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I n a recent issue of A P E X , E. S. Robbins presented u "Teacher's guide to the treatment of self-injurious hehaviour" (Robbins, 1977). This discussion of a difficult problem included a plausible description of the causes of such behaviour and a review of Some hehavioural riiethods of munugetnent. Robbins was cureful to avoid explanations with "overtones of mysticism" and was clearly attempting to draw the atfention of teachers and others concerned nvitlr the cure and riiirniigernent of the handicapped to relevunt reseurch literutitre. The folloning is offered US a contribution to this dehute. enlarging lipon a few, of the points tnirile in the earlier ariicle itnd iriiding a f e w words of caution. ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOUR PROBLEMSWe have become much more aware of the role of the environment in causing behaviour change; the growth of a technology, sometimes referred to as behaviour modification, underlines this fact. However, it is unfortunate that there is a tendency to spend too much time discussing the methods which can be employed to bring about behaviour change and to pay insufficient attention to the initial analysis of a problem. As Robbins points out ". . . the choice of a particular method is dependent on the child and the situation". This is true in all areas of teaching and child management and cannot be emphasised too strongly when considering behaviour patterns which produce selfinjury,In the long term, an effective means of reducing a problem can only be discovered from the basis of a careful and precise analysis of the behaviour and its possible causes. For exampIe, if a problem behaviour is maintained by the adult attention it produces, then removing that attention following the behaviour (what Robbins refers to as contingent finze-our) can reasonably be expected to result in a lessening of the problem. However, if a problem behaviour is maintained because it results in a reduction of adult attention, then the above course of treatment is likely to increuse the extent of the difficulty.Clearly, the same argument applies to any method of treatment. Under some circumstances, for example, "slapping" can be an effective means of reinforcing an inappropriate behaviour rather than punishing it. The reasons why a child does what he does niust be considered when choosing a means of management if a successful outcome is to be achieved. (Cullen et al, 1977).Withdrawal of attention, used in both time-out and extinction procedures, is frequently employed in attempts to reduce a certain behaviour. This is particularly so in cases of self-injury, where punishment in any other form is avoided because of a reluctance to "hurt" a child who is already damaging himself. Robbins (1977) notes the difficulty which is produced when another adult inadvertently rewards an act which the teacher is trying to ignore. He emphasises that this intermittent reinforcement of the behaviour can make that behaviour more persistent. This, however, is not the only difficulty. Implicit in the attempt to ignore the behaviour is the as...

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