People with intellectual disabilities are at increased risk of developing challenging behaviour, defined by Emerson (2001, p. 3) as: culturally abnormal behaviour(s) of such an intensity, frequency or duration that the physical safety of the person or others is likely to be placed in serious jeopardy, or behaviour which is likely to seriously limit use of, or results in the person being denied access to ordinary community facilities.Challenging behaviour includes physical aggression, problematic sexual behaviour, self-injury, destructiveness and stereotypical behaviour. These behaviours threaten the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities and those in their support systems and often lead to exclusion from society. People with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviour are also at greater risk of ineffective treatment, abuse and high rates of restraint and medication (Allen, Lowe, Moore,This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. AbstractBackground: We examined the influence of the organizational environment on challenging behaviour in people with intellectual disabilities to increase understanding of the quality of support services for people with intellectual disabilities.Method: Twenty-one professionals and managers from four specialized Dutch disability service organizations were interviewed. Data were analysed with a grounded theory approach, using Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory as a sensitizing frame. Results:The organizational environment (i.e., vision, values, sufficient resources) is related via the support service (i.e., providing stability, constant awareness) to residents' challenging behaviour and is also linked directly to challenging behaviour (e.g., living environment, values). Organizations are restricted by national regulations, negative media attention and changing societal values, which negatively influence quality of support. Conclusions:The creation of a supportive organizational environment for staff, who in turn can provide quality support services to residents with demanding care needs, was found to prevent challenging behaviour in people with intellectual disabilities. K E Y W O R D Schallenging behaviour, ecological theory, grounded theory, intellectual disability, organizational environment, service organization | 611

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Background This study was conducted to assess relationships between the organisational environment and three types of challenging behaviour (self-injurious, aggressive/destructive and stereotypical) in support services for residents with intellectual disabilities using ecological theory. Method A cross-sectional questionnaire-based design was used to identify relationships between ecological system aspects at multiple levels (micro-, meso-, exo-, macro- and chronosystems) and challenging behaviours of residents. A questionnaire was distributed to care professionals and managers working in specialised Dutch service organisations for residents with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviour. The data were examined by Pearson correlation and multivariate regression analyses. Results The questionnaire was completed by 922 respondents from 21 organisations. Responses revealed that organisational aspects at the micro-, meso-, exo- and macrosystem levels play roles in residents' challenging behaviour. These aspects range from staff members' ability to sensitively interact with residents to grouping of residents with challenging behaviour, and staff turnover. Conclusions In the prevention and management of challenging behaviour of residents with intellectual disabilities, the consideration of ecological aspects at all system levels in the organisational environment is required.

Residential service organizations for people with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviours are dynamic and often change their organizational models (Bigby & Beadle-Brown, 2018; Hulgin, 2004; Tossebro et al., 2012). Organizational changes are associated with various positive resident outcomes, such as shifts to person-centred support services that can reduce challenging behaviour incidents (Walker, 2012). Through staff members' attitudes, a coherent and supportive organizational culture helps to enhance residents'