That deserves consequences. She gets a fifteen minute earlier bedtime for staff splitting, I tell Rob while reporting the incident in the daily log. Throwing a tantrum, she says how much she hates this place, and how she wants to go back home, not remembering at this moment the reasons why she ran away in the first place. I send her to her room until she calms down. After a cooling down period, I explain to her what happened and why she got punished.
Bad behavior needs to be pointed out and discussed at every chance.
The Shelter constantly uses this type of therapy. Anything from a dream, to a fight with another resident, to helping out another resident is used to change or reinforce certain behaviors with the intervention of staff. Taking the opportunity at the moment of the behavior to sit and discuss what was right or wrong about the act allows the resident to really consider the ramifications of their action before forgetting about the deed. The life that has caused these children to become misguided has also caused many a loss of childhood. Many of the girls that come through the shelter have been sexually abused.