Behaviour Modification In Cutody (tep)

Question 1

Research support - strength - Tom Hobbs , Michael holt

Answer 1

• introduced a token economy programme with groups of young offenders across three behavioural units (and a fourth unit acted as a controli).
• They observed a significant difference in positive behaviour compared to the non-token economy group.
• Clinton Field et al. (2004) found a token economy programme used with young people with behavioural problems was generally effective, although there were still a number of young people who did not respond.
• Later these youths were placed on a special programme where the rewards were more immediate and more frequent and the results were more positive.
• This suggests that token economy systems do work.

Question 2

Counterpoint - John Bassett and Edward Blanchard (1977)

Answer 2

found any benefits were lost if staff applied the techniques inconsistently. According to the researchers, this was due to factors such as lack of appropriate staff training or high staff turnover (the latter, particularly, is a feature of many UK prisons).
This suggests that behaviour modification schemes must ensure full and consistent staff participation if they are to work.

Question 3

Easy to implement - strength

Answer 3

• The appeal of behaviour modification (eg. token economies) rests largely upon the ease with which it can be administered. There is no need for a specialist professional to be involved as there would be for other forms of treatment such as anger management
• token economy systems can be designed and implemented by virtually anyone in any institution.
• They are also cost-effective and easy to follow once workadie methods of reinforcement have been established This suggests that behaviour modification techniques can be established in most prisons and accessed by most prisoners.

Question 4

May not affect long term - limitation - Ronald Blackburn

Answer 4

• Behavior modification has little rehabilitative value and any positive changes in behaviour that may occur whilst an offender is in prison may quickly be lost when they are released.
• More cognitive-based treatments, such as anger management, may be more likely to lead to permanent behavioural change. Such treatments require the offender to understand the cause of their offending and to take responsibility for their own rehabilitation. In contrast, offenders can fairly easily play along with a token economy system in order to access the rewards, but this produces little change in their overall character.
• This may explain why, once the token economy is discontinued, an offender may quickly regress back to their former behaviour.