The development of antisocial behavior is a process that begins in early childhood and evolves into more serious externalizing behaviors throughout the school-age years and into adulthood. Coercion theory, developed by Patterson in 1982, describes how this trajectory begins. This extant literature on coercion theory posits that early interactions with the caregiver shape how children tolerate calls for compliance and teaches both children and parents to negotiate conflict in a coercive manner (Patterson, 1982). There are three basic processes in coercion theory: parental demand, child refusal, and parental withdrawal (Granic & Patterson, 2006; Patterson, 1982; Braungart-Rieker, Garwood & Stifter, 1997). More specifically, a coercive interaction …show more content…
Parents are therefore inadvertently reinforcing the child’s bad behavior, which causes them to become increasingly harsh in their expectations and compliance requests, which leads to more noncompliant child behavior (Smith et al., 2014b). This coercive family process is, in essence, a form of negative reinforcement (Patterson, 2002; Smith, Dishion, Shaw, & Wilson, 2014a; Smith et al., 2014b). The cycle of parent-child interaction is explained by operant conditioning because when a parent withdraws from the environment (i.e. takes their scolding and requests for compliance out of the environment) a behavior increases (i.e. the child’s noncompliance continues). On the surface, this type of interaction may manifest in children with defiance, disobedience, and destruction of belongings; in parents, this will manifest in harsh calls for compliance and punishment, as well as inconsistent involvement, supervision, and disciplining (Keenan & Shaw, 1995; Smith et al., 2014b). Coercive behaviors are more likely have a lasting impact if they have an early age of onset, occur often and in more than one setting, and result in a variety of negative parent and child behaviors (Keenan & Shaw, 1995). However, it is not this resulting noncompliant behavior itself, but rather the coercive interactions that increase the likelihood of future oppositional
When Ezra was eight years old, he had a psychologist report done that asked a set of questions not only to him but also to myself about my parenting style. I scored high in the top 15 percentiles in not only warmth and affection but also discipline and control. Being high in all four aspects of parenting styles puts me into the authoritative style (Bee & Boyd, 2012). In The Developing Child, the authors describe the parents with this parenting style as those that are “setting clear limits, expecting and reinforcing socially mature behavior, and at the same time responding to the child’s individual needs (Bee & Boyd, 2012, p. 326).” As I reflect on certain situations, I can tell that this style guided my parenting. For example, when Ezra was 6 he frequently cheated at games if he knew he could get away with it. My response, with accordance to my authoritative parenting style, was to beginning teaching him right and wrong, not getting upset, but to bring up the cheating and tell him to play by the rules despite him not having a “strong sense of mortality (Manis, 2008).” I decided to use that option because I wanted Ezra to learn from the experience but continue to play the game and have
These researchers believe that intensive intervention approaches are needed for youth who display antisocial behaviors because such behaviors put them at even greater risk for abusing substances. They also state that when youth engage in antisocial behaviors, the parents tend to be less accepting of them, show less affection, support and attachment to them. The parents may also have harsher attitudes and discipline with such youth. In addition, according to Santisteban et al (1997), research has shown that parents of youth with antisocial behaviors often use reinforcement inappropriately, use inconsistent parenting styles, and have a lot of family conflict and poor attachment to their children. Family therapy and intervention can be useful in helping parents to become a protective factor to help youth deal with stressors they are facing and to prevent their abuse of substances. However, if families do not receive interventions or help, youth with antisocial behaviors are more likely to be influenced by antisocial peers, drug use, and criminal activity in their neighborhoods. Also, if the parents force their problematic youth out of the home too soon, then they will be more easily influenced by
Children who are under the influence of parental guidance tend to have better behavior and can distinguish between right and wrong. “Children placed in situations lacking parental guidance are six times as likely than those with parental guidance to have a high level of overall difficulties including, emotional issues, conduct disorders, and peer problems” (McGuire 2014). Children do not have to worry about the weight of responsibility because their parents take on that responsibility for them. Kids brought up in normal, loving environments behave in a more civilized manner and exhibit better etiquette than those who are placed in negative, harsh environments such as...
Coercion can be defined as forcing someone to do something they do not want to do. In order to determine if coercion will be successful or not one has to look at four key principles: communication, capability, credibility and compliance or “target will.” While the peace settlements after World War I could have been considered coercive, they probably had very little chance of success based on these four stated principles. France communicated that it wanted unreasonable demands including unlimited reparations for the war. Without Great Britain and the United States, France had little capability in enforcing the settlements. In addition, it had little to no past reputation of being able to support its decision in upholding the settlements. Finally,
Many studies have found that a single parent often raises aggressive children. Single parenthood is often associated with neighborhood type, which is another factor in predicting childhood aggression. This is because single parents are more likely to live in less advantaged neighborhoods. Aggressiveness in boys and girls is often seen in large urban areas. Studies show that children who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to experience stressful life events that lead to aggressive behavior. The association of single parenthood and neighborhood type helps to explain the discrepancy found in the degree of aggression. For example, if an aggressive child is reared in a single parent home, but is raised in an advantaged neighborhood, the degree of aggression will be less than that of a child raised in a single parent home that is also raised in a less advantaged neighborhood. Also, “divorced families that have achieved stability may show less conflict than married families, and authoritative parenting in single parent families may outweigh the effects of family structure” (Hetherington, 1992). Additional risks associated with family structure include low parental interest in boys’ education, a parent that has been convicted of a crime, parental discipline that is too harsh, and authoritarian parenting. Authoritarian parenting is defined as a style of child rearing where standards for proper behavior are high and when the child misbehaves, his misconduct is very strictly punished.
...orce the good behaviour with rewards and decrease the likelihood of negative behaviour being repeated. The structured discipline of both parents and teachers help the child to appreciate that good behaviour is much more beneficial than bad behaviour but without this structure in one or both of these settings, could lead to the child not understanding, leading to it being much more difficult to correct behaviour that isn't wanted without resorting to drastic measures of physical or psychological punishment that would do more harm than good. Further research into helping the children in these sort of circumstances would be much more beneficial to the topic of child behaviour and punishment.
“Fortunately, children do not need “perfect” parents. They do need mothers and fathers who will think on their feet and who will be thoughtful about what they have done. They do need parents who can be flexible, and who can use a variety of approaches to discipline.” - James L. Hymes, Jr. this quote, I can say, is physically very true. If it wasn’t my father who was rigorous to...
This style of parenting is best described as the child having more control over the parent. There are a lot of parents today that seem to have no control of their child actions and even words. This in which can make the parents question what are they doing wrong when it comes to raising their child. This type of parent have very low demands and are highly responsive, maybe even too responsive to the child’s needs. Although these parents are very loving of their children they do not have many rules that their child should abide by (Cherry, K. 2017, para.1). Not setting ground rules gives the child the freedom to do whatever they want and know that they will not receive a harsh, if any punishment at all. Also, parents who are permissive tend to want to be their child’s best friend. The child in this parent in child relationship tends to have more control than the parent. If there are not any rules in place to be followed the child will eventually resort to negative behaviors, and may even be insure because of the low discipline from their parents (Cherry, K. 2017, para. 9). Permissive parents should give the child rules to follow and discipline them if broken, to ensure that their child follow the right path throughout
Coercion was theory that developed by Gerald Patterson , broadly speaking the concept of coercion has two different types, according to the two parties involved in the case of its most unusual. In first types, it took an agent technique (coercers) that can be used to get the other agents to do or not do something. On the other face, picking out some sort of reason why the agent (coercees) sometimes do or hold back from doing something. Coercion has a special way to carry some important implications, including reducing the freedom and responsibility of targeted agents, and that it is a (pro tanto) incorrect and / or infringement. Nevertheless, some believe that it is always justified, because it seems that no society can be functioned without
Families serve as one of the strongest socializing forces in a person's life. They help teach children to control unacceptable behavior, to delay gratification, and to respect the rights of others. Conversely, families can also teach children aggressive, antisocial, and violent behavior. In adults' lives, family responsibilities may provide an important stabilizing force. Given these possibilities, family life may directly contribute to the development of delinquent and criminal tendencies. Parental conflict and child abuse correlate with delinquency. Though not all children who grow up in conflictive or violent homes become delinquent, however, being exposed to conflict and violence appears to increase the risk of delinquency. At this point, researchers have not pin pointed what factors exactly push some at-risk youth into delinquency. A child with criminal parents faces a greater likelihood of becoming a delinquent than children with law-abiding parents. However, the influence appears not to be directly related to criminality but possibly to poor supervision.
Authoritarian parents, show very little acceptance, have very high expectations of their children and are extremely controlling. These parents are strict, and use a prohibitive and punishment method. According to a research done by Kimberly Kopko from Cornell University, it “reveals that adolescents of authoritarian parents learn that following parental rules and adherence to strict discipline is valued over independent behavior. As a result, adolescents may become rebellious or dependent” (2). The adolescents who come to be rebellious may showcase hostile behaviors, while those who are passive are likely to stay relying on their parents (2).
Dishion T.J. and McMahon R.J. (1998), Parental Monitoring and the Prevention of Child and Adolescent Problem Behavior: A Conceptual and Empirical Formulation, Vol 1
It can be said for most parents that they want their children to grow up to be successful contributing members of society. Being a parent is a difficult, yet rewarding task. But why do some types of parenting result in juvenile delinquency while others find success. There are four generally recognized parenting styles and are categorized: authoritarian, permissive, neglectful, and authoritative. This essay will break down the various styles, its type(s) of discipline and effectiveness.
This essay will discuss whether it is thought that punishment is effective and whether it is currently thought to work, additionally it will examine the best ways to change a child’s behaviour in terms of positive and negative reinforcements. The issue of child punishment has received considerable critical attention within many cultures. Punishment towards children can be argued to be a very controversial area. It is argued that many people have been brought up with distinctive beliefs about punishments toward a child. A child’s upbringing is argued by many researchers to be key to how they will go on to treat their own children in the future. This can surely be argued to be a negative effect of physical punishment. It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the effects of what severe punishment may have on a child. Later convictions of violence and the evidence of damaging effects on well-being, corporal punishment has on children is overwhelming. However, it is not ingrained that corporal punishment is definitely damaging. There is also sufficient evidence to corporal punishment being an effective form of discipline, if used appropriately. It is thought that corporal punishment helps parents retain control over their children’s behaviour. This essay will consider the various forms of punishment, such as physical punishments and whether they are considered to work. This is essay will also consider effective ways of changing a child’s behaviour including the use of classical and operant conditioning and studies that support the theories and how they can be applied to real life. Classical conditioning for example uses learning through association, memory prompts the person to associate an object/ sound to a certain behaviour. ...
For instance, parents need to feel in control and see their form of discipline is taking effect that exact moment. However, if adults focus on results rather than addressing the issue, they are ultimately setting their children up for failure. “Punishment usually stops misbehavior immediately, however, the long-term results are negative because we are often fooled by immediate results” (Nelson, 13). Furthermore, this could be the reason why punishment is so popular amongst parents because it’s almost immediate response to misbehavior and the authoritative power it holds. According to Nelson, punishment is used by adults because it’s easier, they know how to punish, or do not know what else to do. (22). As a society, people usually take the easiest alternative to accomplish a task but it may not always be the better, smarter, or more efficient alternative. Furthermore, when people do not know what to do, they stick to what they do know. However, parents need to think of the long-term consequences and take the time, effort and skills to use effective discipline. (22).