Aversion therapy Flashcards
What is the aim of aversion therapy?
To unlearn existing associations by creating new ones that replace the existing undesirable behaviours
What is aversion therapy?
Undesirable behaviours develop because in the past there has been an association between this behaviour and something pleasant. The task of aversion therapy is to undo this by creating an association. For example, aversion therapy for alcohol misuse might involve a person being injected with a drug that reacts violently with alcohol. Alcohol is then associated with something unpleasant. Aversion therapy can also be used to treat many problem behaviours such as smoking, gambling, violence and bedwetting
What is the effectiveness of aversion therapy?
Aversion therapy is unpleasant; it uses things that people would rather avoid, such as electric shocks and nausea-inducing drugs. Bancroft (1992) reports that up to 50% of participants drop out of or refuse even to start aversion therapy. Relapse is also high. However, there is research to suggest that the therapy can be successful. Smith (1988) reported success in a study where 300 smokers underwent aversion therapy; 52% of those who were treated using electric shocks still hadn’t smoked a year later
What are ethical considerations of aversion therapy ?
The unpleasantness of some of the conditioning procedures means that there is some degree of harm involved, but the experience of therapy and the likely side effects will have been explained fully beforehand. As people enter therapy voluntarily, they will always have the right to pull out. The drawback of this is that the therapy requires a great deal of motivation. Therefore, have high dropout rates
How can aversion therapy link to children and bedwetting?
The most common form of treatment involves the use of a bed device containing a urine alarm. The device is made up of two foil pads, one of which is perforated, which are placed between the child’s bedsheets. Activation of the device occurs when the child urinates and causes the device to emit an unpleasant buzz or vibration which wakes the child. Waking to an unpleasant buzz is unconditioned behaviour. Care must be taken when using aversion techniques to control bedwetting behaviour. The child needs to be evaluated thoroughly to rule out any biological cause for their bedwetting.
