dealing with offending behaviour: behaviour modification Flashcards
what is behaviour modification?
an application of the behaviourist approach to treatment, such as the management of offenders in penal institutions
what is behaviour modification based on?
- principles of operant conditioning
- according to the behaviourist approach, all human behaviour is learned
- therefore, it should be possible to encourage the unlearning of behaviour
what is the aim of behaviour modification?
- to reinforce obedient behaviour in offenders
- to punish disobedience
- to replace undesirable behaviours with more desirable ones through the selective use of positive and / or negative reinforcement
what is a token economy?
- when prisoners are given a token each time they perform a desirable behaviour
- non-compliance or disobedience may result in the tokens, and the associated priviledges being withheld or removed
why are tokens called secondary reinforcers?
tokens are not rewarding in themselves but derive their value from their associated with a reward
what are the primary reinforcers tokens might be exchanged for in prison?
- phone call to a loved one
- time in the gym or exercise yard
- extra cigarettes or food
- these are directly rewarding
how are target behaviours operationalised in a token economy?
- breaking down the target behaviour into component parts
- the units of behaviour should be objective and measurable and agreed with prison staff and inmates in advance
how is a scoring system used in a token economy?
- staff and prisoners should be made aware of the scoring system and how much each particular behaviour is worth
- behaviours are hierarchal ie. some are regarded as more demanding than others so receive greater rewards
- some token economy systems may award tokens directly whereas others may award points which are then converted to tokens
what did gendreau et al. (2011) suggest about the scoring system in token economies?
recommended that reinforcements should outnumber punishments by a ratio of 4:1
how should staff be fully trained to implement a token economy system successfully?
- training may involve several hours for a number of weeks
- the aim is to standardise the procedures so that all prison staff are rewarding the same behaviours in the same way
- staff must also record when they have awarded tokens so the progress of individual prisoners can be assessed
short-term vs. long-term effectiveness of behaviour modification
- BM seems to produce short-term effects ie. an increase in compliant behaviour in institutions but its long-term effectiveness is less certain
- cohen and filipczak (1971) demonstrated how a token economy group showed more desirable behaviour than a control group within an adult prison
- however, the researchers noted that the offenders who took part in the programme were less likely to have reoffended 2 years later but after 3 years, rates of recidivism went back to reflecting national statistics
- this suggests that whilst BM may delay recidivism, it has little overall impact in the longer term
evaluation: research support for behaviour modification (hobbs and holt 1976)
- introduced a TE programme with groups of young offenders across 3 behavioural units and a 4th to act as a control
- observed a significant difference in positive behaviour compared to the non-token economy group
evaluation: research support for behaviour modification (field et al. 2004)
- TE programme used with young people with behavioural problems were generally effective
- a number of young people 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
evaluation: success of TE systems depends on a consistent approach from prison staff (bassett and blanchard 1977)
- found any benefits were lost if staff applied the techniques inconsistently
- according to the researchers, this was due to factors such as a lack of appropriate staff training or high staff turnover, which is particularly a feature of mayn UK prisons
- therefore, BM schemes must ensure full and consistent staff participation if they are to work
evaluation: relatively easy to implement in custody
- no need for specialist professional eg. as in anger management
- TE systems can be designed and implemented by virtually anyone in any institution
- cost-effective
- easy to follow once workable methods of reinforcement have been established
- therefore, BM techniques can be accessed by most prisoners
evaluation: BM may not affect long-term behaviour
- blackbrun (1993) said that BM 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 eg. 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 TE system to access the rewards but this produces little change in their overall character
- this may explain why, once the TE system is discontinued, an offender may quickly regress back to their former behaviour
evaluation: decreased stress for prison staff
- BM programmes have been assocsiated with decreased conflict in penal insitutions and more successful management of the prison population
- this can reduce pressure and stress on prison staff in what can be a hostile and difficult environment
evaluation: ethical issues
- behaviour modification is manipulative and dehumanising (moya and achtenbeerg 1974)
- participation in the scheme is obligatory rather than optional
- human rights campaigners argue that withdrawal of ‘privileges’ such as exercise and contact with loved ones in the form of withdrawal of tokens is unethical
