Why Focusing on Control Backfires: A Systems Perspective

This article attempts to replicate how Fritz Redl and David Wineman might have handled an "unmade bed" situation with the youngsters at Pioneer House, the treatment program in Detroit that was the subject of their classic work, "The Aggressive Child" (1957) which encompassed two...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inReclaiming children and youth Vol. 17; no. 4; pp. 8 - 12
Main Author VanderVen, Karen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bloomington Reclaiming Children and Youth 2009
Starr Global Learning Network (dba Reclaiming Youth International)
Subjects
Adolescents
Adults
At Risk Persons
Behavior
Behavior Disorders
Behavior Modification
Behavior Problems
Behavioral Science Research
Behavioral Sciences
Caring
Child Behavior
Child Care Occupations
Children
Counseling Techniques
Delinquency
Discipline
Interpersonal Relationship
Michigan
Musical Instruments
Physical restraints
Punishment
Residential Care
Residential Programs
Rewards
Self Concept
Self Control
Sex crimes
System theory
Systems Approach
Well Being
Michigan
Online AccessGet full text
ISSN1089-5701

Cover

More Information
Summary:This article attempts to replicate how Fritz Redl and David Wineman might have handled an "unmade bed" situation with the youngsters at Pioneer House, the treatment program in Detroit that was the subject of their classic work, "The Aggressive Child" (1957) which encompassed two books, "Children Who Hate" and "Controls from Within." There were no point and level systems at Pioneer House. Nor were there the insights from dynamical systems theory that have provided completely different insights and altered practices in behavioral sciences (e.g., Butz, 1997). Both the past (the work of Redl and Wineman) and the present (non-linear dynamical systems theory) offer perspectives that show the ineffectiveness of point and level systems and lead towards relational and activity oriented approaches in development of internal controls. In this article, the author focuses on some of the concepts of dynamical systems theory that are particularly applicable to understanding the dynamics of control approaches such as point and level systems in child and youth work and provides still another rationale for their ineffectiveness.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ISSN:1089-5701