Dealing With Offending Behaviour: Behaviour Modification In Custody

Question 1

What is a token economy

Answer 1

• behavioural management system in which an individual is rewarded for demonstrating the desired behaviour

Question 2

What is reinforcement in a token economy

Answer 2

• operant conditioning involves reinforcement of new behaviours
• prisoners are given tokens when they do desirable behaviours
• tokens are then used to obtain desirables (food, tobacco, etc)
• items purchased with tokens act as reinforces, increasing likelihood of behaviour being done again

Question 3

What does punishment look like in a token economy

Answer 3

Removing tokens because of undesirable behaviour

Question 4

What is shaping in a token economy

Answer 4

• tokens are given for desirable behaviour progressively becoming more complex
• eg: initially it can be for making their bed, and then progresses to them being polite to the guards

Question 5

What was the purpose of the Hobbs and hilt study in 1976

Answer 5

• observed a token economy used at Alabama Boys industrial school, state training school for adolescent delinquents (12-15)
• aim was to reduce inappropriate social behaviour before and after dinner and when lining up

Question 6

What was the procedure in Hobbs and holt 1976

Answer 6

• staff at centre given extensive training 3/4 hours, then 2x weekly over 3 months. Taught to identify and define target behaviours, discuss method of observing, recording data, logistics, problems
• 125 male delinquents observed living in 4 cottages, one used as a control group with no tokens
• boys were told target criteria, and were taken to token economy store once a week and they could save tokens and use them for off-campus activities such as baseball games or a visit home

Question 7

What were the findings of Hobbs and halt 1976

Answer 7

• baseline mean percentage for social behaviours before tokens was 66, 47, 73% for all 3 cottages
• post token percentages were 91, 81, 94%, average increase of 27%% control group showed no increase

Question 8

What are the advantages the token economy holds over other methods of rehabilitation

Answer 8

• clearly defined and easily implemented
• Basset and Blanchard (1977), a failing token economy was improved by re-establishing consistency
• shows as long as the token economy is clear and consistent, it can provide a simple and cost effective way of improving prison life

Question 9

What an example of token economy being used outside of prisons

Answer 9

• Tarbox et al 2006, used successfully for schools dealing with people with autism
• therefore although it’s not used in prisons as much anymore, it can be used successfully elsewhere

Question 10

Why May the token economy be more of a short term solution then a long term solution?

Answer 10

• short term, it can improve behaviour in prison environment, but it might not have same effect when someone is out of jail
• this has little effect on reoffending rates, once rewards case, the stimulus-response link is extinguished

Question 11

Why are individual differences important in a token economy

Answer 11

• some people may respond better to operant conditioning then others
• may have more success on young offenders, but not violent ones
• rice et al 1990, studied 92 men in Canadian maximum security psychiatric hospital, found that 50% of men treated in this way reoffended

Question 12

What are ethical issues with the token economy

Answer 12

• violation of human rights as individuals behaviour is manipulated, not always with their agreement
• individuals who don’t respond to the system well are deprived of basic needs, and May loose tokens which counters the goal of rehab.