Do you have a student who steers your classroom off the rails with passive-aggressive behavior? In this interview, Dr. Randy Boardman talks with Signe Whitson, a licensed social worker, school counselor, the Chief Operating Officer of the LSCI Institute, and coauthor of The Angry Smile. The veteran educators discuss the different levels of passive-aggressive behavior, and strategies for dealing with each. Download full transcript here: http://www.crisisprevention.com/Resources/Knowledge-Base/Manage-Passive-Aggressive-Behavior -- Interview Highlights -- [3:31] Passive-Aggressive Behavior Definition In Angry Smile text, we define passive-aggressive behavior as a deliberate but covert way of expressing feelings of anger. And we say that passive aggression is really motivated by a person's fear of expressing their anger directly. [4:54] Red Flags … some of the most common red flags include things like withdrawing and insulting rather than honestly stating opinions or needs. Passive-aggressive people tend to use words like “fine” or “whatever” to shut down any type of disagreement. Another hallmark is that passive-aggressive people love to procrastinate or carry out tasks inefficiently or ineffectively. They give lip service to doing things differently in the future, while knowing that they really don't plan to ever change their behavior. And really the ultimate red flag of passive-aggressive behavior is that the passive-aggressive person really causes other people to eventually blow up, and in a sense act out the anger that the passive-aggressive person has been finally harboring. [7:13] Why Students Are Passive Aggressive … these young people grow up with a set of developmental conditions that make the hidden expression of anger really feel like their only tenable choice. [10:34] Level One of Passive Aggressive Behavior: Temporary Compliance … we call the first level temporary compliance, because at this level the passive-aggressive person verbally agrees to a request from an authority figure. But they behaviorally delay completing it. [14:53] Level Two of Passive Aggressive Behavior: Intentional Inefficiency … we call Level Two, Intentional Inefficiency. Because in this level, the passive-aggressive person verbally complies with the request. But unlike in level one, they actually do carry it out but they do it in such a way that is purposefully below expected standards. [17:15] Level Three of Passive Aggressive Behavior: Letting a Problem Escalate So at this third level of passive-aggressive behavior, what we find are really crimes of omission. So in other words, it's not so much what the student does. But what the student doesn't do that creates a problem. [20:28] Level Four of Passive Aggressive Behavior: Hidden But Conscious Revenge At level four, the passive-aggressive student is no longer withholding behavior. But they are really quite actively seeking ways to get this hidden but conscious revenge on the object of their anger. [24:21] Level Five of Passive Aggressive Behavior: Self Deprecation Signe: So the final level is labeled self-deprecation because of passive-aggressive student is so fixated on getting back to a specific person that he or she is actually willing to behave in self-destructive ways that lead to their own personal rejection or alienation. [28:11] Benign Confrontation Signe: In The Angry Smile, we really guide readers through a six-step process that we call benign confrontation. And this is sort of an ordered way of approaching passive-aggressive behavior and helping adults unmask the hidden anger of a passive-aggressive person. And then help that person begin to understand how destructive this pattern of anger expression can be.