Youth engagement in problematic behavior is a widely recognized issue. It creates barriers to adequate development, has long-term effects on the success in adult life, and contributes to the environment that promotes the effect. The following paper analyzes school- and community-related factors that contribute and sustain adverse behavioral patterns assesses the influence of diversity and multicultural issues that may impact the success of interventions, and explores several possible ways of addressing the issue, both on the level of participating systems and human behavior field.
School-Related Factors
School activities play a major role in the life of youth. Due to the amount of time spent in school and as a result of the importance of interaction with peers and socialization, school-related events have a major influence on children’s behavior and in some cases may lead to problematic behavior.
One of the well-known causes is academic underperformance. It is commonly assumed that academic performance is crucial for further success in life and, therefore, improves motivation and determination of students. Conversely, poor performance demotivates students, creates emotional downfalls, and triggers delinquent behavior. The effect is observed as early as primary school. A study by Morgan, Farkas, Tufis, and Sperling (2008) determined a statistically significant relationship between reading problems among children in the first grade and the emergence of the behavioral problem in the third grade. Interestingly, some evidence also exists of the inverse relationship, with a displayed tendency for disruptive behavior leading to the eventual decline in academic success. In one study, Thornberry’s interactional theory was applied to test the assumption that school-related social factors are interconnected with behavioral patterns and can loop to create a sustainable effect (Hoffmann, Erickson, & Spence, 2013). It is also important to point out that underperformance itself can be rooted in different factors, and include the lack of student motivation, the teachers’ failure to maximize the students’ output, and the system-wide flaws such as inappropriately constructed curricula.
A factor that must be considered separately is bullying. Generally, it has a detrimental effect similar to that of academic failure since it stresses the students, demotivates them, and restricts their interaction with peers. What sets it apart is the fact that its presence is not readily apparent to the teachers (Modecki, Minchin, Harbaugh, Guerra, & Runions, 2014). Unless a deliberate and coordinated action is made by the school staff, the issue may remain undetected while its effects will continue disrupting the behavior of the students. The issue is further complicated by the emergence of cyberbullying, which uses social networks and the wide availability of personal communication devices for intimidating practices. Since this aspect is both less familiar and harder to track down for teachers, it adds to the gravity of the issue.
Community-Related Factors
Aside from school and immediate family, each child is constantly influenced by its environment, including the neighborhood and the economic conditions of the locale. Poverty is among the frequently cited reasons for problematic behavior, with a growing body of research pointing to a direct relationship between restrictive economic conditions of the community and the number of registered instances of disruptive behavior among youth (Wu, Morgan, & Farkas, 2014). Also, high poverty rates are often accompanied by the lack of parental care, higher risk of neglect, occasions of parental abuse, and a greater possibility of substance abuse among parents. By extension, such a setting deprives children of the availability of positive parental role models, exposes them to a greater volume of negative experiences, and generally distorts the clear perception of goals by introducing confusion (Wu et al., 2014). Exposure to violence is another strong factor that contributes to problematic behavior. While there is still no consensus over the critical duration of exposure or the longevity of the effect, there is strong evidence that the proximity of the exposure to violence directly affects the likelihood of displayed violent behavior later in the course of life (Spano, Rivera, & Bolland, 2006).
On the other hand, an over-protective family also increases the risk of behavioral disorders. Specifically, the children who develop in conditions of unrealistic expectations are more likely to engage in lying to fulfill the requirements set by the parents. Also, these children rarely obtain a grasp of the concept of power and authority, which invariably impacts their interaction with peers – specifically, they are more likely to engage in hazardous behaviors imposed by more powerful peers. Finally, such a setting eventually disrupts communication channels between children and their family members, which makes timely intervention much more difficult.
Finally, social stigmatization can add to anxiety leading to behavioral problems. The most common example is obesity, which is both a widespread problem and a basis for abuse and bullying. However, obesity has a cumulative effect on that stress and depression associated with it is not limited to bullying. The physiological impact of the condition and the real physical challenges posed by it aggravate the stress created by the peers and make its impact harder to address and extended in time (Wills, Backett-Milburn, Gregory, & Lawton, 2006).
Diversity and Multicultural Considerations
A rapidly diversifying modern society is still in the stage of active development, which means that many issues still do not have established solutions and many more are expected to emerge. Working with youth that exhibits problematic behavior can also be complicated by the issues associated with multicultural qualities. The most evident example is the situation where the impacted child’s family holds certain cultural or religious beliefs that discourage external intervention and create barriers for the therapist or another professional. For example, a student who has recently arrived from another school may experience depression caused by poor academic performance and amplified by confusion associated with the unfamiliar environment and the turmoil of the move. His parents, however, may believe that this matter should be resolved by supernatural intervention and the involvement of an outside agent such as a therapist or a counselor is undesirable as it undermines the authenticity of the outcome. Another possibility is the cultural background that prioritizes family values in resolving problematic situations and discourages the involvement of unrelated individuals. Finally, the cultural background of some families may lead to preferences of certain upbringing practices, some of which are obsolete, ineffective, or inherently flawed, and promote problematic behavior. Unfortunately, the cultural origin of such practices makes them extremely resistant to change and persistent.
Effective Interventions by Participating Systems
As can be seen from the information presented above, many of the causes of problematic behavior are rooted in system-wide qualities rather than individual specificities. Therefore, it would be logical to conclude that they can be addressed at the organizational level at least in some instances. For example, bullying is a phenomenon pertinent to the organization and is supported by its qualities at least to some degree. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect positive outcomes originating from a bullying program. Admittedly, such programs are still fairly diverse, lack standardization, and display controversial results. Nevertheless, a recent meta-analysis by Lee, Kim, C, and Kim (2015) outlines several essential components based on the evaluation of thirteen previous studies. The results suggest training in emotional control, the establishment of a school-wide policy on bullying, and peer counseling as the components that yield the most significant results (Lee et al., 2015).
Parental involvement is another critical factor that can be introduced on the organizational level. A study by Wang and Sheikh‐Khalil (2014) showed a positive relationship between parental involvement and improvement in academic performance which, as was detailed above, serves as one of the major causes of problematic behavior. Also, parental involvement was found to improve emotional functioning and alleviate a range of mental health issues, essentially creating a sustainable effect (Wang & Sheikh‐Khalil, 2014).
Finally, a collaboration between schools and community organizations has been proven successful in decreasing problematic behaviors and improving the associated causal factors. Since the community-based causes of disruptive behavior are often interrelated, and their effect is cumulative, such collaboration must have an encompassing scope and target the known inconsistencies (high crime rate, wide income gaps, exposure to violence) as well as create solutions for shortcomings (e.g. provide youth with developmental opportunities). Such intervention needs to be accompanied by meaningful evaluation techniques to introduce timely adjustments and enhancements throughout the action.
Evaluation and Application
Of the suggested interventions, the latter demonstrates the greatest capacity for improvement due to its broad range. As was detailed above, most of the social and cultural factors have a cumulative quality, are often observed in conjunction, and can create a sustaining effect. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect a similarly sustaining effect from the intervention that is organized similarly and addresses the issues in the same manner. However, it also requires the greatest allocation of resources, a significant engagement from the organizations and individual stakeholders, excellent coordination, and support from local and state authorities. On the other hand, the improvement of parent involvement is far more realistic for application by a leader in the human behavior field since it can be scaled to the scope of a single school (thereby decreasing resource requirements) and will create robust communication channels between authorities and families. In addition to direct positive outcomes, the said intervention is expected to create an environment favorable for the future community-wide program. Once a better stakeholder involvement can be observed, it can be used as a predictor of future success and will help to find partners and funding sources.
Conclusion
Problematic behavior among youth is a persistent issue that demands attention. However, despite the growing body of literature that studies the issue, it remains unaddressed in several key areas, and its cultural and social aspects are either overlooked or undervalued in many intervention attempts. The analysis of the factors allows us to conclude on the importance of academic performance, economic conditions, parenting issues, community mental health status, and cultural background as decisive factors in the process. To address these issues, small-scale programs that increase parent involvement in youth education are suggested for implementation. These programs have several advantages over more encompassing alternatives, such as scalability, affordability, and the creation of sustainable conditions that increase the success of related interventions in the future.
References
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