The management of behaviour problems in children*

It is unlikely that the services of child care workers will cease to be needed during the next decade. The figures tend to show a steadily increasing demand for help with children who cannot live with their biological families for a number of different reasons. This seems to be a reflection of:—

Firstly, an increased awareness of the meaning of unusual behaviour in children, i.e., that the child who does something unacceptable like running away, stealing or failing to perform well in school is really showing signs of emotional stress, and secondly, in part due to an increase in social disruption of the family and a change in the values of a significant proportion of middle class parents. There is no way we can expect that all children can spend all their young lives living with a family, either their biological family or an alternative one.