Child Factors Essay

The first child factor that was found out to be the source of challenging Behavior is Temperament (Douglas, 1989, p. 3). Bates 1980 as cited from Douglas (1989, p. 3-4) have defined temperament as having a â€Å"constitutional basis†, in addition, such a behavior is perceived to appear even in early childhood, and could even persist on the latter part of one’s life. In addition, it is perceived as to be one of the â€Å"definable characteristics of the individual† and finally, is greatly affected by the environment. Thomas et al (1968) and Thomas and Chess (1977) as cited from Douglas (1989, p.4) claimed that there are two types of temperamental characteristics in children. The first is the difficult temperament child and the second is the easy temperament child (p. 5). The first cluster involves children who are â€Å"negative in mood, avoid/withdraw, non-rhythmical and settle slowly† (Douglas, 1989, p. 5). On the other hand, easily temperament children are more â€Å"positive in mood, approach new events and people, rhythmical in schedule and adjust quickly to new surroundings (p. 5). In addition with this, the temperamental difficulty has been viewed by the research of Thomas et al (1983) as cited from Douglas (1989, p.5) as something that is biological in nature, as it has been perceived as part of a child’s biological make up. However, criticisms emerge if such a temperamental behavior indeed stem out of the child’s biology or is a result of the mother’s perception among the child. Tomas et al has claimed that there might be a so-called â€Å"self-fulfilling prophecies† that mothers bestow among their children, every time that they perceive their child as badly tempered; most especially on the early days of childhood (Bates, 1980 as cited from Douglas, 1989, p. 4-5).