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What are behaviour modification programmes
designed with the aim of reinforcing obedient behaviour in offenders, whilst punishing disobedience
this is done through the use of a token economy
What is a token economy
based on operant conditioning, involved reinforcing desirable behaviour with a token that can be exchange for a type of reward
tokens are secondary reinforcers as they derive their value from their association with a reward
Hobbs and Holt (1976) research
introduced token economy programme with groups of young delinquents across three behavioural units
observed significant difference in positive behaviour compared to the non-token economy group
Support of token economy - easy to impliment
cost-effective and easy to follow once methods of reinforcement have been established
Bassett and Blanchard (1977) - benefits were lost after staff applied techniques inconsistently due to factors such as lack of appropriate training of staff or high staff turnover
Limitation of token economy - little rehabilitative value
any positive changes in behaviour that may occur whilst the offender is in prison may quickly be lost when they are released
Blackburn (1993) - behaviour modification has little rehabilitataive value
Limitation of token economies - passive learning
Behaviour modification only deals with surface behaviours - encourages passive form of learning
Anger management is a more active appraoch
Offeneders likely to play along with the token economy to access rewards, but there is little change to their overall character
In comparison to anger management, behaviour modification can be seen as only treating the proximal cause of offending
