Dealing with offending behaviour: Behavioural modification in custody

Question 1

What is behaviour modification?

Answer 1

A therapeutic technique used to increase or decrease the frequencies of behaviour using operant conditioning.

Question 2

How is token economy used in offending behaviour?

Answer 2

Prisoners are given tokens when they perform desirable behaviour like making their bed or obeying orders.
These tokens can then be used to obtain desirable goods like tobacco, food or watching TV.
The items purchased with the token act as reinforcers, increasing the likelihood that behaviour will be repeated.

Question 3

How do the prisons acquire the target behaviours?

Answer 3

Target behaviours must be specified and there may be a hierarchy where some behaviours get more tokens than others.
Simply giving rewards for good behaviours is not a token economy.
Rewards must also be clearly defined at the outset.

Question 4

How could punishment be used in token economy?

Answer 4

A further strategy is to remove tokens because of undesirable behaviour which would be a punishment.

Question 5

What is the process of shaping in token economy?

Answer 5

Long-term objective or complex behaviours consisting of smaller components can be taught through the process of shaping - tokens are given for behaviours that progress in terms of complexity.

Question 6

Who conducted the key study for token economy?

Answer 6

Hobbs and Holt

Question 7

What is the procedure of the Hobbs and Holt study?

Answer 7

• Observed a token economy in a delinquent boys’ school (125 delinquents living in 4 cottages - 1 was control).
• The aim of it was to reduce inappropriate behaviour before and after dinner and when lining up.
• The boys were told the target behaviours and how many tokens they could earn in each category.
• They were taken to a token economy store where they could buy sweets or save them for more expensive activities.

Question 8

What did Hobbs and Holt find?

Answer 8

• They found the mean percentage for social behaviours increased by 27%
  The control group showed no increase in the same period.

Question 9

Outline the evaluation points for behavioural modification in custody

Answer 9

Advantages over other methods of rehabilitation
Individual differences
Ethical issues