Child Guidance In Child Psychology

All children have instances whereby they misbehave thus every adult play an important role in guiding, correcting and socializing children towards appropriate behaviours. These actions are known as child guidance and discipline. They are crucial in a child’s life as it helps to develop self-regulation, responsibility and the ability to make rational decisions (Barakat, 2011).

Description of the behavioural problem (Running Record) On a Tuesday evening, the family clinic is fairly quiet except for the occasional ringing of the phone at the reception counter or the whispers of the people chatting amongst themselves while waiting for their turn with the doctor. However, the once quiet family clinic is now filled with the screams of a boisterous young boy aged approximately three to four years old.
After entering the clinic hand in hand with a female adult, the child proceeds to sit on the floor of the waiting area while playing with his toy cars on the chair. The female adult busies herself beside him by reading a magazine and using her mobile phone occasionally. The child is deeply engaged in play as he creates sound effects such as “Vroom” and screaming, “Bang!” while crashing his toy cars together. After 4 to 5

The consequence approach can be observed when the child started screaming for ice cream. The child’s mother told him sternly that if he continues making so much noise, they would be going back home immediately. In response to this approach, the child starts crying and screaming even louder that he just wants to eat ice cream. Seeing that this approach was not working, the mother utilized the extrinsic motivation guidance approach by offering to bring the child out for ice cream if he behaves himself until it is his turn to see the doctor. In response to this guidance style, the child stops screaming and proceeded to sit next to his mother quietly while wiping his tears