Overview and History of Positive Behavior Support

Abstract

In this chapter, we examine the core features of what has come to be described as positive behavior support, or PBS. We examine milestones in the development of PBS following its inception in the 1980s. We conclude with a glimpse of the emergence of new lines of PBS research and application as reflected in the chapters to follow in this summative volume of a work in progress. PBS is a broad approach for organizing the physical, social, educational, biomedical, and logistical supports needed to achieve basic lifestyle goals while reducing problem behaviors that pose barriers to these goals (Dunlap & Carr, 2007; Koegel, Koegel, & Dunlap, 1996). PBS emerged as a distinctive approach to behavior support because of a strong commitment to values and technology. The PBS values emphasize a commitment to helping individuals (and their advocates) achieve a quality of life that is defined by their personal choices. How people behave affects how they live and how they receive support guided by their preferences. For example, what you do, where you do it, how competently you do it, and when you choose to do it affects your ability to build and retain relationships, acquire new skills, establish and sustain employment, and achieve personal leisure goals. Problem behaviors such as aggression, self-injury, disruption, pica, noncompliance, withdrawal, and disruption are more than a nuisance for parents and teachers. Problem behaviors are a major barrier to the social, vocational, and physical success of each individual. The basic foundation of PBS presupposes that the valued elements of personal life, those things each of us hold as truly important, depend at some level on our ability to behave competently. Defining the technology that allows people to more closely achieve the lifestyle they value is at the heart of PBS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)