In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

5 Case Studies in Discipline Using the Three Approaches to Address Behavioral Challenges T o illustrate the similarities and differences among the three major discipline approaches—Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive—it is necessary to bring the discussion to a more practical level. In this chapter, I present three hypothetical case studies (compiled from typical real-world experiences)— two involving families and one involving a classroom—and describe the kinds of advice the caregivers in these stories would receive if they consulted with a psychologist or other discipline expert operating within each of the three approaches. First, I provide a synopsis of each case, and then I discuss how each would be addressed from the standpoint of the Affective approach, the Behavioral approach, and the Cognitive approach. In subsequent chapters, I break down the distinguishing features of the three approaches by demonstrating how they are, in fact, highly congruent and how they can be combined in a mix and match fashion to suit any family or classroom circumstance. The point I want to make in discussing these and other cases is this: Competence at discipline, or any other adult activity for that matter, is a function less of the precise actions one engages in (such as how much active listening one does) than of when and how effectively one engages in those actions. Thus, I ground the discussion of the cases as much as possible in concrete examples of effective and ineffective caregiver responses to specific child behaviors. One thing that becomes apparent from examining the cases in this chapter, and again in the two chapters that follow, is that the framework therapists and discipline educators communicate to caregivers does not change from case to case, though the emphasis might. Within the Affective approach, for example, all caregivers are taught the same three principles—Assert Needs, Accept Feelings , and Show Respect—but the emphasis might be a little different from case 68 Chapter 5 to case, depending on a caregiver’s strengths and weaknesses across the three discipline domains. Thus, for one family (such as the first one discussed here) the obvious starting point might be to convince the parents of the importance of asserting needs, while the starting point might be a little different for another set of parents, whose main problem might not be an unwillingness to set limits but perhaps an inability to accept feelings or to show affection. Finding the starting point can be the first challenge in a discipline intervention . The discipline profile is a tool that can be used to identify a caregiver’s strengths and weaknesses in discipline. The profile is a simple graphical plot displaying a caregiver’s relative skill in applying specific principles of discipline ; performance on each is rated as low, medium, high, or excessive. Caregiver discipline is regarded as competent when scores for all principles plotted are close to high (or on the medium side of high) without being too high (i.e., excessive). Although the Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive approaches all have principles corresponding to the Warmth, Tolerance, and Influence domains, the principles are not identical across approaches, and it is possible that the same caregiver’s discipline profiles for the three approaches will differ somewhat. Any discipline educator will emphasize all three of the domains, but an individualized discipline profile (or series of profiles, to cover the three approaches) can help the educator as well as the caregiver get a better handle on the areas that need particular attention. Discipline profiles constructed for each approach illustrate the case analyses that follow, highlighting areas where improvement is needed for each caregiver. Three Challenging Discipline Cases Case 1: An Overly Weak Parent of Young Kids Kathy Berne is a thirty-year-old single mother who lives with her two young children, Peter, age five, and Sarah, age three. Kathy’s husband moved out of the home a year ago, and the change has been difficult for the children, especially Peter. Wanting to make up the loss to her kids and keep them happy, Kathy sets very few limits. This practice fits in with Kathy’s values overall, as she grew up in a very strict and cold household, and she is determined to raise her kids in a more permissive and warm environment. Thus, Kathy’s postdivorce permissiveness is not new but rather is an exaggeration of a tendency she already had. Kathy was forced to seek help from a discipline expert when the head of her son’s preschool...

Share