Investigation of Studies on Behavior Management in Special Education

Abstract

Problem behaviors negatively affect the lives of special education students in different ways. Individuals with special needs may exhibit problem behaviors such as aggression, harming themselves or others, and excessive hyperactivity in general. It can be said that intervening, taking precautions, and changing these behaviors in a positive way before the emergence of problem behaviors are of critical importance in facilitating these children’s lives. In this sense, the examination of postgraduate theses in the field of behavior management in special education is important in terms of describing the innovations, developments, current trends, and, if any, incomplete situations in the field of behavior management. Within the scope of the research, it is aimed to examine the studies on behavior management in the field of special education in Turkey between the years 2016-2022 in terms of various variables (type of publication, publication year, publishing university, research method, subject, study group). Document analysis, one of the qualitative research methods, was preferred in this study. According to the research findings, it was concluded that most master studies were done as postgraduate publications, the most publications were made in 2019, the university that made the most publications was Eskişehir Anadolu University and the most used research method in the studies carried out was the quantitative research method. It has been revealed that it is important for other universities to design behavior management studies in special education.