The Kazdin Method for Parenting the Defiant Child by Alan E. Kazdin

Author:Alan E. Kazdin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Group Programs

But what if I want to improve the behavior of not just one child but a group of children? Then you should try a group program, in which the group (which can be as few as two people) as a whole must perform the behavior in order to earn a reward that they share. It can be used in the home for all the children in it, at a sleepover for all the children in attendance, or in the classroom, where the group can be the whole class or subgroups defined by the teacher. A group program treats the whole group as one “person”—the group is the basic unit, not only in doing the behavior but in receiving consequences as well.

For instance, most of the kids in a class are not turning in homework often enough, so the teacher develops a group program and puts a point chart on the bulletin board. On any day that 75 percent of the class turns in homework, the group gets a point—or you can forget points and just award a special experience, such as a movie, extra recess, or a story. After you regularly get 75 percent compliance, you can shape the behavior to a more stringent measure, like 90 percent. This approach brings to bear peer support for the desired behavior, as in the example of Gary above, except now all the kids are influencing one another’s behavior. And make sure, as always, that the rewards are “extra,” rather than making the class earn (or risk losing) something it already receives.

You have already seen an in-home application of a group program, in chapter 4, when we had to come up with a scheme to get the squabbling sisters Lisa and Christine out of their habit of falling into conflict whenever they were alone together. The program treated them as a single individual, rewarding them both for spending time nicely together. That’s a classic group program approach, with rewards given for a behavior that only the group can accomplish. If Lisa’s behaving well and Christine isn’t, or vice versa, they don’t earn the rewards, because if either of them behaves badly then “the group” is misbehaving.

A couple I know came up with a simple but effective variant of a group program for their daughters, ages six and four. The parents wanted to encourage the girls to be kind to each other, especially because the older daughter had recently entered kindergarten, developed her first set of close friends, and started being mean to her younger sister, now that she didn’t have to rely on her for companionship. So the parents set out a small, clear glass jar on the kitchen counter and put a red bean in it every time either sister did something nice for the other: said something kind, shared a toy or treat, or just gave her a hug and a kiss when they parted ways in the morning, one on her way to school and the other to preschool.

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