Individual Behavior Management Ideas

Behavior management techniques include setting boundaries and consequences.

Behavior management can be a daunting task, especially when one is thrown into the mix with an individual who is noncooperative and isn't interested in anything that you have to say. Knowing how to quickly build rapport with a misbehaving individual is often one of the first steps toward addressing that behavior. Once rapport is established between two individuals, then conversations and consequences can occur that serve as interventions in behavior management.

Building Rapport

Implementing behavior management strategies nearly always begins with building rapport. In one-on-one interactions, body language is just as important, and is sometimes more important, than any type of verbal communication. Nonverbal cues include making direct eye contact, speaking in a conversational tone of voice that isn't angry or disapproving and sitting directly beside the misbehaving individual rather than in front of him. Rapport-building skills also include finding out what is important to the individual and what emotions he is experiencing. One of the foundations of rapport-building is communicating that you are judging the behavior of the person rather than judging him for his behavior.

Consequences

Setting firm boundaries with relevant goals and consequences for the misbehaving person allows her to see the results of their behaviors. Consequences must be relevant and sensible. If a consequence is irrelevant or doesn't make sense to the misbehaving person, then there is no incentive for her to behave correctly. Consequences can also either be positive or negative. An example of a positive consequence may include if the misbehaving person is able to control a certain behavior in a specific amount of time, then she gets to enjoy a 30-minute game break. A negative consequence may be exemplified by a misbehaving child being grounded for the weekend.

Positive Reinforcement

According to former Outward Bound instructor Ken Kalisch, implementing positive reinforcement and praise typically achieves better results in creating good behaviors than punishing individuals for bad behaviors. Often, individuals associate criticism with personal judgment, reinforcing the trend of behaving inappropriately due to one's own lack of social capital, self-worth and self-esteem. Elaborately praising an individual for something good he's doing and recognizing him in front of a group can help to build positive peer rapport as well as his own self-esteem.

Five Needs

According to behavioral psychologist William Glasser, every person has five basic needs, which include survival, love and belonging, freedom, fun and power. If an individual is misbehaving, according to Glasser, she is responding out of a deficiency of one of her five basic needs and is trying to get attention so that she can have her basic needs fulfilled. Through using rapport-building skills and having non-judgmental conversations with misbehaving individuals, you may be able to uncover which of the five basic needs are not being met and develop a strategy to restructure the environment or choices available for the misbehaving person so she can have her needs met without resorting to inappropriate behaviors.

References

• Changing Minds: Glasser's Five Needs
• The Role of the Instructor in the Outward Bound Process: Ken Kalisch: 1979
• "The New York Times"; You Remind Me of Me; Benedict Carney; February 2008