The reduction of aggression in people with learning difficulties: A review of psychological methods

Abstract

The literature on the reduction of aggression in people with learning difficulties is reviewed. The methods of reducing aggression identified were predominantly evaluated in staffed settings and with target behaviours more frequent than once a day. This contrasts with the findings of a recent survey that found the majority of aggressive individuals to live in the community and show aggression less than once a day. It is argued that the reasons for this disparity are as follows. That it is easier to do a controlled study in staffed settings with high-frequency aggression. That it is more difficult to do an analysis of the target behaviour if it is low frequency or if the subject is in the community; and that the methods that have been traditionally used to reduce aggression may not be effective with all subjects in all settings. It is suggested that it may be necessary to develop and evaluate a new technology for reducing aggression.

The Potential Influence of Frequency of Challenging Behaviour on Treatment: An Analysis of the Literature

“…This is consistent with Whitaker's (1993) review of aggression studies and shows that the trend for dealing with high frequency target behaviours is a general one and not just confined to aggressive behaviour. It also contrasts with epidemiological studies which show that, not only aggression but also self-injurious behaviour (c.f.…”

“…For example, Harris (1993) surveyed all the people with learning disabilities, in a single Health District, who showed aggression and found that only 22% of them were aggressive more than once a day and Kessler et al (1984) found that the average rate of aggression in a group of institutionalised people with learning disabilities was on average one incident in two weeks. Whitaker (1993) also reported that, of the six studies that reported on the low frequency aggression five of them used punishment in some way, this compared to 37 of the 68 studies where the frequency of aggression was less than once a day. This finding raises the possibility that non punitive psychological methods of intervention may not be as effective with low frequency challenging behaviours as they are with high frequency behaviours.…”

“…Although there are abundant studies demonstrating that challenging behaviour can be reduced (see Lennox et al, 1988;Scotti et al, 1991;Whitaker, 1993) it was found by Whitaker (1993) that only 6 out of 74 controlled studies, on the reduction of aggression, dealt with target behaviours less frequent than once a day. This contrasted with epidemiological studies which have looked at the frequency of aggressive behaviour shown by people with a learning disability.…”

Evidence-Based Secondary Transition Practices for Enhancing School Completion

“…The behavioral approaches typically include social or tangible reinforcers for a target behavior. The findings by Cobb and colleagues were similar to earlier literature reviews: recommending cognitive-behavioral strategies as a dropout prevention strategy (Kashani, Jones, Bumby, & Thomas, 1999;Whitaker, 1993).…”

Diagnosis and Treatment of Aggression in Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

“…Whitaker [107] reviewed psychological methods for targeting aggression in individuals with DD. The bulk of the literature was concerned with contingency management using behavioral methods.…”