Area Schools
Traditionally, school phobia has been defined in terms of psychoanalytic principles. The school-phobic child is described as having feelings of extreme uneasiness or fear of the school situation, and as a consequence he tries to avoid school. The psychoanalytic approach stresses that this school avoidance behavior is the result of anxiety over parent-child separation. Unconsciously the child is afraid that he is being separated from his parent; therefore the child attempts to escape school, which is seen as the cause of separation. To avoid school may temporarily allay the fear, but does not cure the phobia (Eidelberg, 1968, p. 310).
Recent research on school phobia has stressed behavior modification approaches. Such approaches focus "on the school avoidance behavior as well as the anxiety over separation from the parents" (Tahmisian & RlcReynolds, 1971, p. 225). The behaviorist views school phobia as school avoidance behavior that is being rewarded, consciously or unconsciously, by one or both of the parents, which reinforces school avoidance behavior.
Lazarus, Davison and Polefka (1965) report successful treatment of a 9-year-old boy who avoided school because of an intense fear of school. These fears apparently were reinforced by parents and peers. This boy was treated by a "neutralization" process; that is, the child was exposed continuously to the school situation until he was no longer fearful. At the same time, the child was reinforced for attending school.
Tahmisian and McReynolds (1971) report successful behavior modification of a 13-year-old girl who feared school. They used a "neutralization" process similar to that of Lazarus, Davison and Polefka (1965), but used the girl's parents as the 'Thanks to Drs.