behaviour modification in custody

• what is token economy?

  a form of therapy where desirable behaviours are encouraged by the use of selective reinforcements
• what type of conditioning is used by token economy?

  operant conditioning
• describe the general idea of reinforcement in token economy

  • operant conditioning- involves the reinforcement of new behaviours
  • primary reinforcers- items which are desirable and produce pleasure
  • secondary reinforcers- tokens themselves
  • secondary reinforcers must be repeatedly presented alongside the reinforcing stimulus (this is part if the classical conditioning theory)
  • target behaviours- must be clearly specified, as well as the rewards. desirable behaviours which offender must aim to accomplish
• what strategy removes tokens because of undesirable behaviour?

  punishment
• what is meant by shaping?

  • long term objectives or complex behaviours being achieved by teaching smaller components at a time
  • tokens are given for behaviours that become progressively complex
  • eg- given initially for making the bed daily, and then given for being polite to prison guards
• describe the procedure for the Hobbs and Holt study

  • aim was to reduce inappropriate behaviour
  • 2 supervisors observed a token economy in use at an Alabama boys industrial school
  • staff given extensive training to identify target behaviours
  • 125 delinquent males were assessed living in 4 cottages, one cottage was a control group which didn't receive tokens
  • used behavioural categories to monitor behaviour
  • boys were told target criteria and how many tokens could be earned in this category
  • got told how many tokens they earned on a piece of paper
  • taken to token economy store and were allowed to exchange for rewards
• describe the findings of Hobbs and Holt study

  • baseline mean percentages for good social behaviours for boys who were given tokens- 91%, 81%, 94% for each of the three cottages
  • overall increase 27%
  • control group showed no increase in the same time period
• evaluation of token economy?

  • 😊 advantage over other methods- clearly defined, doesn't need trained psychologists, as long as there's consistency (Basset and Blanchard)
  • 😊 research support- Hobbs and Holt
  • ☹️ short term- behaviours get improved in the prison enviro, system has little effect on reoffending rates in long term (Moyes et al) - rewards cease, stimulus response link is removed
  • ☹️ individual diffs- Rice et al studied 92 men in psychiatric hospital treated with TE, 50% reoffended