Perceptions of educators and pre-adolescent children on the phenomenon of acting-out behaviour

Abstract

The researcher aimed to answer the following question: What are the perceptions of preadolescent children and educators with regard to the phenomenon of acting-out behaviour? The goal of the study was to explore the perceptions of educators and pre-adolescent children on the phenomenon of acting-out behaviour. Pre-adolescence and socio-economic problems were discussed and behavioural theories, behavioural difficulties and acting-out behaviour were explored. The population consisted of educators and grade 5 to grade 7 learners in the two participating schools. Ten educators and twenty learners in each grade were selected by means of stratified random sampling, to participate in the study. The survey design was utilised, as the researcher wished to explore perceptions of educators and pre-adolescent learners on the phenomenon of acting-out behaviour. The researcher formulated two questionnaires that were reader-friendly to both educators and learners respectively. The questionnaires focused on aspects of acting-out behaviour observed in the developmental level which is of concern to the study. Research results have indicated that acting-out behaviour is an ever-increasing phenomenon, even though the term “acting-out” is relatively unknown. The educators and learner respondents had very similar views on acting-out behaviour and the reasons for this negative behaviour displayed by children. It can therefore be concluded that acting-out behaviour is perceived as being very real in the lives of today’s children and is very often regarded as problematic behaviour and only addressed as such. Characteristics of actingout behaviour include lying, swearing, aggressiveness, hitting and kicking, badmouthing others, poor school marks, bullying and seeking attention. Parental conflict is the highest cause of emotional problems and consequently behavioural problems in children. The family system is also the most important system in the pre-adolescent’s life. Consequently it is recommended that families need to be considered as a key system in the development of acting-out behaviour, but most importantly also, as a key factor in dealing with such behaviour. Further research on, especially, intervention methods with regard to acting-out behaviour and socio-economic factors are recommended and emphasised. Copyright