Evidence based practice in the home and school to help educate the socially maladjusted child.

Abstract

Educators often exclude socially maladjusted children (SMA) from a proper education due to serious disruptive behavior. Never the less, these children are entitled to services under section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. While SMA children are indeed difficult to educate, review of the associated literature suggests that methods to remediate and manage behavior patterns exists. This paper will explore effective education for SMA children and effective ways to manage their behavior in the classroom. In addition, this paper will explore the research suggesting that SMA children are harmed by educating them with other children who are SMA. We conclude that meeting the educational needs of children with social maladjustment involves the combination of home and school programming in an inclusive setting. INTRODUCTION Entering the new century, school districts and behavioral health programs around the country are reportedly striving to use and evidence-based practices when working with special education students. This important goal emerged from the President's Task Force on Mental Health (New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, 2003). One specific population of children, those diagnosed as socially maladjusted (SMA), are unfortunately not currently experiencing the benefits of this progress and reside in programs which fail to meet the best practice guidelines for treatment. This failure is particularly striking since organizations like the International Association for Behavior Analysis (Task Force on the Right to Effective Behavioral Treatment, 1988; Task Force on the Right to Effective Education, 1990), have published practice guidelines demanding that students have a right to effective education and the president has signed the No Child Left Behind Act (2001). In addition, the costs to society of not intervening with children of this group are great, including a greater demand on other systems such as the criminal justice system. School psychologists classify children with SMA when they are diagnosed with conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and disruptive disorder, not otherwise specified. SMA children are at great risk for dropout, with as many as 62% not completing high school (Walker & Reid, 1995). General academic failure combined with a pattern of delinquency ensures over 70% of SMA children are arrested at least once after leaving school (Walker, Colvin, & Ramsey, 1995; Walker, 1997). SMA children cost society over one billion dollars a year in the juvenile justice system and a half billion dollars in vandalism alone (Patterson, DeBaryshe, & Ramsey, 1989). Finally, about half of all children who are SMA become adolescent delinquents and three quarters of these children become adult offenders (Patterson, et al, 1989). Clearly, educating or not educating SMA children severely affects our society. After an examination of the costs, it is logical to wonder why schools have not used published best practices in regards to SMA children. Two reasons that children who are SMA might not receive treatment are: (1) schools are not entitled to compensation for such students under Individuals with disability education act 97 (IDEA 97) (2) the political fallout for children who may represent a serious threat to other students (Maag & Howell, 1992). Given the aggression problems of SMA children and that youth violence is one of the most serious problems facing schools systems today (Eberly, 1996) and rising at alarming rates (e.g., Sheley & Brewer, 1995), many find little incentive to argue for the civil liberties of this group. Maag and Howell (1992) suggest SMA students are victims of culture's need to show little tolerance for violence, which emerges from the school districts' need to retain popular support. Thus, it is not surprising that when youth violence has resulted in many calls for the removal of students who engage in serious behavioral problems, SMA students remain an unprotected group. …