Meanings of Repetitive Self‐Defeating Behaviors in a School Setting

This article explores the psychological underpinnings of students’ recurring, problematic, self‐defeating behaviors. These may represent repetitions of earlier attempts to cope with situations the child had found confusing or overwhelming. The student reverts to these earlier, simpler, less calibrat...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Schools (Chicago, Ill.) Ill.), 2010-10, Vol.7 (2), p.276-286
Main Author: Gedo, Paul M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescents
Anger
Boarding schools
Children
Faculty advisers
High schools
Learning
Medical treatment
Middle schools
Private schools
Professors
Repetition
School based
Selfdefeating behaviour
Teachers
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article explores the psychological underpinnings of students’ recurring, problematic, self‐defeating behaviors. These may represent repetitions of earlier attempts to cope with situations the child had found confusing or overwhelming. The student reverts to these earlier, simpler, less calibrated adaptations in moments of stress, especially when overwhelmed by anxiety or anger. The student's behavior evokes responses from faculty, which make them feel confused and uncomfortable. Repetitions represent our effort to order our experience and are usually adaptive. However, when students cannot stop repeating maladaptive patterns, they are evincing an inability to learn from experience. They are unconsciously testing the faculty, with the hope that the teachers will not engage in the repetition with them. This article explores the difficulties we experience in coping with students’ maladaptive repetitions, as well as ways we can address these challenges as a faculty so that we facilitate student learning.
ISSN:1550-1175
2153-0327
DOI:10.1086/656076