Behaviour modification in custody

• when a person is placed in prison they will undergo a behavioural management scheme.
• aim is to manage and monitor offenders during their incarceration and reduce the chance of them reoffending when they leave prison.
• behaviour modification is based on the behaviourist approach. All behaviour is learned and therefore all behaviour can also be unlearned. Obedient behaviour is reinforced and disobedient behaviour is punished, so that the behaviour becomes extinct.
• token economy

  Desirable behaviours e.g following rules are rewarded with a token.

  Tokens are secondary reinforces; they don't provide the reward itself, but provide access to a reward

  Tokens maybe exchanged for phone calls home, gym access, cigarettes

  If the prisoners are non-compliant or disobedient tokens are withdrawn.
• Behaviour modification programmes involve breaking the behaviour down into smaller chunks and a baseline measure is decided upon. The behaviour that is identified as the one we want to change modify, are selectively reinforced. The regime is to be used by everyone everyone who comes into contact with prisoner e.g guards.
• prison officials oversee the program and monitor how effective it is working for an individual and for the prison as a whole.
• Strength is supporting evidence for the effectiveness of behaviour modification programmes in prison. Hobbs and Holt used token economy with young offenders in 3 behavioural units. They found a significant difference in positive behaviour compared to the control group. Allyon found similar results with adults. This suggests that token economy can be successful in dealing with offenders within an institution.
• Strength is token economies are easy to implement in prisons. The appeal of behaviour modification like token economies rests largely upon the ease with which it can be administered. There is no need for a specialist professional to be involved, as would be the case with anger management. Token economy can be designed and implemented by anyone in any institution. It is also cost effective. This suggests that behaviour modification techniques can be established in most prisons and accessed by most prisoners. 
• Weakness is that there are ethical issues. Token economy involves exchanging tokens for rewards, and withholding of these rewards can be thought of as unfair and immoral. For example, food and drink should be a human right rather than a privilege and something that is earned inside a prison. Therefore, there are many who disagree whim the use of token economy to shape model behaviour.
• Blackburn:behaviour modification has ‘little rehabilitation value’ and any positive changes in behaviour that may occur whilst an offender is in prison may quickly be lost when they are released. More cognitive-based treatments e.g anger management may be more likely to lead to permanent behavioural change. These treatments require the offender to understand the cause of their offending and to take responsibility for their own rehabilitation. offenders can fairly easily play along with token economy system in order to access the rewards,this produces little change in their overall character.