Verbal AggressionVerbal aggression is a message behavior that attacks a person's self-concept in order to convey psychological pain. (Infante, 1995) Studies of verbal aggression have focused primarily on children and adolescents in educational and social contexts. . Very few studies were found to examine verbal aggression among adults in the workplace. (Ebbesen, Duncan, Konecni, 1974) The consequences of verbal aggression in the workplace can lead to social isolation, work-related stress, health problems as well as problems in advancement career. It should therefore 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) identify the preconditions for verbal aggression. 3) Avoid preconditions for verbal aggression. MethodSubjectThe subject, Shirley J., is a 49-year-old African-American woman. Shirley J. has several advanced degrees and works as a school psychologist in a metropolitan school district. She is married and has two adult children. The subject readily agreed that the targeted behavior, verbal aggression, was a problem because it interfered with his relationships with others. She was enthusiastic in her desire to reduce, if not eliminate, this behavior. It would appear that self-monitoring of verbal aggression and background checks would be useful because they would systematically avoid verbal aggression. As a school psychologist, subject was very knowledgeable in the basic principles of applied behavior analysis and frequently offered programmatic suggestions. A behavioral contract was developed jointly between the therapist and the subject. The contract described the target behavior, criteria for success, and individual responsibilities of the therapist and subject. (see Appendix A)ApparatusA 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. The therapist felt that the content of the verbally aggressive message would be too open to subjective interpretation and that no meaningful data could be obtained from such documentation. Additionally, the subject frequently made comments about his significant success or failure in avoiding verbal aggression during a discussion with the therapist. Weekly discussions were used to evaluate the appropriateness of the procedures used and make necessary adjustments to the program. ProcedureDuring 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 whether the frequency of the behavior warranted intervention...