Proactive Aggressor

Introduction

In this part, social workers or counsellors will learn how to use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to evaluate and challenge secondary school students’ irrational beliefs in individual counselling situations.

To help students continue to be self-reflective, social workers or counsellors should teach them about A-B-C theory, types of irrational beliefs, ‘thinking traps’ and related areas. When counselling different types of students, social workers or counsellors should evaluate these students’ irrational beliefs in different ways, and use different skills to challenge irrational beliefs and construct new, rational beliefs.

 

Wai's case

Wai was a bully in the school. One day, when Wai found an introverted classmate looking at her phone in a corner of the school, Wai and her gang began to tease the classmate. Wai grabbed her classmate’s phone and threw it back to her gang, one of whom then intentionally dropped it on the floor. Even though the teacher noticed the incident, Wai argued that she was just trying to discipline the classmate for the teacher. The victim did not accuse Wai of bullying, because she was afraid that Wai would retaliate, so the teacher had no reason to follow up the incident.

Wai's considerations and actions
Cognition
Well-planned: has a clear division of labour with her gang, so that the bullying cannot easily be discovered. Goal orientated: Wai’s aim is to demonstrate her strength. Good at estimating the pros and cons: Wai knows that she would not benefit from selling the phone and that it would be disadvantageous to her if the incident escalated. Underestimates the negative consequences: she does not consider the possibility that the teacher may discover the truth and follow up the incident. She assumes that she will be able to avoid blame.
Emotion
Calm and rational: she does not panic, even when discovered by the teacher. Lacking empathy: Wai gains satisfaction from teasing others and ignores her classmates’ feelings.
Behaviour
Likes to challenge authority: by denying the teacher any means of following up the incident, she gains a sense of success. Self-centred: all of her actions are in her own interest and she does not consider the feelings of others.
Social Network
Plays a leadership role: she is the leader of the gang and often bullies others in the gang. Demands that peers need to obey her: Wai uses threats and inducements to persuade others to do what she wants.

 

Evaluate irrational beliefs

• Teach proactive-aggressor students about the dynamic relationship between anticipated events, beliefs, consequences and emotions.
• Try to understand the purposes behind their behaviours, and the benefits that they seek.
• Determine proactive-aggressor student’s values and their forms of aggressive behaviour, and assess their irrational beliefs and ‘mind-traps’.

Driven by benefits, proactive aggressors display aggressive behaviour. Thus, it is necessary to understand the purposes behinds their behaviour and thus to understand the values of the aggressors and awaken their motivation to make necessary positive changes.

At the evaluation stage, by understanding proactive aggressor students’ personal values and discussing their planning of and attitudes towards the incidents, social workers can uncover the students’ irrational beliefs and ‘mind-traps’. When disputing irrational beliefs, it is easier for students to analyse the incidents that they have experienced personally.

 

Dispute irrational beliefs

• Use realistic evidence to counter proactive-aggressor students’ irrational beliefs.
• Help these students recognise the negative consequences of their negative behaviour on themselves and those they care about.
• • Help these students critique their own irrational beliefs by assessing whether these beliefs are 'reasonable, fair and rightful'.

Because proactive aggressors have strong cognitive ability, it is necessary to help them to repeatedly check whether their beliefs are reasonable or irrational. Social workers can use the ‘reasonable, fair and rightful’ framework to identify irrational beliefs.

Fair: because proactive aggressors lack empathy, they are unsympathetic to, and even derive satisfaction from, the negative effects of their behaviour on victims. Social workers should help proactive aggressors to understand that they must take other people – not just those whom they love, and who love them – into consideration in their thoughts and behaviours.

Reasonable: proactive aggressors always rationalise their aggressive behaviour and use different reasons to support their actions. Social workers can challenge these reasons with logic and objective evidence, and help proactive aggressors to understand that their thoughts and behaviour should be supported by objective evidence and acceptable to society. Proactive aggressors will revise their negative thoughts and behaviour once they realise that they do not have sufficient reasons to support them.

Rightful: proactive aggressors always only focus on their personal benefits and do not care about other people or the negative consequences of their actions on other people. Social workers should help proactive aggressors to understand that their thoughts and behaviour should comply with societal norms, and take consequences into account.