
         Verbal aggression is message behavior which attacks a person's self-concept
 in
 order to deliver psychological pain.(Infante, 1995)  Studies of verbal
 aggression
 have focused primarily on children and adolescents in educational and social
 settings.  Very few studies were found to examine verbal aggression in adults
 in the
 workplace.(Ebbesen, Duncan, Konecni, 1974)  The consequences of verbal
 aggression in the workplace can lead to social isolation, job related stress,
 health
 related problems, as well as problems in career advancement.  It therefore
 should
 be considered important, for the individual and management, to identify and
 address the causes of verbal aggression.
         This program attempts to understand verbal aggression by 1) identifying the
 various functions of verbal aggression. 2) identifying the antecedent
 conditions of
 verbal  aggression. 3) Avoiding the antecedent conditions of verbal
 aggression.
 
 Method
 Subject
         The subject, Shirley J., is a 49 year old African American female.  Shirley
 J. has
 several advanced degrees and is employed as a school psychologist in a
 metropolitan school district.  She is married with two adult children.  The
 subject
 readily agreed that the target behavior, verbal aggression, is a problem as
 it
 interferes with her relationships with others.  She was enthusiastic in her
 desire to
 reduce, if not eliminate, this behavior.  It would seem that self-monitoring
 for
 verbal aggression and antecedent control would be valuable as it would allow
 for
 consistent avoidance of verbal aggression.  As a school psychologist the
 subject was
 very familiar with the basic principles of applied behavioral analysis and
 frequently
 offered programmatic suggestions.  A behavioral contract was developed
 jointly
 between the therapist and subject.  The contract outlined the target
 behavior,
 success criteria, and individual responsibilities of the therapist and
 subject.  (see
 Appendix A)
 
 Apparatus
         A basic checklist was used to document the frequency of verbal aggression on
 a
 daily basis.  The checklist was designed to track only the occurrence of the
 behavior.  It was felt by the therapist that the content of the verbally
 aggressive
 message would be too open for subjective interpretation and that no
 meaningful
 data would be gained from such documentation.  In addition the subject made
 frequent comments of significant success or failure in avoiding verbal
 aggression
 for discussion with the therapist.  The weekly discussions were used to
 evaluate the
 appropriateness of the procedures used and make any necessary adjustments to
 the
 program. 
 
 Procedure
         For the first two weeks of the program no intervention was applied.  Given
 that
 the subject self-reported that verbal aggression was a problem it was
 important to
 determine if the frequency of the behavior merited intervention.  Therefore,
 the
 subject documented the daily frequency of verbal aggression.  The results of
 the
 baseline period revealed a high rate of verbal aggression.  (see Appendix B)
  Given
 the results of the baseline data as well as the demanding, often stressful,
 nature of
 the subjects job, it was mutually agreed that reducing verbal aggression
 would be
 the focus of the program.
         Verbal aggression was defined as cursing, yelling, and screaming at others.
  The
 agreed upon goals of the program was to decrease verbal aggression by 75% of
 baseline for four consecutive weeks.  Treatment would consist of identifying
 and
 avoiding the antecedent conditions to verbal aggression.  Avoidance of the
 antecedents is considered less restrictive, more proactive, and most
 effective. 
 During the initial consultation it was determined that the antecedent
 conditions
 included, but was not limited to: work stress, time of day, verbal behavior
 of others
 (ie. tone of voice, inflection of voice and content of conversation, etc.),
 and non-
 verbal behavior of others (ie. facial expression, body posture, eye contact,
 etc.).  In
 addition, the subject was required to self monitor for the following
 antecedents: 
 clenched fists, tight jaw, rapid heart beat, and the emotions of anger,
 frustration and
 disappointment. Lastly, it was suggested by Infante (1995) that appropriate
 strategy
 must be taken to prevent verbal aggression from escalating.
         Successful avoidance of the antecedent conditions consisted of removing
 oneself
 from stressful situations, when possible, as well as not responding verbally
 when
 provoked.  Weekly consultation revealed that verbal aggression was most often
 used to:  1) Escape demand situations.  2) Avoid demand situations.  3)
 Relieve job
 stress.  The subject was to document the frequency of verbal aggression and
 record
 the circumstances of significant success or failure during the work week for
 discussion at weekly consultation sessions. 
         A schedule of reinforcement was developed for the subject.  The
 reinforcement
 was to be given for successful avoidance of verbal aggression.  Reinforcement
 included: five minutes alone for 'quiet time', when possible, or a short,
 silent prayer. 
 Considering the stress and escalating nature of verbal aggression time alone
 was
 considered appropriate for 'cool down'.  If time alone was not possible or
 convenient the subject would say a short prayer when provoked.
 
 Results
 The results of the baseline phase revealed what was considered an
 extraordinarily
 high rate of verbal aggression.  However, after the first week of data
 collection it
 was realized that  verbal aggression was not operationally defined.  The
 subject
 considered verbal aggression on much broader terms than did the therapist
 which
 included subjective, rather than objective, behavior observations.  Weekly
 consultation sessions revealed that cursing was the most common manifestation
 of
 the target behavior.  When correctly defined using objective terms a decrease
 in
 verbal aggression was noted.  Based on the results of baseline data it was
 mutually
 agreed that 4 to 8 episodes of aggression per day was significantly high and
 merited
 intervention.
         The results of the intervention phase of treatment revealed a sharp increase
 of
 verbal aggression over the first three weeks.  This increase is thought to be
 due to
 extinction.  Afterwards, a gradual decrease of verbal aggression was noted
 during
 weeks 4 through 9.  No data was collected during week 10 due to subject
 illness. 
 The treatment phase ended with a weekly average of one episode of verbal
 aggression.  After week five the subject stated that she no longer delivered
 the
 reinforcement after the behavior.  She reported that the ability to control
 her
 emotions was in itself reinforcing and would maintain the behavior.
 
 Discussion
         The results of this program show that verbal aggression can be successfully
 decreased by identifying and avoiding its antecedent conditions.  As stated
 previously, the subject used verbal aggression for escape from demanding or
 difficult situations, relief from stress, and avoidance of demanding or
 difficult
 situations.  The behavior appears to be maintained through positive
 reinforcement. 
 Because the subject is in a position of some power and influence there were
 relatively few consequences for the behavior.  Ebbesen, Duncan and Konecni
 (1974) suggested that verbal aggression could be reinforced and maintained in
 such
 a manner.  Since the most common form of verbal aggression was cursing, the
 method of identifying and avoiding the antecedents proved very successful.
  Infante
 (1995) used a similar method with young students.  When replicating this
 program
 it may be appropriate to focus on the positive behavior rather than the
 negative. 
 Instead of documenting the frequency of verbal aggression it may have been
 better
 to document the frequency of successful avoidance of verbal aggression.  In
 this
 way we would help to internalize the strategy to maintain the behavior, as
 well as
 having a more positive and constructive program.  A question raised by Golin
 and
 Romanowski (1977) was is there a sex difference in the rate and target of
 verbal
 aggression.  Although this question was not investigated in the current
 program, it
 does raise an intriguing question for future study.
 
 References
 Ebbessen, E. B., Duncan, B., & Konecni, V. J. (1974). Effects of Content of 
         Verbal Aggression: A Field Experiment.  Journal of Experimental Social 
         Psychology, 11, 192-204.
 
 Golin, S., & Romanowski, M. (1977).  Verbal Aggression as a Function of Sex
 of 
         Subject and Sex of Target.  Journal of Psychology, 97, 141-149.
 
 Infante, D. A. (1995).  Teaching Students to Understand and Control Verbal 
         Aggression.  Communication Education, 44, 51-63.