behavioural modification

• Behavioural modification in custody:

  • Used to manage and monitor offenders behaviour in prison and reduce likelihood of reoffending
  • Based on the behaviourist idea that behaviour is learnt and so therefore can be unlearnt - done using token economy 
• token economy in prisons:

  • Operant conditioning used - behaviours have consequences 
  • Tokens given to offenders showing desirable behaviour - positive reinforcement 
  • Tokens can also be taken away for negative behaviours 
  • Token must be given immediately after desirable behaviour is shown  
• the tokens given to offenders for showing desirable behaviour are known as secondary reinforcers and the primary reinforcers are the rewards that tokens can be exchanged for. - this makes them more likely to repeat desirable behaviours
• supportive evidence:

  Hobbs and holt introduced a token economy system for groups of young offenders and observed a significant difference in positive behaviours compared to non-token economy group. This suggest that token economy systems are effective at dealing with offending behaviours. However, the success of the systems do depend on a consistent approach from the prison staff, requiring adequate staff training. Research has found TE is less effective if staff apply rules inconsistently 
• opposing evidence:

  Cohen and Fitzpatrick - Found that token economy groups while in prison showed desirable behaviours, after 3 years of release, recividicsm rates reflected national stats. Suggests while TE is good in prison, it doesn’t improve recidivism outside of prison - Behavioural modification is not effective at dealing with offending behaviours in the real world, decreasing external validity.