Social Skills
Social skills training is a cognitive problem solving approach, allowing the use of a structured, but flexible, behaviour modification program to overcome weaknesses in a child’s social skill development. It involves many of the same stages as construction of a behavioural modification program, but with a specific goal of increasing skill useful for social interaction in the future.
Social Skills and Competence
A child’s ability to develop and maintain appropriate peer relationships (with such as family, friends, and adults of authority), is recognised as an important influence for future appropriate adult behaviour. This is because the establishment of relationships is a vital social skill in both a child’s and an adults life. Social skills are defined as specific strategies used by an individual to perform social tasks effectively and thus be judged socially competent. They can be split into two categories;
- Environmental Social Skills
- These are skills that are essential to perform tasks in both an educational setting and the work place, such as listening, following instructions, appropriate work habits etc.
- Social Interaction Skills
- These are skills that facilitate any positive social interaction, such as starting and maintaining a conversation, complementing others, resolving conflict etc.
Failure to develop social competence can be due to several reasons. Cox and Gun (1980) believe that children lack social competence due to either;
- the child does not possess a suitable repertoire of appropriate behavioural responses.
- the child does possess a repertoire of behaviour, but has not had sufficient opportunity to practise and develop competency.
- the child has emotional problems which interfere with effective problem solving and social interaction.