Dealing with offending behaviour: Behaviour modification in custody

Question 1

Behaviourist principles

Answer 1

According to the behaviourist approach all human behaviour is learned. Behaviour modification programmes are designed with the aim of reinforcing obedient behaviours in offenders, whilst punishing disobedience.

Question 2

Token economy

Answer 2

Behaviour modification programmes, such as token economies, are based on operant conditioning. Prisoners are given a token each time they perform a desirable behaviour. Each of these behaviours and rewards would be made clear to the prisoners before the programme is implemented. It would be emphasised that disobedience may result in tokens being withheld (a form of punishment). Tokens are secondary reinforcers as are not rewarding in themselves. The reward exchanged from the tokens are primary reinforcers e.g. extra food.

Question 3

Designing and using a token economy system

Answer 3

Operationalise target behaviours – the units of behaviour should be objective and measurable and agreed with prison staff and inmates in advance

Scoring system – staff and prisoners should be made aware of the scoring system and how much each behaviour is worth. Behaviours are hierarchal, some are regarded as more demanding so receive greater rewards.

Train staff – all staff must be trained in order to implement token economies successfully. The aim is to standardise the procedures so all prison staff are rewarding the same behaviours in the same way.

Question 4

Evaluation of behaviour modification (brief)

Answer 4

strength - research evidence, hobbs and holt however must be consistent
strength - easy to implement
weakness - may not affect long term behaviour

Question 5

strengths of behaviour modification

Answer 5

there is research evidence to support behaviour modification. Hobbs and Holt (1976) introduced a token economy programme with groups of young offenders across three behavioural units. They observed a significant difference in positive behaviour compared to the non-token economy group. Therefore this suggests that token economy systems do work. However, the success of such systems does depend on a consistent approach from prison staff. Bassett and Blanchard (1977) found any benefits were lost if staff applied the techniques inconsistently. This was due to factors such as lack of appropriate staff training and high staff turnover. This suggests that behaviour modification schemes must ensure full and consistent staff participation if they are to work.

easy to implement. The appeal of behaviour modification rests largely upon the ease with which it can be administered. There is no need for specialist professionals to be involved as there would be in other forms of treatment such as anger management. Token economies are also cost effective and easy to follow once workable methods of reinforcement have been established. This suggests that behaviour modification techniques can be established in most prisons and accessed by most prisoners.

Question 6

weakness of behaviour modification

Answer 6

behaviour modification may not affect long-term behaviour. Blackburn stated that behaviour modification has little rehabilitative value and any positive changes in behaviour while an offender is in prison may be quickly 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 offenders to understand the cause of their offending and to take responsibility for their own rehabilitation, unlike in token economies where offenders can play along in order to access rewards, this produces little changes in theiroverall character. This may explain why, once token economy is discontinued, an offender may quickly regress back to their former behaviour.