ABSTRACT
It is not perhaps surprising that behavioural psychology has had a considerable influence on approaches to work with children and adults with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Although much of its early experimental base concerned work with animals rather than people, learning theory has, as Walker (1984) puts it, ‘spawned a collection of practical measures known as behaviour modification, or behaviour therapy, which have made a significant contribution to such areas as the treatment of severe neurotic phobias and the education of handicapped children’ (p. 2). Indeed, applications of the behavioural approach have not been confined to such areas of severe and complex problems but have also been reflected in teaching in ordinary schools. The term ‘behaviour therapy’ is usually applied in a more limited way to the clinical techniques of desensitisation and modelling.
