Defiant Behavior Research Articles

Reconstructing Violence: The Southern Rape Complex in Film and Literature by Deborah E. Barker (review)

Reviewed by: Reconstructing Violence: The Southern Rape Complex in Film and Literature by Deborah E. Barker Michele Curran Cornell Reconstructing Violence: The Southern Rape Complex in Film and Literature Deborah E. Barker Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2015, 288 pages, Hardcover, $47.50, ISBN: 978-0-8071-6062-6 During the Jim Crow era, all-white juries and white vigilantes defended white supremacy by using the southern rape complex to justify violence against African American men in the name of protecting the so-called honor and purity of white women. Court-ordered executions and lynch mobs killed thousands of black men in the 19th and 20th Centuries, who were accused of raping or even flirting with white women. The southern rape complex vilified black men as rapists and threats to southern culture, and provided white men a discourse to support the actions they took to reinforce white male privilege and racial hierarchy. In Reconstructing Violence, Deborah Barker shows how variations of the southern rape complex in American film and literature racialized cinematic conceptions of violence throughout the 20th Century. Across an introduction, six chapters, and a coda, Barker explores how six film—Birth of a Nation (1915), The Story of Temple Drake (1933), Sanctuary (1961), Touch of Evil (1958), Cape Fear (1968), and To Kill a Mockingbird (1968). —all of which were adapted from literary novels, reconstructed ideas about sexual violence and race for American audiences from the 1910s through the 1960s. Barker explains how authors, directors, and film studios influenced the process of adapting books into movies. Through this process, she distinguishes the similarities and differences between the original stories and final theatrical cuts to show how tropes of southern rape culture influenced each film's development. The films all take place in the American South during times of national crisis such as Reconstruction, the Great Depression, and the Civil Rights Movement. Barker uses D. W. Griffith's Reconstruction tale, Birth of a Nation, as a point of origin for many of the themes she discusses. She explains that Griffith's earlier Civil War films presented "troubling images" of former Confederates dealing with "cowardice and shame" after the Civil War (25). In Birth of a Nation, however, Barker argues that Griffith used southern rape culture to reconfigure "the defeated Confederate as the victorious Klansman" (26). In the film, southern men create the Ku Klux Klan to protect white women from the sexual aggression of black men and to protect southern whites from black rule when the government failed to do so. Using Birth of a Nation as a point of comparison, Barker shows how the tropes of the southern rape complex "are used across genres, in different time periods, in different stylistic modes, and with significant variations in narrative and character" (4). In the remainder of the book, Barker explores racial symbolism within other films by employing theoretical concepts such as racial coding and the "state of exception," both to be explained below. In most of the films Barker analyzes, white actors play the cinematic rapists, but Barker argues, "a character can be encoded as one race while visually signifying another" through "such things as speech, dress, and behaviors" (74). For example, the plot of Cape Fear explores Max Cady, an ex-convict and serial rapist who stalks and attacks the family of Sam Bowden, the prosecuting attorney who convicted him. Barker asserts that filmmakers encoded Cady as black through his defiant behavior, the familiar language he uses with black workers, his casual dress, and objects "'supercharged' with primitive power," such as Cady's "ever-present cigar and rakish Panama hat" (159-160). Furthermore, the police refer to him as "boy," and attempt to use vagrancy laws—originally designed to control the movements of black men—to force Cady to leave town (161). Barker suggests that Cady's ability to outmaneuver the legal measures Bowden [End Page 84] takes to exile him, create a frightening character for white audiences because, "as a bestial, white male rapist, Cady evades the restrictions of Jim Crow segregation" (155). Likewise, in The Story of Temple Drake, the setting is the Depression Era south where Barker explains that hillbillies, gangsters...

The Effects of Preschoolers’ Oppositional Defiant Behavior Problem Trajectory on Parental Stress and on the Preschoolers’ Self-control

The Effects of Preschoolers’ Oppositional Defiant Behavior Problem Trajectory on Parental Stress and on the Preschoolers’ Self-control

The Relationship between Preschoolers’ Attachment Representation and Behavior Problems

Objective The main purpose of this study is to investigate the differences in preschoolers’ problem behaviors according to their types of attachment. Methods The subjects of this study were 100 children (42 boys and 58 girls) who were 4-6 years old and were attending childcare center or kindergarten in Jeonbuk J city. The attachment representation of the young children was assessed using the Attachment Story Completion Task (ASCT), which was developed by Bretherton, Ridgeway and Cassidy(1990). Preschoolers’ problem behaviors were assessed using the K-CBCL 1.5-5 (Korean Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1-5-5). Content analysis and type classification were conducted based on various attachment coding manuals. The data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation analysis and t/F test. Results and Conclusion First, in the secure attachment type, nurturance/empathy, companionship, calm response to separation, and positive affection response codes were high, whereas in the avoidant attachment type, high avoidance response appeared, and in the disorganized attachment type, high bizarre negative event codes and disjointed event codes were found. Second, atypical event scores were positively correlated with aggressive behavior, the externalization of behavior problems, and oppositional defiant behavior problem. Third, it was found that the subscales (aggression and oppositional defiant behavior problem) of the problem behaviors differ according to the attachment type of the preschoolers. In partivular, the insecure-disorganized attachment type showed significantly higher problem behavior scores than did the other attachment types (secure and, avoidant attachment types). This result supports the theory of a relationship between secure attachment and the social-emotional development of preschoolers, and highlights the need for attention to and involvement with preschoolers of the insecure-disorganized attachment type. Keywords: attachment representation based on narrative method, preschoolers’ problem behavior

Angelman syndrome in adolescence and adulthood: A retrospective chart review of 53 cases.

Angelman syndrome is a neurogenetic disorder with varying clinical presentations and symptoms as the individual ages. The goal of this study was to characterize changes over time in the natural history of this syndrome in a large population. We reviewed the medical records of the 53 patients who were born prior to 2000 and seen at the Angelman Syndrome Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital to assess neurological, sleep, behavioral, gastrointestinal, orthopedic, and ophthalmologic functioning. The average age of this cohort was 24 years. Active seizures were present in 35%, nonepileptic myoclonus in 42%, and clinically significant tremors in 55%. Anxiety was present in 57%, increasing to 71% in those ages 26-43 years. In terms of sleep, 56% reported 8 hr of sleep or more, although 43% reported frequent nocturnal awakenings. Gastrointestinal issues remain problematic with 81% having constipation and 53% gastroesophageal reflux. The majority lived in a parent's home and remained independently mobile, though scoliosis was reportedly present in 30%, and 20% had reported low bone density/osteoporosis. The results of this study suggest that the prevalence of active seizures may decrease in adulthood but that the prevalence of movement disorders such as tremor and nonepileptic myoclonus may increase. Anxiety increases significantly as individuals age while defiant behaviors appear to decrease. Sleep dysfunction typically improves as compared to childhood but remains a significant issue for many adults. Other areas that require monitoring into adulthood include gastrointestinal dysfunction, and orthopedic/mobility issues, such as reported scoliosis and bone density, and ophthalmologic disorders.

School-Based Interventions for Aggression and Defiance in Youth: A Framework for Evidence-Based Practice

Aggressive and defiant behaviors in students are costly to schools, teachers, and students. In this paper, we summarize findings from meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and meta-reviews that examined school-based interventions for aggressive and defiant behaviors in students. Results of the review suggest that school-based interventions produce significant but small positive effects on aggression and defiance, with larger effects for interventions that are implemented with higher quality. Behavioral and cognitive behavioral techniques are key components of nearly all effective school interventions, whether interventions are student-directed or teacher-/environment-directed. Specific interventions with empirical support, as identified using the Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development and “What Works Clearinghouse” databases, are briefly summarized. Finally, recommendations are made for schools considering a school intervention for aggression and defiance, and important priorities for future research are outlined.

Maternal emotion dysregulation and the functional organization of preschoolers’ emotional expressions and regulatory behaviors.

Although psychopathology in mothers is known to be a significant risk factor for child outcomes, less is known about how emotion dysregulation, a transdiagnostic feature that cuts across many diagnoses, shapes emotion-related parenting practices and the development of emotion regulation in offspring. Building upon previous research that examined the functional relations between emotions and regulatory actions in children, we sought to examine the association of maternal emotion dysregulation and emotion socialization with these functional links in an at-risk community sample of mother-preschooler (children ages 36-60 months) dyads that oversampled for mothers with elevated symptoms of borderline personality disorder (n = 68). We found that maternal emotion dysregulation was associated with children displaying more sadness and engaging in less problem solving during the Locked Box Task, which is designed to elicit anger. Maternal emotion dysregulation was also associated with children being more distracted and talking less in the context of sadness. Maternal nonsupportive emotion socialization responses were associated with children engaging in more defiant behaviors throughout the task and using less problem solving in the context of happiness, whereas maternal supportive emotion socialization responses were associated with more play throughout the task and less talking in the context of sadness, above and beyond the effect of maternal emotion dysregulation. These findings indicate that maternal emotion dysregulation and nonsupportive emotion socialization practices are both meaningfully associated with the development of aberrant patterns of emotional and behavioral responding during the preschool years. (PsycINFO Database Record

Disruptive behavior scale for adolescents (DISBA): development and psychometric properties

BackgroundGrowing evidence indicates that if disruptive behavior is left unidentified and untreated, a significant proportion of these problems will persist and may develop into problems linked with delinquency, substance abuse, and violence. Research is needed to develop valid and reliable measures of disruptive behavior to assist recognition and impact of treatments on disruptive behavior. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a scale for disruptive behavior in adolescents.MethodsSix hundred high school students (50% girls), ages ranged 15–18 years old, selected through multi stage random sampling. Psychometrics of the disruptive behavior scale for adolescents (DISBA) (Persian version) was assessed through content validity, explanatory factor analysis (EFA) using Varimax rotation and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The reliability of this scale was assessed via internal consistency and test–retest reliability.ResultsEFA revealed four factors accounting for 59% of observed variance. The final 29-item scale contained four factors: (1) aggressive school behavior, (2) classroom defiant behavior, (3) unimportance of school, and (4) defiance to school authorities. Furthermore, CFA produced a sufficient Goodness of Fit Index > 0.90. Test–retest and internal consistency reliabilities were acceptable at 0.85 and 0.89, respectively.ConclusionsThe findings from this study suggest that the Iranian version of DISBA questionnaire has content validity. Further studies are needed to evaluate stronger psychometric properties for DISBA.

Symptoms of Oppositional Defiant in Students: The Predicting Role of Emotion Regulation, Schema, and Vandalism

Background: Numerous studies demonstrated that emotional dysregulation and early maladaptive schemas are the defining core of oppositional defiant disorder. Many studies also found a strong correlation between the diagnosis of oppositional defiant disorder and vandalism. Objectives: The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between Symptoms of Oppositional Defiant and emotion regulation, schema, and vandalism in male high school students in Dezfoul, the Southwest of Iran. Patients and Methods: A sample of high school students (n = 320) with a mean age of 16.34 (SD = 0.66) years completed Oppositional Defiant Behavior Inventory pilot version (ODBI), Difficulties in Emotion-Regulation Scale (DERS), Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form (YSQ-SF), and Questionnair of Vandalism (QV). Data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and multivariate regression analysis. Results: The results showed a significant positive correlation between emotion regulation, schema, and vandalism with Symptoms of Oppositional Defiant. Regression analysis revealed that 12% variance of Symptoms of Oppositional Defiant can be predicted by emotion dysregulation, schema, and vandalism. Moreover, emotion dysregulation was the most effective predicting variable of oppositional defiant disorder (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The findings of the current study were in accordance with those of the previous studies, and generally showed a significant association between emotion regulation, schema, and vandalism with oppositional defiant disorder. Study implications and limitations were considered.

Genetic analysis of very obese children with autism spectrum disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is defined by the triad of deficits in social interactions, deficits in communication, and repetitive behaviors. Common co-morbidities in syndromic forms of ASD include intellectual disability, seizures, and obesity. We asked whether very obese children with ASD had different behavioral, physical and genetic characteristics compared to children with ASD who were not obese. We found that very obese children with ASD had significantly poorer scores on standardized behavioral tests. Very obese boys with ASD had lower full scale IQ and increased impairments with respect to stereotypies, communication and social skills. Very obese girls with ASD had increased impairments with respect to irritability and oppositional defiant behavior. We identified genetic lesions in a subset of the children with ASD and obesity and attempted to identify enriched biological pathways. Our study demonstrates the value of identifying co-morbidities in children with ASD as we move forward towards understanding the biological processes that contribute to this complex disorder and prepare to design customized treatments that target the diverse genetic lesions present in individuals with ASD.

The Effects of Alcohol Use on Defiant Behavior among High School Students

The Effects of Alcohol Use on Defiant Behavior among High School Students

Construct Validity of the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI)

Abstract. Despite the wide use of the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI), its construct validity is still an issue of debate. Whereas previous studies primarily have relied on confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs), the present study aimed to evaluate the Norwegian 22-item version of the ECBI intensity scale using exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM), which offers more flexibility compared to traditional CFA. The study used data from three samples of parents with children with emerging or existing problem behaviors. Results showed that the ESEM model showed good fit and identified the three factors Oppositional defiant behavior, Conduct problem behavior, and Inattentive behavior. In addition, the ESEM approach revealed several small and significant (λ ≤ .21) cross-loadings. The results illustrated the strengths of ESEM over CFA and suggest that ESEM provide a useful statistical framework to evaluate the structure of ECBI items.

Aggression and Conduct Disorder in Young Children. A Case Report

Childhood Onset Conduct Disorder [CD] is a condition characterized by at least one symptom of conduct disorder (based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria—Fifth Edition) prior to 10 years of age. Children affected exhibit disruptive behaviors, usually negative, hostile, and defiant behavior similar to Oppositional Defiant Disorder [ODD]. As the child gets older they begin to display more characteristic of Conduct Disorder (lying, fighting, and stealing, vindictive behavior). These children are also likely to have comorbidities including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities, poor academic achievement, and substance abuse. Distinguishing early between symptoms of Conduct Disorder versus other differential diagnoses is essential in effective treatment. Early intervention with these children leads to a better prognosis and likelihood of functioning in society. This case illustrates the difficulty of diagnosing a young child with Childhood Onset Conduct Disorder.

Comparison of Depression, Anxiety and Stress in the Mothers of Children with and without Oppositional Defiant Behaviors

Comparison of Depression, Anxiety and Stress in the Mothers of Children with and without Oppositional Defiant Behaviors

Prácticas de crianza predictoras de problemas moderados de conducta en niños

Introducción: las prácticas positivas y negativas de crianza se asocian con problemas severos de conducta infantil. Objetivo: identificar las prácticas de crianza que predicen problemas moderados de conducta en niños. Método: participaron 508 padres, de 35.6 años de edad en promedio. Se utilizaron el Inventario de Prácticas de Crianza, el Cuestionario de Parentalidad de Alabama, el de Habilidades de Manejo Infantil y el Inventario de Conducta Infantil. Además, se usaron análisis descriptivos y de regresión lineal múltiple. A través del modelamiento de ecuaciones estructurales, se obtuvo un ajuste de los datos con una χ2 (1310) = 1879.18; p = 0.000, cfi = 0.872, rmsea = 0.048, ic de 0.043 a 0.053 y un srmr = 0.076. Las conductas características de la hiperactividad tuvieron el mayor promedio (m = 40.6, de = 21.9), seguidas por las de oposición y desafío (m = 40.5 de = 22.4), la inatención (m = 37.9, de = 23.2) y la disrupción/agresión (m = 21.3, de = 20.1). El factor oposición y desafío estuvo predicho por el factor de disciplina inconsistente (r2 = 0.785), la disrupción/agresión por la falta de monitoreo y supervisión (r2 = 0.723) y la hiperactividad por el castigo corporal (r2 = 0.590), en tanto que la inatención estuvo predicha inversamente por las ganancias materiales entregadas por los padres (r2 = -0.175) y directamente por la disciplina inconsistente (r2 =0.560). Discusión y conclusione. las prácticas negativas de crianza como el uso del castigo corporal, la disciplina inconsistente, la entrega de ganancias materiales para mejorar la interacción con los hijos y el pobre monitoreo y supervisión predijeron de manera confiable la ocurrencia moderada de las conductas de hiperactividad, oposición, desafío, inatención, disrupción y agresión, respectivamente. El entrenamiento conductual a padres deberá incorporar prácticas positivas de crianza para la reducción de problemas moderados de conducta infantil.

Contributions of Maternal Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity and Oppositional Defiant Disorder Symptoms to Parenting

SYNOPSISObjective. The goal of the current study was to examine the impact of maternal attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms on several dimensions of parenting. Design. One-hundred seven mothers of young adolescents provided ratings of their own attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, depressive symptoms, and parenting behavior, as well as their adolescents’ aggressive behaviors. Results. Hierarchical regression analyses examined the relative contributions of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms to parenting. Greater levels of maternal attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptomatology were associated with poorer monitoring, whereas more oppositional defiant disorder symptoms were associated with lower levels of parenting involvement and positive reinforcement and higher levels of overreactivity and use of corporal punishment. Conclusions. Maternal oppositional defiant disorder behaviors were particularly associated with negative, affective dimensions of parenting. Understanding the impact of maternal attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms on parenting may require consideration of concomitant maternal oppositional defiant disorder symptoms.

A Methylome-Wide Association Study of Trajectories of Oppositional Defiant Behaviors and Biological Overlap With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

In 671 mother–child (49% male) pairs from an epidemiological birth cohort, we investigated (a) prospective associations between DNA methylation (at birth) and trajectories (ages 7–13) of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and the ODD subdimensions of irritable and headstrong; (b) common biological pathways, indexed by DNA methylation, between ODD trajectories and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); (c) genetic influence on DNA methylation; and (d) prenatal risk exposure associations. Methylome‐wide significant associations were identified for the ODD and headstrong, but not for irritable. Overlap analysis indicated biological correlates between ODD, headstrong, and ADHD. DNA methylation in ODD and headstrong was (to a degree) genetically influenced. DNA methylation associated with prenatal risk exposures of maternal anxiety (headstrong) and cigarette smoking (ODD and headstrong).

Background lead and mercury exposures: Psychological and behavioral problems in children

BackgroundThe potential harm from exposure to nonessential metals, particularly mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb), has been the focus of research for years. Initial interest focused on relatively high exposures; however, recent evidence suggests that even background exposures might have adverse consequences for child development. Identifying the extent of these consequences is now a priority. MethodsWe assessed blood Pb and Hg levels in a biracial sample of 9–11 year-old children (N = 203). Neurodevelopment and psychological functioning assessments included hostility, disruptive behaviors, emotion regulation, and autism spectrum disorder behaviors. Parasympathetic (vagal) responses to acute stress were indexed by heart rate variability (HRV) at rest and during stress. ResultsWith increasing Pb levels, children exhibit higher levels of hostile distrust and oppositional defiant behaviors, were more dissatisfied and uncertain about their emotions, and had difficulties with communication. These significant associations were found within a range of blood Pb levels from 0.19 to 3.25 μg/dL, well below the “reference value” for children of >5 μg/dL. Vagal reactivity interacted with Hg such that increasing Hg was associated with increasing autism spectrum behaviors for those children with sustained vagal tone during acute stress. ConclusionsThis study is the first to demonstrate an association between very low-level Pb exposure and fundamental psychological mechanisms that might explain prior associations with more complex outcomes such as delinquency. Analyses of vagal reactivity yielded entirely novel associations suggesting that Hg may increase autism spectrum behaviors in children with sustained vagal tone during acute stress. The novelty of these later findings requires additional research for confirmation and the cross-sectional nature of the data caution against assumptions of causality without further research.

Psychosocial factors influencing Asperger Disorder

Asperger Disorder is influenced in its evolution by social factors such as: Anxiety, Self-esteem and Aggression. Anxiety can manifest itself in different ways based on the life experience of the individual. Recent studies have shown that cognitive behavioral therapy based on social skills represents an efficient treatment in persons with Asperger Disorder. Strong Self-esteem in childhood is a protective factor against family demands, social pressure and some defiant behaviors in the next stages of life. Children with high Self-esteem present safety and confidence in overcoming some existential obstacles and broader personal skills in school; and the ones with low Self-esteem have an inferiority complex in relation with other children and are distrustful in their academic possibilities. Aggression is a form of behavior oriented in a destructive way, being able to cause material, moral or psychological damage. In subjects with Asperger Disorder, provocative behaviors including physical aggression, appear as a necessity to communicate the needs in the absence of expressive language.

Managing and Correcting Defiant Behavior Through Music

The purpose of this article is to share principles and strategies that may be used to teach appropriate behaviors to students that that may struggle with an emotional behavior disorder. Operating from the principle that music is naturally rewarding, classroom procedures and lessons that address preparation, imagination, effortful control, pacing, and collaboration are offered as areas that may provide potent forms of redirection and positive practice for behavioral change.

Theft in the hotel workplace: Exploring frontline employees’ perceptions towards hotel employee theft

A plethora of studies has investigated theft in the workplace in various industries. However, few studies investigated the motivations behind hotel employee theft especially among Generation Z undergraduates working full time as part of their internship. This targeted sample group is pivotal to the hotel industry as they are the future generation of hotel leaders. These reasons can be attitudinal such as excitement, influenced by fellow colleagues and perceived ease of committing the theft. To address this research gap, this study utilised the established theory of planned behaviour to investigate underlying motivations of employee theft behaviour in the hotel industry. Personal interviews were conducted with 29 hotel management undergraduates who were doing their internships as full-time hotel employees in various frontline jobs in food and beverage, housekeeping and front office. Results revealed the adrenaline feeling when committing hotel employee theft as the key motivator. The most influential social group was colleagues in the same department. The main perceived difficulty was the grey area of defiant behaviour and what actually constitutes as employee theft.