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Controlling the urge to control: An ecosystemic approach to problem behaviour in schools
Author(s) -
COOPER PAUL,
UPTON GRAHAM
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
support for learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.25
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1467-9604
pISSN - 0268-2141
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9604.1991.tb00201.x
Subject(s) - causation , intervention (counseling) , criticism , argument (complex analysis) , psychology , control (management) , focus (optics) , developmental psychology , simple (philosophy) , psychotherapist , epistemology , medicine , psychiatry , political science , computer science , philosophy , physics , optics , artificial intelligence , law
After many years a serious challenge to behavioural approaches in the treatment of pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties has begun to emerge. This comes from those who support a systems approach – a focus not so much on the individual but on the dysfunctions of the school and general environment. Cooper and Upton use the term ecosystemic to describe this. They dispute previous emphases on simple patterns of lineal causation and propose an intervention strategy that enables the needs of all participants to be met. This argument, of course, amounts to a serious criticism of some of the Elton Report recommendations. It should be read not only by those with a specific responsibility for dealing with behavioural difficulties but by all interested in the pastoral care of pupils.