Verbal Aggression In People- Essay, Research Paper
Verbal Aggression in People-
Verbal aggression is message behavior which attacks a person’s
self-concept in order to deliver psychological pain.(Infante, 1995)
Studies of verbal aggression have focused primarily on children and
adolescents in educational and social settings. Very few studies were
found to examine verbal aggression in adults in the workplace.
(Ebbesen, Duncan, Konecni, 1974) The consequences of verbal aggression
in the workplace can lead to social isolation, job related stress,
health related problems, as well as problems in career advancement. It
therefore should be considered important, for the individual and
management, to identify and address the causes of verbal aggression.
This program attempts to understand verbal aggression by 1)
identifying the various functions of verbal aggression. 2)
identifying the antecedent conditions of verbal aggression. 3)
Avoiding the antecedent conditions of verbal aggression.
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Subject
The subject, Shirley J., is a 49 year old African American
female. Shirley J. has several advanced degrees and is employed as a
school psychologist in a metropolitan school district. She is married
with two adult children. The subject readily agreed that the target
behavior, verbal aggression, is a problem as it interferes with her
relationships with others. She was enthusiastic in her desire to
reduce, if not eliminate, this behavior. It would seem that
self-monitoring for verbal aggression and antecedent control would be
valuable as it would allow for consistent avoidance of verbal
aggression. As a school psychologist the subject was very familiar
with the basic principles of applied behavioral analysis and
frequently offered programmatic suggestions. A behavioral contract was
developed jointly between the therapist and subject. The contract
outlined the target behavior, success criteria, and individual
responsibilities of the therapist and subject. (see Appendix A)
Apparatus
A basic checklist was used to document the frequency of verbal
aggression on a daily basis. The checklist was designed to track only
the occurrence of the behavior. It was felt by the therapist that the
content of the verbally aggressive message would be too open for
subjective interpretation and that no meaningful data would be gained
from such documentation. In addition the subject made frequent
comments of significant success or failure in avoiding verbal
aggression for discussion with the therapist. The weekly discussions
were used to evaluate the appropriateness of the procedures used and
make any necessary adjustments to the program.
Procedure
For the first two weeks of the program no intervention was
applied. Given that the subject self-reported that verbal aggression
was a problem it was important to determine if the frequency of the
behavior merited intervention. Therefore, the subject documented the
daily frequency of verbal aggression. The results of the baseline
period revealed a high rate of verbal aggression. (see Appendix B)
Given the results of the baseline data as well as the demanding, often
stressful, nature of the subjects job, it was mutually agreed that
reducing verbal aggression would be the focus of the program.
Verbal aggression was defined as cursing, yelling, and
screaming at others. The agreed upon goals of the program was to
decrease verbal aggression by 75% of baseline for four consecutive
weeks. Treatment would consist of identifying and avoiding the
antecedent conditions to verbal aggression. Avoidance of the
antecedents is considered less restrictive, more proactive, and most
effective. During the initial consultation it was determined that the
antecedent conditions included, but was not limited to: work stress,
time of day, verbal behavior of others (ie. tone of voice, inflection
of voice and content of conversation, etc.), and non- verbal behavior
of others (ie. facial expression, body posture, eye contact, etc.). In
addition, the subject was required to self monitor for the following
antecedents: clenched fists, tight jaw, rapid heart beat, and the
emotions of anger, frustration and disappointment. Lastly, it was
suggested by Infante (1995) that appropriate strategy must be taken to
prevent verbal aggression from escalating.
Successful avoidance of the antecedent conditions consisted of
removing oneself from stressful situations, when possible, as well as
not responding verbally when provoked. Weekly consultation revealed
that verbal aggression was most often used to: 1) Escape demand
situations. 2) Avoid demand situations. 3) Relieve job stress. The
subject was to document the frequency of verbal aggression and record
the circumstances of significant success or failure during the work
week for discussion at weekly consultation sessions.
A schedule of reinforcement was developed for the subject. The
reinforcement was to be given for successful avoidance of verbal
aggression. Reinforcement included: five minutes alone for ‘quiet
time’, when possible, or a short, silent prayer. Considering the
stress and escalating nature of verbal aggression time alone was
considered appropriate for ‘cool down’. If time alone was not possible
or convenient the subject would say a short prayer when provoked.
Results The results of the baseline phase revealed what was considered
an extraordinarily high rate of verbal aggression. However, after the
first week of data collection it was realized that verbal aggression
was not operationally defined. The subject considered verbal
aggression on much broader terms than did the therapist which included
subjective, rather than objective, behavior observations. Weekly
consultation sessions revealed that cursing was the most common
manifestation of the target behavior. When correctly defined using
objective terms a decrease in verbal aggression was noted. Based on
the results of baseline data it was mutually agreed that 4 to 8
episodes of aggression per day was significantly high and merited
intervention.
The results of the intervention phase of treatment revealed a
sharp increase of verbal aggression over the first three weeks. This
increase is thought to be due to extinction. Afterwards, a gradual
decrease of verbal aggression was noted during weeks 4 through 9. No
data was collected during week 10 due to subject illness. The
treatment phase ended with a weekly average of one episode of verbal
aggression. After week five the subject stated that she no longer
delivered the reinforcement after the behavior. She reported that the
ability to control her emotions was in itself reinforcing and would
maintain the behavior.
Discussion
The results of this program show that verbal aggression can be
successfully decreased by identifying and avoiding its antecedent
conditions. As stated previously, the subject used verbal aggression
for escape from demanding or difficult situations, relief from stress,
and avoidance of demanding or difficult situations. The behavior
appears to be maintained through positive reinforcement. Because the
subject is in a position of some power and influence there were
relatively few consequences for the behavior. Ebbesen, Duncan and
Konecni (1974) suggested that verbal aggression could be reinforced
and maintained in such a manner. Since the most common form of verbal
aggression was cursing, the method of identifying and avoiding the
antecedents proved very successful. Infante (1995) used a similar
method with young students. When replicating this program it may be
appropriate to focus on the positive behavior rather than the
negative. Instead of documenting the frequency of verbal aggression it
may have been better to document the frequency of successful avoidance
of verbal aggression. In this way we would help to internalize the
strategy to maintain the behavior, as well as having a more positive
and constructive program. A question raised by Golin and Romanowski
(1977) was is there a sex difference in the rate and target of verbal
aggression. Although this question was not investigated in the current
program, it does raise an intriguing question for future study.
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References
Ebbessen, E. B., Duncan, B., & Konecni, V. J. (1974). Effects of
Content of Verbal Aggression: A Field Experiment. Journal of
Experimental Social Psychology, 11, 192-204.
Golin, S., & Romanowski, M. (1977). Verbal Aggression as a Function of
Sex of Subject and Sex of Target. Journal of Psychology, 97, 141-149.
Infante, D. A. (1995). Teaching Students to Understand and Control
Verbal Aggression. Communication Education, 44, 51-63.