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Behaviour Management in Foster Care

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Understanding Children in Foster Care
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Abstract

This chapter covers positive behaviour management for children in foster care. The chapter outlines how to assist foster parents to do a brief behavioural audit to check that they are following basic learning theory principles. Following this, we examine the adaptation of behaviour principles needed for children in foster care, to take into account their previous learning from maltreatment experiences. The Relational Learning Framework (RLF) and related clinical tools can be used to work out the drivers of seemingly random and unpredictable behaviour. Without taking the child’s internal working model into account, usual behaviour management strategies in foster care may make the child’s behaviour worse. In this chapter we will consider the use of both learning principles and what the foster parent can do and say to address the underlying drivers of behaviour.

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Kelly, W. (2017). Behaviour Management in Foster Care. In: Understanding Children in Foster Care. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65376-1_10

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