Handbook of Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties

The behaviour of children in primary and secondary schools has been a consistent source of interest and controversy since the 19th century.

Some commentators suggest that the phenomenon has a far more impressive historical pedigree.

As education systems in First World democracies struggle to meet changing social, economic and educational conditions, one group of children has increasingly become the focus of attention.These are those who, for a variety of underpinning reasons, are either unable or unwilling to conform to the requirements of formal schooling.

As a result they are identified as having Emotional and/or Behavioural Difficulties (EBD) of one level of severity or another.

Contemporary debate increasingly links causation with intervention, to form a holistic approach to problem prevention or remediation.This Handbook provides a systematic and comprehensive overview of a series of often related themes which underpin theoretical and philosophical approaches to pupils perceived as having EBD's, and their realisation in both policy and provision.

The structure of book divides these themes into three core sections.

These allow the reader to consider children or young people with EBD's from a number of perspectives and levels.

They are viewed in relation to society in general, then in terms of individual education systems and the policies and provision they adopt, and also in terms of the meanings of these problematic behaviours to the individual 'actors' on whom they impact most profoundly.

Each theme or topic is organised in such a way that: the key principles or characteristics are mapped; examples of their impact on current practices are given; issues arising for debate are highlighted.The Handbook assembles contributions from significant authors in the field of EBD and particular emphasis is given to the international and comparative focus of the contributions.

Thus, although contributions are principally from the United Kingdom and the United States, these writers have been identified because of their capacity to develop broader, trans-cultural, insights.