Behavior Modification

Behavior Modification is treatment that deals with undesirable behaviors with intentions of replacing and/or modifying them with desirable behaviors. Although this concept can be used in adults as well as children, my focus is on childhood. When you think of an adult with behavior problems, it had to start somewhere. Was it during birth, or their childhood? According to Ninness, Glenn, and Ellis, behavior typically considered “disordered” almost always involves emotional components. Emotionally and behaviorally disordered children are with serious problems to overcome (p.17-18). There are many different types of behavior disorders that range from anxiety to personality disorders and different methods of treatments for each of them.

Emotionally and Behaviorally disordered children are challenged with serious problems to overcome. The source of these problems are varied and often multiplied. They include psychological abnormalities genetically transmitted or acquired, chaotic home environments, school environments that are often inconsistent.

Delfos research shows, depression, a division between predisposition and environment is possible. Someone who has a tendency for depression may possibly end up in a depression caused by just a small, sometimes unimportant, event, or, as is more likely, may end up in a depression after a long period of anxiety. The reverse is also possible: someone who hardly has a tendency for depression may end up in a depression because of a serious cause. With this description it becomes clear that the origin and the course of depression for the endogenous, genetic depression are different from the origin and course of the exogenous depression, where the environment plays an important role. In addition, the possibility of immaturation of the hormone production, for example, can be significant with children (p 109).

Personality disorders, according to David, are quiet problematic. They are associated with personal distress and/or social-occupational dysfunction. These patients are also considered unpleasant to interact with and difficult to treat. According to him, he states that most personality disorders are based on traits (p 183-184).

With conduct disorder a specific group of behaviours is meant, namely those where social codes are structurally violated or not followed out of fear, and disorders such as autism and bedwetting are not included. Use of the term “behaviour” is more general and is, in principle, free from value judgments. The term ‘conduct’ refers more to “behaviours”, that is to say behaviour