Analyzing Discourses of Students with Learning Difficulties with Regard to Challenging Behavior

Abstract

Concerned about traditional practice with respect to the challenging behavior of college students with learning difficulties and physical disabilities in the United Kingdom, I questioned the extent to which they could manage themselves. From 265 students, I invited 15 young men, median age of 19, to participate in 12 weekly 1-hour discussions in focus groups specific to the challenging behavior of 3 case study students who were drawn from the 15, as well as in 12 weekly 1-hour interviews that addressed behaviors recorded by traditional “experts” as challenging. Thematic analysis yielded five themes related to different versions of students’ acting either responsibly (handing their problems over to traditional “experts”) or irresponsibly (deliberately disrupting learning and social environments), categorized as I've got a problem, I told staff, I can’t, I’m disabled, and I’m not normal. Discursive analysis highlighted five variable communicative and behavior patterns—conditioned response, role-specific, inner-conflicted, retreating, and higher order—which correlated with students’ levels of differentiation from various adverse sources of influence on their identities. Despite these influences, when invited to engage nondefensively, students proved able to manage themselves.