Teacher Perceptions of Social Behavior in Behaviorally Disordered and Socially Normal Children and Youth

Abstract

It has been argued that teacher perception of the behavior of students affects the interaction between teacher and student. This study attempted to determine if teachers perceive a difference between behaviorally disordered and socially normal students in terms of interpersonal behavior. A total of 410 subjects between the ages of 8 and 15 classified as either behaviorally disordered or socially normal were assessed using the Social Performance Survey Schedule. Data analysis included the MANOVA and oneway analysis of variance. The results indicated that socially normal subjects were perceived as having significantly more prosocial behavior and significantly less antisocial behavior than behaviorally disordered subjects. Further, female subjects were perceived as having significantly more prosocial behavior and less antisocial behavior than males. The teachers perceived significant improvement in prosocial behavior with increasing age. Teachers also perceived a significant increase in negative social behavior for normal secondary-age students but not for behaviorally disordered students. Behaviorally disordered students, however, continued to be perceived as significantly worse at both age levels. Implications of the findings are discussed.

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