The Path to Aversive Interventions: Four Mothers' Perceptions

In: Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, Band 35, Heft 3-4, S. 128-136

Abstract

An interview was conducted with each of four mothers to gain an understanding of their perceptions of the educational and behavioral history of their children leading up to placement in a residential facility that used aversive interventions, including contingent electric skin shock. Semistructured instruments were used to understand each family's "story." These mothers, each of whom indicated wanting to remove their child from the facility, reported about their experiences prior to placement in the facility and their experiences while their child was in residence at the facility. In general, these mothers felt there was little support for their child or themselves throughout the years prior to the placement; they had minimal participation or say in their child's programs, and they had no real choice in their child's ultimate placement in the facility that used aversive interventions. Mothers also reported experiencing little choice (along with significant coercion) regarding their child's program at this facility. As a result of this preliminary work, recommendations for future research and practice are discussed.