When the situation at home was too volatile child G would often be left with a grandparent or Aunt. She would turn up at the setting at various times, which meant that she would be entering into a group already at play. This would make her reluctant to join in. If any attempt was made to encourage her to play it would be a stimulus that set her off into an aggressive episode that would take up to 45 minutes or more to bring under control. A number of techniques to help child G overcome this sudden and abrupt mood change were tried over a period of time and results recorded.
During the past twelve months, quarterly reports have been made in relation to child G. These reports have been recorded on a standard progress report designed for the specific setting. Most recently 6 separate observations have also been done with a specific motive in mind. Child G's parent,(lone parent), had expressed serious concerns in relation to G's aggressive behaviour. At the time, causing problems whilst out in social settings, to the point where G's behaviour would affect the entire outing and result in the family having to leave that environment and go home. Child G had also been aggressive toward her sibling, a sibling that has remained in the custody of the absent parent. The sibling is not exhibiting any of the behaviors witnessed in Child G, despite the fact of being in the care of the aggressive parent. The sibling is of school age and had not witnessed much of the inappropriate behaviour of her parents. In social learning theory Albert Bandura (1977) states behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning. Children observe the people around them behaving in various ways. This is illustrated during the famous bobo doll experiment (Bandura, 1961).
The six observations have recorded G's behavior and determined whether or not it has had an effect on her development; particularly her social development and her ability to interact with her peers and adults outside of her home environment.
