Posts Tagged ‘behavior’
Cultural Influence on Morals
[One of 50 articles written and published for Demand Media in 2013. Published version here.]
Culture influences morals. But it is not the only influence, nor necessarily the strongest one. Thinking about how culture influences morals raises several questions. What are morals? What is culture? What are their sources and what causes them to change? The dictionary definition for morals is “relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior.” The definition of culture is “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group.” And it may well be that both culture and morality are less an agreement than a constant process of adding and subtracting effective rules for social cooperation and survival.
Popular Culture
Popular culture — TV, movies, media, fads — is a social conversation. The media provides news, ideas and entertainment, generally presented within the bounds of existing moral codes. For example, kissing on TV shows and movies has long been depicted in American media, but was taboo in Indian media for decades. The social conversation is about where the boundaries lie. Sometimes, morality sets the parameters and culture determines what behavior, within those parameters, is acceptable. Both America and India have moral codes, but the boundaries have sometimes been in different places. Different cultures, different ideas about right and wrong.
Family and Other Influences
We are exposed to cultural values from many sources — family, peers, education, authorities, religion. Because we spend most of our formative years with family, the values of the family, good or bad, are a powerful influence. The impact of other sources varies with age, experience and understanding. As we enter adolescence, for example, the influence of peers grows and that of family often wanes. These multiple influences affect our personal values and our outlook. Who we are and what we believe evolves, even as we recognize some enduring principles.
Conflicting Moral Sources
Values from multiple sources sometimes conflict. Behavior that is accepted at home may not be accepted at school and vice versa. Where does culture end and morality begin?
The religious answer is that our aspirational values are set down by a deity and it is our task to live in accordance with them. But another answer has been suggested by research on primate behavior by Dutch/American biologist and ethologist Frans de Waal. His studies have identified moral behavior in socially intelligent mammals — chimpanzees, monkeys and elephants — implying that morals have developed as a result of natural selection.
Generational Change
We are born into a world of values that have existed throughout humanity’s history. We absorb these values as children while we navigate our social environment, processing and reevaluating them through our adult lives. While value systems resist change within generations, they are subject to fresh inspection by each new generation, and each new generation chips away at the norm.
Samuel Butler once observed that “Morality is the custom of one’s country and the current feeling of one’s peers.” Morals are also subject to change, but usually over longer stretches of time. There are clear instructions on slave management in the Bible; it was an accepted practice at the time. Our moral values and our culture are different now. Our culture says slavery is wrong, and our moral code agrees.
Culture influences morality, and morality influences culture. But they don’t always agree. That’s why the social conversation never ends.
The Advantages of Early Intervention for Deaf Children
[One of 50 articles written and published for Demand Media in 2013]
The importance of early intervention for deaf children is universally accepted, but controversy persists over which forms of intervention are best for the child. The deaf community strongly emphasizes a linguistic approach, giving priority to early exposure to language. The medical model emphasizes an auditory approach that prioritizes the ability to speak and hear. Most researchers agree that language acquisition occurs early. Children who do not reach common linguistic milestones as toddlers lag their peers in language skills. If the delay is severe, the lag can become permanent. Early intervention is focused on preventing this stunted communication growth. The debate centers around the benefits and drawbacks of linguistic and auditory approaches.
Linguistic Intervention
The advantage of the linguistic approach is that American Sign Language is a complete, natural language fully on par with spoken languages. Exposure to ASL introduces the child to language immediately, creating a foundation for the later addition of other languages. With family engagement and daily face-to-face communication, ASL is a first step toward full literacy. With the language base secured, it becomes possible to learn the grammar, vocabulary and idiosyncrasies of other languages, particularly English.
Bilingualism
The common fear is that learning ASL will inhibit the understanding of English. But the opposite is true — ASL enhances English learning. Bilingualism has demonstrated benefits in communication as well as brain development and the ability to monitor the environment. The grammar of ASL is expressed in three dimensions, a useful mode of expression not available in English. Rather than generate confusion, knowledge of multiple grammars enhances mental agility.
Auditory Intervention
Auditory early intervention relies on technology to deliver sound perception and intensive training to detect patterns through speech reading. This typically means hearing aids for mild to severe hearing impairment or cochlear implants for profoundly deaf children. The U.S. Federal Drug Administration permits implants as early as 12 months as of 2013. The advantage of the auditory approach is the network effect. Most people rely on speech and hearing to communicate. Children with the capacity to participate in this network have broader access to the resources of the network and the people in it.
Combined Strengths
Parents of a newborn deaf child are faced with the task of sorting out which early intervention strategy they feel is best. If they are hearing, as 90 percent of parents with deaf children are, the prospect of learning ASL can be daunting. Implants require invasive surgery in the skull with variable results, depending on age of implantation, condition of the auditory nerve, degree of recipient’s familiarity with sound and speech, post-operational mapping process and several other factors. Speech reading is most effective for children with mild to moderate levels of hearing impairment.
If the decision is made to go forward with hearing aids or an implant, a hybrid approach that includes ASL exposure may confer the greatest advantage. Current auditory technology is not equivalent to full hearing. Broadly, the effect has been to deliver the equivalent of being hard-of-hearing, leaving critical gaps in comprehension when relying on speech reading and hearing alone. ASL can help fill these gaps, especially during early development when language access is crucial.
Learning Language in a Home With Deaf Parents
[One of 50 articles written and published for Demand Media in 2013. Published version here.]
Ninety percent of children born to deaf parents have normal hearing. Not all deaf adults converse in sign language, but in homes where they do, children grow up bilingual. American Sign Language is often their first language. Because spoken language is so common, children easily acquire speech through interaction with other family members, playmates, day care, movies and television. Dr. Laura-Ann Pettito, a neuroscientist doing research on the biological basis of language, says “Study after study showed that for every level of language organization, signed languages and spoken languages were using the identical brain tissue.”
American Sign Language
ASL is a complete language, distinct from English, with its own grammar, sentence structure, expression of tenses and time. It is a three-dimensional language, which enables conceptual constructs not available to spoken language. Children — deaf and hearing alike — who learn ASL as their first language arrive at common linguistic development milestones at the same pace that spoken language milestones are reached. At 3 to 6 months, they are “fingerbabbling” in imitation of finger-spelling, At 6 to 12 months, they will gesture. First signed words appear at about 8 months, with 10 or more understood and expressed signs at 12 months. In a paper titled “Milestones of Language Development,” researchers report that, “The phonology, syntax, semantics, morphology and pragmatic aspects of language are acquired around 4 years of age whether the parental input is in sign or spoken language”
Bilingualism
It is now widely recognized that bilingualism boosts mental agility and flexibility. As Pettito states, “It’s almost as if the monolingual child’s brain is on a diet and the bilingual child’s brain stretches to the full extent and variability that Mother Nature gave it to use language and exploit human language.” For children, the process of learning signed and spoken language at the same time is natural and intuitive. Bilingual children in deaf households respond to ASL in ASL, to speech with speech, and switch between them as needed. Because this requires more active monitoring of their environment, they do monitoring tasks better and more efficiently than their monolingual peers.
Deaf Children
Early exposure to English is important for deaf children. A helpful tool in this area is the availability of captions and subtitles in movies and televisions. Early recognition of the differences between English and ASL grammar supports strong reading and writing skills later. Parental involvement matters, too. By sharing children’s books, the text can be signed and read in English, providing a bridge of understanding between both communication modes. In a 2000 study titled “American Sign Language and Reading Ability in Deaf Children,” a strong correlation was found between deaf children of deaf parents and higher reading achievement scores. Deaf parents have no need to “get up to speed” on the use of ASL as a language, so ASL development in their children begins immediately. This early acquisition of language facilitates learning English and reading skills later.
Children of Deaf Parents
Children of deaf adults have a special role in the deaf community. As hearing children of deaf parents, they learn to juggle relationships with hearing and deaf individuals, institutions, cultural norms and languages. They might have deaf or hearing siblings, or both; they often grow up with both deaf and hearing friends. They are not only bilingual, they are bicultural. Among professional sign language interpreters, children of deaf adults are common. Growing up with deaf parents gives them a native’s grasp for the subtleties and nuances of ASL, and their grasp of both English and ASL is strong enough that they can earn a living interpreting between them.
Strategies Used for Disruptive Aggressive Behavior in Children
[One of 50 articles written and published for Demand Media in 2013]
Benjamin Franklin famously said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Strategies for dealing with aggressive behavior fall into two categories. Prevention is using techniques to minimize or eliminate continuing aggression. Intervention is dealing with aggression as it happens.
Preventive strategies are time-consuming and require patience. But they work, and they are superior to dealing with chronic aggression, whether it is physical, verbal or relational (spreading gossip, rumors, exclusion, etc.).
Prevention Before Aggression
The first preventive strategy for dealing with aggressive behavior is to minimize risk. Think about the environment where aggressive behaviors occur. Aggression can target property, other people, or the self. Self-aggression can concern either the aggessor’s self (suicide threats, for example) or you. Survey the home, classroom and play areas, and clear away or block access to obvious hazards.
In situations where aggression is chronic, it’s important to pay attention and think ahead. When you are familiar with the child’s behavior patterns, it’s often possible to see the storm approaching long before the rain starts falling. Intervene early when you see the elements for an aggressive episode coming together.
Preventive Intervention
When you see a conflict between children heating up, separate them. When you see one child provoking another, step in and call out the behavior. When you see attention-seeking behavior that typically leads to aggression, redirect the child’s attention to another activity.
Redirection is a very effective technique; with practice and skill it can prevent many episodes. Keep a written or mental list of alternative activities so you have something ready to suggest when you need it. Also remember that each child is unique. Compare notes on what works and what doesn’t with your co-workers, the child’s parents and others familiar with the child; they may have helpful tips or knowledge. The more you know, the easier it is to head off trouble.
Communication
There are many reasons for aggression. Part of prevention is determining an aggressive child’s motivations. It’s not always clear, even to the child. They may be angry about something they wanted and didn’t get. They may be suffering abuse, seeking attention or responding to provocation. Motivations matter; knowing them can help you address their concerns and devise specific strategies.
Discerning motivation requires communication, and there are three things to do: listen, acknowledge and empathize. This doesn’t necessarily mean you agree with the child. The child may lie, bluff and exaggerate. Stay with it. Gently confront obvious contradictions and dishonesty. Your purpose is to understand motivation, then build respect, trust and rapport to the point where the child’s mind is open to positive suggestions. Ask questions when the child is calm: How did this start? Why did it happen? How can we prevent this from happening again? What can you do differently to prevent this? Most importantly, listen.
Situational Intervention
When a physical fight erupts in a workplace, such as a school or day care center, your intervention strategy is determined by your workplace policy. If your workplace doesn’t have one, it needs one. Know the policy and be clear on it so you’re prepared when the time comes. If there are specific interventions required, get training for them.
In other places, such as at home or on a playground, you have decisions to make. Do you intervene physically? This may be a practical solution with small children, but you have to take into account the reaction of other parents and risk of injury to children. What about athletic teenagers? Physical intervention in that context could lead to severe injury or death. When you are concerned about attacks on yourself, prearrange defensive help in place or nearby.
Very often, your authority as an adult is enough to stop a fight. Simply stepping forward and saying, “Alright, that’s enough, break it up NOW.” is sufficient. If not, you may add that the police will be called if they don’t cool it. The key is to remain calm and firm — be the adult. Adult authority can also be applied to verbal and relational altercations, but with lower intensity. Talk. Invoke the golden rule – are you treating others the way you would want to be treated? Why not?
Prevent aggression when you can. Get help when you need it. Review incidents afterward for lessons learned, then apply them to future situations. Finally, praise positive behavior. Aggressive children are accustomed to being disciplined. They need feedback when they do good, too.
Influential Prose 