Constructional perspectives in clinical assessment.

The constructional approach to assessment and treatment refers to broad metatheoretical assumptions regarding the value of constructing rather than eliminating behavioral repertoires. The attempt to move from a deficit-oriented model to one that emphasizes a client's assets and strengths is discernible in a variety of orientations. In this article, a general paradigmatic framework is advocated that represents positive and negative behaviors in the context of interactions between characteristics of the social environment and the organization of individual behavioral repertoires. By emphasizing the interrelationships within repertoires, a rationale is provided for conceptualizing and assessing positive behaviors