioral compliance alter the way in which behavior is assessed and interpreted.

Behavior problems beyond what is developmentally appropriate (one would hardly expect a toddler or a teen to be completely well behaved) can and should be seen as an indication that something is wrong, that the child or adolescent is in distress. This seems straightforward enough, almost obvious; but the "something" that is wrong is far more difficult to identify than would first appear; and the solution can be even more daunting.

To make matters even more difficult, children often don’t tell us what the problem is, children only show us that there is a problem with their behavior. Our job is to decode the message and detect the source of distress. We then need to devise a coherent and effective intervention.

Children experience distress for many reasons and from several different sources. To understand this complexity we have to think of a child as a dynamic unique organism complete with his / her own special set of characteristics and attributes. For example, infants come complete with their own distinct personalities, characteristics, and abilities. Some are temperamental and some easy going; some are affectionate and some distant; some are very outgoing and social and others are shy. Some children walk sooner; other children talk sooner. Each child is unique. As children grow they interact with their world – home, school, neighborhood, and community, and so on – in more and more complex ways. Young children usually have limited exposure to others. However, exposure to the world expands as children age. They move farther and farther out into the world encountering ever more people, situations, and environments.

As the child's world grows more complex so too does the likelihood that friction will develop, that something will "rub" the wrong way. That’s the natural course of life. But for some children, it’s this interactive friction between the child and some part of the environment that is the root cause of many behavioral problems and conflicts.

Families and schools wishing to address the misbehavior of children must seek to understand not only the child, but also the child's environment (the situation and system), and the child-environment interaction. For most children with behavioral problems there is a mismatch somewhere in the child-environment interaction.

Interventions can be designed to modify the environment to be more favorable to the child, thereby alleviating enough of the discomfort to allow for improved performance. An alternative approach is to enhance the child’s skills set in order to improve performance through more
effective, adaptive coping skills. A combination of environmental modification and skill enhancement may be the most beneficial strategy in both the short and long run.

Children experiencing distress beyond threshold levels may fail to mature and gather new skills as they age. Constant distress tends to drain the child’s emotional resources and as a result contribute to regressed behavioral patterns, heightened situational reactivity, and maladaptive coping strategies. In this situation the child’s behavior will deteriorate at a fairly steady rate over time, problems become compounded, and the situation worsens as the crisis state approaches.

Family Behavior Management

Families struggling to exist with behavior challenged children and teens will recognize the deteriorating state. As the problem grows for the child it also becomes more daunting for parents and siblings. And as the burden increases the family will reach it’s own threshold of tolerance. As the stress load passes this threshold family functioning can become severely impaired. Parenting techniques and tactics regress, become reactive (rather than proactive), and maladaptive management strategies may become the primary mechanism of behavior management. This state once reached so taxes internal resources that parents and siblings often react out of shear desperation.

How to Turn It Around

Behavior management and behavior modification are the primary points of intervention. Modifications and accommodations to or within the environment are effective and essential components too.

Behavior management is the skill set that other’s acquire in order to more effectively manage a child’s behavior. Behavior modification is a skilled and targeted activity designed to change behavior gradually over time. Behavior change occurs in two directions at the same time: suppression of negative or unwanted behaviors and encouragement of new more positive and adaptive behaviors. The primary effort is on the growth of new, more positive behaviors to replace or make obsolete, the negative behaviors. Suppression of unwanted behavior is desirable, but alone does nothing to encourage the growth of positive and adaptive behavior.

Behavior is not the only concern. The over-riding concern is the internalization of a positive value system. Value systems derive from family, school, and community; each having perhaps a unique set of prized values. Families may foster more autonomy while schools may foster a sense of cooperation. Both autonomy and cooperation are valued assets in navigating the complex social world in which we live.

Sincerely,

Kenneth H. Little, MA
Thornton, NH 03285
603-726-1006
KenLittle50@gmail.com
https://www.achieve-es.com