All children exhibit goal-seeking behaviors.
Dreikurs, a child psychiatrist and educator, observed four principal mistaken goals, listed in the chart below in order of increasing difficulty of treatment. He also found that when attention seeking behaviors fail, the child will next seek power. If this is thwarted, then the child seeks revenge, and finally when this fails, the child avoids contact, having become completely discouraged. Once a child has reached this state, then, during the recovery process, the child will have to work through the previous states, displaying revenge, power, and attention seeking behaviors, before becoming the well-adjusted child. It takes understanding, knowledge and patience to guide the child through the recovery process.