ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the concepts of 'problem behavior' that they exemplify. The development of 'withdrawal units' has been idiosyncratic and piecemeal: they did not form a coherent national development but were established to meet the perceived local needs of a school or education authority. The inadequacy of traditional 'solutions' is nowhere more apparent than in the area of problem behavior in secondary schools. Observed changes in pupil behavior, between school and unit, are used as the criteria for success by both surveys. Successful adjustment to the unit only applies where it is recognized as a 'no return' alternative form of schooling. If the aim is to return the pupil to ordinary school then successful adjustment there, following re-integration, is the appropriate criterion. The Schools Council report refers to 'emotionally disturbed' and 'conduct disordered' pupils but fails to clarify or define these terms.
