Token economy programs for treatment

• Behavioural treatments

  Based of operant conditioning learning through reinforcement
• Token economies

  Help encourage people in institutions to preform socially desirable behaviours e.g getting dressed and making beds

  Given tokens which reinforce the behaviours which they can then exchange to other rewards
• Strengths

  Token economy can produce significant improvements in self care and desirable behaviours
• Weakness

  Lack of generalisability to outside the institutions

  Patients behaviour may be superficial- only do behaviour to get a token

  Ethical issues- may be humiliated, patronised