Chapter Contents
The Effects of Trauma on Behaviour
Our young people have often had a painful history that has deeply affected their development. We believe that these children need therapeutic care to reach their emotional, social and educational potential.
Our young people have experienced things as having gone very wrong in their lives and are likely to have been traumatised by this. This often results in behaviour that adults find difficult to manage at home and at school. We aim to contain, understand, empathise and best manage their behaviour as we gradually help them to feel safe and be able to develop within long-term meaningful relationships.
Our therapeutic training pathway helps our foster parents to develop skills to identify and understand the thoughts and feelings that lead to challenging behaviour, and to respond in ways that promote recovery and strengthen relationships. We ask our foster parents to avoid the use of punishment, as this is often not an effective learning tool for children with trauma. Instead, we encourage an approach that acknowledges the child’s feelings, gives them space to pause and restore a sense of calm, and invites them to share in finding solutions to problems.
Find out more about the impact of trauma on children’s behaviour here.
The ABC Approach to Understanding Behaviour
The ABC approach looks at behaviour (B) in terms of its antecedents (A) and consequences (C). This means thinking about what might have led to (or caused) behaviour, and how the consequences of behaviour can influence whether that behaviour continues or not.
Antecedents – the context and causes of behaviour
A large number of personal and environmental factors can influence children’s behaviour. These include:
- The culture and ethos of the family or social group
- Other people’s attitudes and behaviour
- Physical comfort and discomfort
- Available activities
- Previous experiences and expectations
- Medical or disability needs
- Rights, rules and responsibilities
These factors determine whether a child’s needs are being met. A child whose needs are being met is more likely to feel safe, comfortable and supported. Their behaviour is more likely to be positively adapted to their environment, and considered appropriate by others. This is our goal.
Some ideas to build relationships and promote positive behaviour:
- Welcome children with a smile – let them know you’re pleased to see them.
- Set a positive example through your own attitude and behaviour.
- Spend time together doing things you both enjoy.
- Set clear boundaries, have consistent routines and take the role of a trusted adult.
- Give clear and simple instructions.
- Work at the pace of the child – small steps can lead to positive change.
- Notice when the child is doing well and interact with enthusiasm.
- Offer praise and recognition.
Behaviour – the ways in which children respond to different situations
A great many different things influence children’s behaviour. Whilst you can’t control all of these, you can have some control over their environment, and carefully managing this can help to encourage positive behaviour, and prevent behavioural problems from escalating.
Some ideas for early and effective intervention:
- Be confident, consistent and fair when dealing with negative behaviour.
- Get alongside a child who appears stressed and offer support and reassurance.
- Encourage children to let you know if they are feeling stressed or unhappy.
- Provide an emotional language for the child, e.g. “you look like you’re feeling angry”.
- Employ diversion techniques to calm a stressed child.
- Have an ‘exit plan’ for known stressful situations, to allow children to safely withdraw before things escalate.
- Give praise and attention to positive behaviour.
- Give clear an direct requests to stop unacceptable behaviour.
Consequences – the outcomes of behaviour
This refers to the things that happen as a result of what we do. Consequences can be positive (e.g. receiving praise or a reward, feelings of pride and satisfaction) or negative (feeling guilty, being told off, harm or damage caused).
Behaviourist theory suggests that positive consequences lead to repeated behaviour, whilst negative consequences make us less likely to do it again. These ideas are popular and feature heavily in mainstream parenting advice. However, they are not always effective when working with children who have experienced trauma. In fact, punishment can further weaken a child’s fragile self-esteem.
For this reason, we ask you to consider whether anything in addition to natural consequences are necessary, and to consider any consequences to be restorative in nature. In this way, children learn to take responsibility for their actions and relationships are strengthened.
Encourage and support young people to respect the rights of others, understand the value and safety of boundaries, and help them to make positive choices that increase access to positive life experiences.
