By Jane F. Gilgun and Samantha Hirschey, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USA
In the previous blog, we discussed the meanings of relational aggression to those who use it and factors influencing the development aggressive behaviors. In this blog, we show how notions of executive function and self-regulation can help in understanding aggression.
When girls commit relational and other forms of aggression, they are only seeing part of the picture, the part that concerns them and what they want. At the time they act, they are not considering consequences for survivors and for others, nor are they considering longer-term consequences for themselves. This is an executive function (EF) issue. Research shows that executive function is not fully developed until the mid-twenties. Many young people, whether survivors of complex trauma or not, have executive function issues. The first author has written about EF. The following is an excerpt from her book, The NEATS: A Child and Family Assessment (Gilgun, 2011) that describes executive function.
Executive function (EF) is a term that covers a broad range of capacities related to judgment, problem-solving, organization of self, anticipation of consequences, working memory, and following rules and directions….executive functions or skills arise from a combination of genetics and experience. Adequate nutrition and good prenatal care as well as genetics lead to good executive functions at birth. Subsequent experience contributes further to executive function development. With sensitive, responsive care, children build upon existing skills to continue their optimal development.
Stress, trauma, abuse, and neglect may undermine the development of executive skills in children with a good genetic makeup. These children can recover or develop new executive skills if their circumstances change for the better and where parenting is sensitive and responsive, except if the damage to neural circuits cannot be reversed (p. 12).
Self-regulation of emotions, thought, and behaviors also are part of executive function, but in the NEATS assessment, self-regulation is so important it is treated separately. The following is a definition of self-regulation.
Self-regulation is defined as capacities to manage and make sense of one’s own thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in times of stress and in the course of everyday life (Gilgun, 2011, p. 33).
The loss of capacities for self-regulation is called dysregulation. When in dysregulated states, individuals are typically reliving past trauma and are disconnected from the thinking parts of their brains, called the prefrontal cortex, where the neurological bases of executive functions reside. Persons who have experienced child abuse and neglect may have difficulties with self-regulation because parents and parental figures are likely to have been inconsistent in helping them regulate their emotions when they were infants and young children and throughout their lives. The development of self-regulation stems from the efforts of parents who help children to regulate themselves through the provision of safety, sensitivity, and contingent responsiveness. Eventually, children internalize these experiences and develop capacities for self-regulation.
Executive function, including self-regulation, are at issue when individuals act out in aggressive ways. When dysregulated, they fall back on behaviors that are deeply engrained, and they are disengaged from the thinking part of their brains. They do not consider consequences, except in a narrow way. They are unable to regulate the emotions of anger, frustration, and hurt, thoughts and beliefs that lead them to behave in aggressive ways.
Child welfare social workers have grand challenges in building relationships with girls who have issues with aggression when the girls also have problems with trust, executive function, and self-regulation. Fortunately, in many cases, girls who have aggressive behaviors seek and want trusting relationships and thus are amenable to engagement with trustworthy adults. The building of this trust may take time, and there will be setbacks. Consistency and persistence on the part of professionals often pay off.
The notions of executive function and self-regulation are helpful in understanding girls’ aggression. Many people with trauma in their backgrounds develop capacities for executive function and self-regulation through the safety of secure relationships. In the next blog, we illustrate points about executive function through a case study of Antonia, a young African American girl.
As an executive function and self-regulation issue, aggression can be thought of as a form of mindlessness where persons do not consider the effects of their behaviors on others. Mindfulness, on the other hand, is living in the present moment with awareness of self, others, and the world around us. Mindfulness leads to respect, compassion, and loving-kindness toward the self, others, and all of life. Mindfulness-based practices have been used with considerable success to increase executive functions and self-regulation. We will discuss mindfulness-based interventions in blogs 8 and 9.
Questions to Consider
Please feel free to leave a comment on today’s blog. As you think about the blog, we wonder how you are responding to the ideas we presented. What, for example, do you think we left out? Was there anything in this blog that helped you think more deeply about your cases?
We hope you consider the following questions.
- Do you find the idea of executive function useful in your work with young people and their families? Why or why not?
- When children have secure attachments with parents and other adults, they have good executive function. Why do you think this is true?
- When children and young people are unable to self-regulate, what are your ideas about what is going on for them?
- What sense do you make of the idea that mindfulness-based practices help in fostering executive functions and capacities for self-regulation?
Next Blog
The next blog applies the notions of executive function and self-regulation to the case of Antonia, whose risk and resources profile is typical of child welfare cases.
About the Authors
Jane F. Gilgun, Ph.D., LICSW, is a professor, School of Social Work, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USA. She was a child welfare social worker for more than eight years and has taught courses and done qualitative research on high-risk children and families for many years. A special focus of her research is factors associated with good outcomes when children have experienced complex trauma. Professor Gilgun’s articles, books, and practice manuals are widely available on the internet. Many of them are free.
Samantha Hirschey is a second year master’s student at the School of Social Work, University of Minnesota, USA, and Professor Gilgun’s research assistant. She did her first year internship at the St. Paul Public Schools and her second internship will be at the Community-University Health Care Center that provides mental health services to residents of the inner city of Minneapolis. She has worked in a variety of social service agencies including with children, teens, and adults with mental illnesses and developmental disabilities. She has a special interest in the promotion of integrated behavioral health in children and families.
References
Colloroso, Barbara (2004). The bully, the bullied, and the bystander. New York: Harper Collins.
Dailey, A. L., Frey, A. J., & Walker, H. M. (2015). Relational aggression in school settings: Definition, development, strategies and implications. Children & Schools. 37(2). 79-88.
Gilgun, Jane F. (2011a). Children with serious conduct issues: A case study, a NEATS assessment, and case planning. Amazon Kindle.
Gilgun, Jane F. (2011b) The NEATS: A child & family assessment (3rd ed.). Amazon.
Lingras, K. A. (2012). For better or worse? A developmental perspective on the role of executive function in relational aggression: A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the graduate school of the University of Minnesota. University of Minnesota Libraries Digital Conservancy.
Pernice-Duca, F., Taiariol, J. & Yoon, J. (2010). Perceptions of school and family climates and experiences of relational aggression. Journal of School Violence, 100(5), 303-319
Pronk, R.E. & Zimmer-Gembeck, M.J. (2010) It’s “mean,” but what does it mean to adolescents? Relational aggression described by victims, aggressors, and their peers. Journal of Adolescent Research. 25(2) 175-204