Attitudes & Attributions Avon & Wiltshire PBS Network Attitudes & Attributions

Defining and labelling behaviour CB is defined by: Social context Cultural context Assumptions & attributions Values Previous experience

Defining and labelling behaviour Behaviours are not intrinsically challenging CB’s are always linked to a social and cultural context Defining or labelling behaviours as CB is an arbitrary process

Defining challenging behaviour What constitutes challenging is always dependent on the social position of the person who is defining or labelling the behaviour Defining or labelling a behaviour as challenging requires a position of relative power in relation to the person whose behaviour is being described

attributions? A way in which we make sense of behaviour – that of ourselves and other peoples Internal attributions (reason is located within the person) External attributions (reason is located outside of the person) Bias towards internal attributions

Relationship between attributions & behaviours Service-user behaviour Attribution Emotional response Staff behaviour Impact on environment

attitudes? An enduring positive or negative feeling about: - situation - object - person We cannot see an attitude but we can ‘observe’ it. Attitudes may be ‘observed’ by: - cognitive responses - affective responses - behavioural responses

Attitudes (Taken from Hewstone et al, 1996)

Activity 1 Think of a situation where carers responses to an incident of CB included: Avoidance Disgust Anger Rejection Negative approaches

Activity 2 Think of a situation where carers responses to an incident of CB included: Sympathy Empathy Concern Understanding Helping behaviour

Factors which increase likelihood of negative attributions Lack of knowledge of salient factors: Abuse Autism Temporal lobe epilepsy Fragile X Mental illness Personality disorder

Knowledge, attributions & attitudes Support Behaviour Attributions Attitudes

Other factors which increase likelihood of negative attributions (1) Stress Seemingly intractable nature of CB Formal/natural carers Impact on other service users Individual vulnerability points – the challenges that specifically upset individuals

Other factors which increase likelihood of negative attributions (2) Low morale – lack of positive intent/ feeling cannot influence things/ disempowerment Lack of training in self control  Lack of reward – putting more in than getting back Temperament of recruited staff Poorly articulated values

Other factors which increase likelihood of negative attributions (3) Lack of proper PBS plan – failure to understand functions and triggers for behaviour Poor role models from senior staff Limited opportunities for reflection/ debriefing

Negative Attributions about staff behaviour Personality Competence Trustworthiness Reliability Self-attributions

What can you do to address negative attributions? Identifying all relevant factors in histories (increased likelihood of poor mental health abuse, complicating conditions) Education specific to the individual   Involving support staff in formulating PBS plans including charts and discussions Establishing clear knowledge of triggers and functions

What can you do to address negative attributions? Post incident support – emotional and physical/ critical incident review Recruitment of people with appropriate temperament – refer to research; job specs, su involvement Teaching stress management techniques – as a response to difficult situations and for general proactive purposes.   Positive culture and expectation of success and development but framed in the context for a need for long term focus