A Functional Behavioral Assessment and Behavior Intervention Plan

20

FBA/BIP

Jamal Case Study:

A Functional Behavioral Assessment and Behavior Intervention Plan

Kristi Harris, Juhara Kirby, Bradley Mock, & Elizabeth Wait

Virginia Commonwealth University

SEDP 631

Classroom Management and Behavior Support of Students with Disabilities

Dr. Kevin Sutherland

July 9, 2014

Introduction

Jamal is a 14-year-old boy who has had serious behavior issues throughout his academic career. He was recommended to receive intensive in-home counselor service by his probation officer and is currently receiving counseling on a regular basis. Many of his issues stem from his home environment as well as his diagnosis with of ADHD and ODD. He lives with his mother and, occasionally, multiple brothers. Both Henrico and Richmond City Schools have deemed him a threat, and Henrico Schools have pressed assault charges against him. However, it is believed that, due to his young age, intervention will be able to help him adjust to school in the future.

Behavior Overview

The observable data we collected for Jamal was from one session between him and his caseworker, Marsha. As Jamal is new to the program there is not that much data that the caseworker and her office have collected. Jamal is still shy around the workers at the office and it is clear that he is still figuring out what is expected from him during interviews with Marsha. Jamal was referred to the office program by his probation officer.

The bulk of our observational information was collected during a session between Jamal and Marsha. Marsha and Jamal began the session by playing Scrabble, an educational game like this served as the icebreaker as well as a way for Jamal to attempt to use some of his school knowledge.

Jamal is a 14-year-old African-American boy who is presently in 8th grade. He has been suspended from school multiple times for fighting and truancy and is presently on probation for an assault charge filed by his school. This assault charge stems from the fact that Jamal has been deemed a threat to multiple students within both Henrico and Richmond schools. Interactions with his peers have consistently been negative. He is diagnosed with ADHD and ODD and is very disruptive in class. His guardian notes that he cannot read at his age level and adds that he may not even be able to read.

In preliminary interviews with his caseworker, Jamal was very reticent when speaking about his life. It was clear that he was hesitant to trust adults. His mistrust of adults can also be said to have originated with his complicated relationship with his father, with whom he does not live. Jamal has admitted to being jealous of his father’s other children who live with him. Jamal lives with his mother and during his interaction with his caseworker it is brought up that his father drinks, occasionally to excess.

His guardian, who works long hours, is unable to be with Jamal before he leaves for school, and as such Jamal is more likely to oversleep and miss the bus. In the session with his caseworker, it was brought up that his penchant for skipping school could eventually get his family in trouble with the law, as it is illegal for a parent to allow a child to be truant from school. Jamal admits that, on average, he skipped three days of school per week.

In school, Jamal was known to use his phone frequently and even to make calls during class. On at least one occasion, when asked to put his phone away he refused and was sent to the principal’s office. Even when in the office, Jamal refused to give up his phone and, as such, was sent home. This was the cause for one of his many suspensions. Jamal does not seem to have a problem with being suspended from school, so it is likely that suspension is simply reinforcement for Jamal to continue his behavior. A new punishment must be applied so as to counter Jamal’s behavior as well as finding activities to reinforce positive behavior.

Throughout the interview with Marsha, Jamal’s caseworker, the adult consistently attempted to make Jamal realize the negative consequences of his behavior. When it was brought up that Jamal’s mother could go to jail for his skipping school the caseworker was clearly attempting to inspire Jamal to think of his family. Jamal smirked at the idea of his mother going to jail;, it is not clear that he understands the gravity of skipping school.

This being the case Jamal is open in talking about why he prefers to skip school. His mother goes into work early and as such cannot ensure that Jamal gets on the bus on time for school. For Jamal, it is easy to simply go back to sleep once his mother has left for work. He also enjoys staying up late watching television meaning that he does not get enough sleep to be properly prepared for the school day.

During the interview, it was also brought up that Jamal is failing gym class due to his refusal to dress for the class. His school requires students to pay $15-20 dollars for their gym uniform. While his mother gave him money for his uniform, he refused to give it to the teacher for the uniform. He says that he thought it ridiculous to have to pay money for a uniform and added that he does not want to participate in gym class. He returned the money to his mother when he returned home.

Sources of Data

We were able to observe Jamal after our initial candidate for observation canceled. This Functional Behavioral Assessment and Behavior Intervention Plan is based off of the information in the file kept by Jamal’s counselor and a single one-hour observation of one of his counseling sessions. We were unable to make contact with his school, and no problem behavior was exhibited at the observed counseling session. Due to schedule constraints, we could not schedule further observations. For these reasons, limited data was available to use in this report.

Problem Behaviors Defined

Jamal has four identifiable, observable, and measurable behaviors that are detrimental to his safety and emotional well-being, as well as his ability to learn. The most serious of these behaviors is fighting. Jamal is known to hang out with individuals in his neighborhood that are affiliated with gangs and has gotten in multiple fights both inside and outside of school. Not only does fighting endanger his safety and the safety of others, but also when he gets suspended for fighting in school (which he has been multiple times), it interrupts his education and likely the education of whoever else is involved in the fight with him.

His other behavior that negatively affects both his learning and the learning of others is his use of his cell phone to both talk and text with his friends in the middle of class. While texting in class is unfortunately a fairly common problem, engaging in phone conversations takes up considerably more concentration and is far more disruptive to others.

Jamal’s other two problem behaviors are his failure to dress properly for gym and truancy. Unlike fighting and using his cell phone in class, these behaviors do not affect the safety or learning of his peers. Jamal’s refusal to purchase a gym uniform or bring appropriate gym clothes have resulted in him getting a D in gym class. Because you cannot participate in gym without dressing out, Jamal is missing out on an opportunity to exercise that may help him release stress and excess energy in addition to hurting his grade.

Naturally, Jamal’s truancy is even more detrimental to his grades. He claims that he misses school because he frequently stays up past midnight watching television, oversleeps, and misses the bus. Whatever the reason, Jamal certainly is not learning if he’s not in school. Being home during the school day also puts Jamal at risk of engaging in dangerous behavior because he does not appear to have any adult supervision during that time. Finally, his truancy is excessive enough (missing up to three days a week) that it has gotten his mother in legal trouble. If his mother were to go to jail as a result, Jamal’s emotional well-being is certain to suffer. Our working definitions of each problem behavior Jamal exhibits are as follows:

Fighting: hitting, kicking, punching, biting, strangling, stomping, shoving, or any other physical contact with another individual with the intent to cause bodily harm. All incidents will be recorded, regardless of who started the fight, although such information will also be noted and assessed as needed on a case-by-case basis.

Cell Phone Use: actively using his cell phone (touching the display more than once) for more than five seconds. Talking on his cell phone will be recorded separately from all other uses (texting, e-mail, internet, etc.) as those other activities are hard to distinguish from an observable distance. Talking on the phone includes both initiating a phone call and answering one.

Failure to Dress Properly: not wearing the school gym uniform and proper shoes, or an alternative deemed acceptable by the gym teacher, within 10 minutes of the start of gym class.

Truancy: failure to board the school bus and/or enter school grounds by the end of the first half of the school day without an administration-approved excuse. Truancy is not the same as skipping class, which requires that he be present on the school grounds prior to the class in question. If needed, incidents of skipping class will also be recorded.

Antecedents and Consequences of Inappropriate Behaviors Identified

Antecedent: Jamal has trouble comprehending the material in school.

Behavior: Jamal is disruptive in class. He talks on the phone while teacher is teaching with his friends who are also supposed to be in school.

Consequences: Teacher sends him to the principals office, calls his mother. His mother comes to school to pick Jamal up and take him home. Cell phone remains in his possession while at home and in school.

Antecedent: Jamal does not enjoy participating in gym class.

Behavior: Jamal refuses to participate or to even use the money his mother gave him to purchase a gym uniform.

Consequence: Jamal has received a D in gym do to lack of participation and not dressing out for class.

Antecedent: Mother gave him money to purchase his uniform.

Behavior: Jamal refused to purchase school uniform and returned the money.

Consequence: Mother accepts the money back, does not seem to question him. Jamal continues to not dress out.

Antecedent: Jamal watches television at night. His mother goes to bed before him.

Behavior: Jamal stays up after his mom goes to sleep to watch TV. Goes to sleep around midnight or 1 am.

Consequences: Misses the bus the following day due to oversleeping and not getting up. Receives a truancy charge in Henrico Public Schools.

Antecedent: Hangs out with peers from the neighborhood that are affiliated with gangs.

Behavior: Has gotten in fights in and out of school due to these friendships.

Consequences: Recommended to receive intensive home services by Henrico Juvenile probation program. Charged with assault by school for his repeated fights with other children. 3 indictments related to gang activity and 2 assault charges.

Antecedent: Jamal struggles academically.

Behavior: Jamal skips school frequently and disrupts class when he is in school.

Consequence: Jamal is sent home for misbehavior.

Hypothesized Function of Inappropriate Behaviors

Jamal’s behavior seems to be a product of his environment. He has limited contact with his father and older brothers, and most of his interactions with them have been negative. In his neighborhood, he has fallen in with a crowd where physical displays of aggression are an acceptable means of deterring future encounters. Unfortunately, this behavior has continued to manifest itself in school, an environment where the behavior is less acceptable as it is monitored more frequently.

It can be seen that for Jamal, his aggressive behavior is something that is beneficial in his neighborhood and with his friends. He and his friends have gotten in numerous fights with other groups of young boys, often at the instigation of older children in Jamal’s community who have connections to gangs. In this context, Jamal must be aggressive so that 1) he can defend himself and his friends (avoid being beat up) and 2) so that he can display a behavior that is admired by his group of friends (gain attention).

Jamal’s caseworker and counselor, Marsha, has mentioned that Jamal often seeks out older children in his community who are oftentimes gang members. He emulates these older children as role models. This has led to his numerous fights, expulsion from both Henrico and Richmond schools as well as his issues with the law.

As his guardian notes that Jamal cannot read properly, school and its requirements can be seen as a source of serious stress and frustration for him. In this way, being sent home from school is likely reinforcing Jamal’s behavior as it allows him to avoid an environment that he does not find enjoyable. This behavior coupled with his ODD often has led to serious issues in the classroom for Jamal. For Jamal, home, where he has access to television and his friends, is a much more inviting environment than his school.

During the interview with Marsha, Jamal recounted how he oftentimes speaks on his phone during class. This generally leads to the teacher asking for his phone, something that he always refuses. Upon being sent to the office he is asked for the phone again by the principal, whom he refuses yet again. This leads to him being sent home. As his home environment is where he is most comfortable, he is essentially being reinforced for his behavior in the classroom. In this way it can be said that the function of Jamal’s behavior in this instance is for him to avoid school and be sent home. Jamal may also enjoy the attention, however negative, that he receives from his teachers and administrators in response to his behavior.