What makes the oppositional child that way?

Some physiological correlates appear, primarily involving difficulties in soothing and in responding appropriately to stimulation in the early years of life.  A high co-morbidity rate with ADHD and learning disabilities suggests that an underlying subtle brain dysfunction may be related to this problematic behavior and response pattern.  One clear element that creates and sustains a pattern of oppositional behavior is an effort on the child’s part to maintain a sense of control and efficacy within his or her environment.  What this means is that the child has a stronger than average need to feel that interactions and events in her or his life are predictable and that he or she is able to produce predictable events through specific personal behaviors.  Unfortunately, for the oppositional individual the short-term sense of comfort and strength derived from successfully frustrating adults and avoiding unpleasant tasks often outweighs the long-term costs associated with the behaviors.      

In addition to the variables within the oppositional individual, many factors in the people and environment around that individual can contribute directly to a pattern of oppositional and defiant behaviors that interfere with normal functioning. Foremost among these factors is the style of discipline that has typically been used with the individual.  Inconsistent and/or harsh discipline and interaction styles will increase the likelihood ODD developing. 

In your setting, there should be clear, simple and consistent behavioral expectations across settings within the school.  Teachers and support staff must work together as much as possible to reduce variability in enforcement patterns across classes and areas.  All individuals responsible for the behavior of students should use a similar set of warnings and consequences.  This does not mean that there should be no use of individual judgment in dealing with different students or different circumstances.  It just means that everyone should be very clear on what the order of behavioral intervention should be and there should be general consensus among the staff on what behaviors merit intervention.  This consensus can be built through meetings and discussions regarding behavior management and violence prevention, or through an internal document that is examined and responded to by all of the staff members at the beginning of the year and updated regularly.

When any authority figure sets limits, it should be done in a direct, firm but not angry manner.  Tell the student in a calm voice what he or she can do that will replace the inappropriate behavior.  For example, rather than saying “Stop yelling” say “Please walk in the hall.”  Instead of saying “Don’t yank on her hair” say “Keep your hands in your pockets.”  If the student does not comply within a few seconds, give the student a warning, indicating that he or she must choose to either comply with your instruction or choose to accept some negative consequence, such as standing against the wall or missing out on five minutes of recess, or going to the back of the line for lunch.  Give the student a little bit of distance and a few moments to choose.  If they choose to comply, give a brief labeled praise “Thanks for minding, you made a good decision.”  If they choose the consequence, enforce it immediately saying “All right, you have chosen to ______.”  Remember that actively teaching coping skills is the responsibility of all teachers and support staff to all students, not just their own.  An essential element of teaching this is to emphasize in all interactions the fact that the student can only be in control of a situation by making adaptive choices rather than fighting the established rules.  Remember, though, that the student can only make the adaptive choice if there is no way that the maladaptive choice will result in positive or negative reinforcement.

Copyright 2004-2008 by Edward L. Coyle, Ph.D. All rights reserved. May be reproduced only for personal use and may not be distributed without written permission under penalty of law.