Sometimes we come across people who carry out actions that are out of character, as if they were not aware of what they are doing and could cause shame, anger, anguish and discomfort in others. This could happen in any social context and age, although it is usually more common in young children. For example, you have probably heard more than one news story about a person who has committed a public provocation of any kind that has made you wonder things like “did that person know what he was doing? Why does he have this kind of attitude?” attitudes? Or do you understand other people’s feelings?, among others. These questions invite us to think about a problem that crosses ages and social groups, known as disruptive behaviors.
In this Psychology-Online article we will talk to you about the Disruptive behaviors: what they are, causes, types and strategies to deal with them.
What are disruptive behaviors?
Disruptive behaviors are those actions that alter the functioning of a space through non-compliance with norms and rules accepted by a society. This type of behavior can occur at any time in life, although it is usually more common in childhood.
Likewise, these manifestations are considered antisocial as they are not accepted by the members of a social group and/or a community. For this same reason, disruptive behaviors can lead to sanctions for the person who carries them out.
How disruptive behaviors manifest
Although not all disruptive behaviors should be considered disorders, the DSM-V includes them within the group of disruptive impulse control and conduct disorders. However, in order to establish an adequate diagnosis, a series of conditions must be met. specific criteria:
- Repetitive behaviors that violate social norms.
- Attack on people.
- Destruction of objects.
- Lack of guilt.
- Lack of .
- This type of behavior lasts twelve months or more.
Causes of disruptive behaviors
In order to establish the best treatment for this type of behavior, it is advisable to find the reasons that have given rise to them. Next, we show you the main causes of disruptive behaviors:
Environmental factors
First of all, the traumatic experiences that a person has experienced in his or her childhood can act as triggers for attitudes that are unfavorable to the development of daily life, including disruptive behaviors. Here aspects such as a person’s upbringing, lack of limits by authority figures or their excessive limitations, among others.
Genetic factors
According to various studies carried out in this regard, it has been proven that there is a clear relationship between disruptive behaviors as a consequence of some alteration of neuronal functioning. It should be noted that there are neurons that process information coming from outside and give rise to .
On the other hand, there may also be other underlying diseases that have a direct relationship with disruptive behaviors.
Types of disruptive behaviors
Although this type of behavior can happen in any area, here we will focus on some types of disruptive behavior that have certain particularities:
- Challenging attitudes: These are behaviors that challenge any framework of social order. In this group, the lack of respect towards authority figures stands out.
- Explosive attitudes: manifestations of anger that arise suddenly in a person as a result of frustrations to which they have been exposed.
- Aggressive attitudes towards other people: This type of behavior can cause severe physical damage without the person taking into account its consequences.
- Antisocial attitudes: they include signals that avoid social contact. In this sense, a deep disinterest in being part of social groups, an inability to acquire a sense of responsibility, among others, may arise.
- mythomaniac attitudes: mythomania is a personality disorder characterized by the transformation of a fact of reality according to a person’s convenience, a quality that is usually used in people who have disruptive behaviors.
It should be noted that these types of disruptive behaviors can coexist in the same person, although a particular trait usually predominates.
Strategies to deal with disruptive behaviors
Despite the complexity of disruptive behavior, there are some methods to reduce its consequences. Below, we explain some strategies and activities to eliminate disruptive behaviors:
Maintain clear boundaries
This type of behavior often derives from the lack or excess of limits by the authorities. Therefore, if the person notices that he can carry out some action that alters the order to achieve what he wants and there is no clear limit, this can become repetitive.
Given this, set clear boundariesconcrete and inflexible can help reduce these disruptive behaviors.
Establish punishments for disruptive behavioryes
If the behavior of a person who causes problems in a certain place does not have any type of consequence, it is likely that this pattern will repeat itself. On the contrary, the establishment of punishments can allow us to better deal with this situation.
Foster a secure bond
In general terms, people who present disruptive behaviors have many feelings of insecurity. For this reason, in these cases it will be convenient establish a relationship based on trust so that the person feels understood.
If you want to know more about how to create secure links, you can also read the article.
Anticipation of situations
On some occasions, the frustration triggered by moments that we did not expect causes considerable discomfort in a person. Faced with this type of situation, plan and anticipate a situation It can also be a good way to deal with disruptive behaviors.
Examples of disruptive behaviors
To provide greater clarity to this topic, below we leave you some examples of disruptive behaviors that can be common in social settings:
- Example 1: A child is sitting in a school classroom in the middle of a class. Because he finds the content explained by the teacher boring, he begins to hit his classmates and various objects in the classroom. In this case, the disruptive behavior derives from the discomfort that he has felt throughout that time.
- Example 2: A person goes to work and is informed that their employment contract has not been renewed. Faced with the frustration that this situation produces, she begins to throw objects out of the window and threaten the employees with physical harm. Afterwards, he hits and injures some of them. In this way, frustration was channeled through disruptive behavior.
It should be noted that in the previous examples no emphasis is placed on any particular moment and they are for illustrative purposes only.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Disruptive behaviors: what they are, causes, types and strategies to deal with themwe recommend that you enter our category.
References
- American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington: Panamericana Medical Publishing.
Bibliography
- Jurado de los Santos, P., Justiniano Domínguez, MD (2016). Proposals for intervention against disruptive behavior in compulsory secondary education. Spanish Journal of Guidance and Psychopedagogy, 27 (3), 8-25.
- Rodríguez García, VE (2021). Managing disruptive behaviors in the classroom. Magazine of Scientific Dissemination of the Educational Sector, 23 (2), 5-11.