Token Economy Evaluate

Question 1

Describe a study that gave supporting evidence. (H&H)

Answer 1

Hobbs & Holt used TE to successfully treat 125, young, male offenders

Question 2

What were the results of the H&H study?

Answer 2

In the Hobbs and Holt study, In cottage A appropriate behaviour increased from a baseline mean of 66% to a treatment mean of 91.6% which similar increases for cottage B and C. Supporting token economy.

Question 3

Evaluate in terms of effectiveness

Answer 3

The behaviours are rewarded instantly, unlike other treatments which reinforce behaviours long after they occur. This means that the prisoner knows exactly which behaviour is being positively reinforced, and thus the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated is increased. For example, a prisoner who displays non-aggressive behaviour is rewarded for this behaviour immediately, and they therefore understand that the non-aggressive behaviour is the desired behaviour.

Question 4

Evaluate in terms of recidivism

Answer 4

May occur when the prisoners leave the programme. This is because they may come to rely on the primary and secondary reinforcers, and they are not available to them outside of the token economy programme. As a result of this, the offenders may re-offend in order to gain the rewards that they would have obtained in prison.

Question 5

Evaluate in terms of control.

Answer 5

There may be a lack of control as a ‘black market’ may occur within the system. where prisoners can buy and sell their tokens for rewards which they would have obtained for non-aggressive behaviour. This means that they are being positively reinforced for engaging in the black market, instead of behaving non-aggressively.

Question 6

Evaluate in terms of ethics.

Answer 6

There are issues with social control. Controversy exists regarding placing individuals in treatment against their will (such as in a psychiatric hospital), and deciding which behaviours should be considered desirable and which should be considered undesirable