Reinforcement and Punishment
Oklahoma Department of Corrections eLearning Module
Welcome to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections training module on reinforcement and punishment. This is one of many training modules in a series of trainings on basic principles regarding best practices in the field of corrections. In this module you will learn what reinforcement and punishment are and the purpose of both, different types of reinforcers and punishers, how to select reinforcers and punishers, and effective ways to reinforce and punish.
Slide 2: How to Use This Module
Before we begin, please take a few moments to review how the presentation works. The core concepts and visuals in this module are intended for use with accompanying in-depth explanations of each slide topic. The in-depth information can be accessed in three ways, depending on learner preference: Module Notes, Audio, and Module Script. Each option contains the same information. Once the audio for each slide has ended, use the navigational buttons located at the bottom of the module presentation window to advance to the next slide.
Slide 3: Table of Contents
As you can see from the Table of Contents, the Reinforcement and Punishment Module will introduce you to: the definition of reinforcement and other key terms, the different types of reinforcers and how to select reinforcers, and how to administer reinforcers. Then we will discuss punishment, types of punishers, and how to administer punishers effectively.
Section 1: Introduction to Reinforcement Section 2: Selection of Reinforcers Section 3: Administering Reinforcers Section 4: Introduction to Punishment Section 5: Types of Punishers Section 6: Administering Punishers Section 7: Review of Learning Objectives Section 8: References
Slide 4: Learning Objectives
The purpose of this module is to advance correctional practitioners’ understanding of reinforcement and punishment for offender populations. Given the increasing attention to correctional agencies’ abilities to reduce recidivism, it is important that correctional practitioners be familiar with the best practices to changing long-term behavior.
Consequently, the learning objectives for this module are to:
1. Provide definitions for reinforcement and punishment 2. Explain the different types of reinforcers and punishers
3. Identify best practices for administering reinforcers and punishers
Slide 5: Effective Correctional Practice
Throughout the Oklahoma Basic Principles modules effective correctional practices are discussed. This module in particular discusses reinforcement and punishment, but others discuss relationship skills, structuring skill learning, and effective modeling. Before getting into the specifics of reinforcement and punishment, consider the graph examining these effective correctional practices and recidivism shown on the slide. The horizontal axis is the elements of effective correctional practice. These elements are the components that are known to be effective in working with offenders. The vertical axis is the effect size; that is the relationship each program element has with recidivism. The larger the effect size the greater the relationship between the element and recidivism. Knowing this, what does the graph tell us?
The graph shows that programs that incorporate elements of effective correctional practice reduce recidivism by a greater amount that those that do not implement effective correctional practices. Looking closer, we see that programs that use effective reinforcement and disapproval show some of the largest effects. Specifically, effective reinforcement reduces recidivism by 31% and effective disapproval reduces recidivism by 30%. The only element that shows a larger reduction is
relationship skills with a reduction of 34%. Thus, it is difficult to argue that effectively reinforcing positive behavior and effectively disapproving negative behavior is not important. But how do staff know what is effective and what is not? This module is going to explain in detail both effective reinforcement and punishment practices.
Slide 6: Section 1
Section 1 is an introduction to reinforcement. We will discuss the idea of using reinforcers to increase prosocial behavior.
Slide 7: Reinforcement
Before getting into too much detail regarding reinforcing behavior, it is important to define a few terms and discuss why we reinforce behavior in the first place. Reinforce means to strengthen. So, reinforcement is using consequences to strengthen a behavior. Consider a child who asks for a drink of water before bedtime and the parents allow him to get a drink. What do you think happens the next night before bedtime? Of course! The child asks for a drink of water again. Why does this happen? By the parents allowing the drink of water, the child was allowed to stay up later and the behavior of asking for a drink of water was reinforced. The child then learns that he can ask for a drink of water and stay up later. Reinforcement increases the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated. Reinforcing behavior informs the individual of what to expect from similar behavior in the future. Therefore, behavior is more likely to be repeated when it is reinforced.
Slide 8: Types of Reinforcement
We can choose from two types of reinforcement to use to increase the likelihood of that individual engaging in the behavior again. Both are a consequence of the individual performing the prosocial behavior and both increase the frequency of that behavior. They are positive and negative reinforcement both of which use positive and negative reinforcers. A positive reinforcer is something that the individual desires whereas a negative reinforcer is taking away something the individual finds undesirable. A negative reinforcer is still reinforcement because it subtracts an unpleasant thing from the individual as a consequence of performing a specific behavior. Hence, positive and negative reinforcement both aim to increase a behavior.
Slide 9: Reinforcer
Two more terms that should be defined before moving on are reinforcer and reward. While these are often used
interchangeably, they are somewhat different. A reinforcer is defined as the consequence of a prosocial behavior that can lead to the prosocial behavior occurring again. So a reinforcer occurs as the result of the offender engaging in a prosocial behavior. The reinforcer is contingent upon the behavior being performed and is usually pleasant. Something is a reinforcer if it causes the individual to perform the behavior again. Consider your boss. If he/she praises you for completing your paperwork in a timely manner you are probably more likely to continue completing your paperwork in a timely manner. The praise from your boss is the reinforcer for the behavior of completing your paperwork in a timely manner.
Slide 10: Reward
On the other hand, a reward is simply a pleasant consequence of a behavior. The key difference between a reward and reinforcer is that a reward does not necessarily increase the chances of that behavior occurring again. For example, when people pass their driving test they are rewarded with a driver’s license, but that reward obviously doesn’t increase the taking of driving tests! We experience lots of rewards throughout the day, but only those that increase the chances of us engaging in that behavior again are considered reinforcers. We are going to focus our attention on reinforcers, as our goal is to increase the chances of offenders engaging in a prosocial behavior again and again.
Slide 11: Positive Reinforcers
Some examples of positive reinforcers include free time, food, tokens, praise, and activities. The specific reinforcer will be unique to the individual offender, but ultimately will be something he/she wants.
Slide 12: Negative Reinforcer
On the other hand, examples of negative reinforcers include reducing chores, later bedtime, and removal of travel
restrictions or driving restrictions. Negative reinforcement involves removing or reducing something the offender finds to be unpleasant. Just as with positive reinforcement, the specific negative reinforcer will be unique to the individual.
Slide 13: Prosocial Behavior
We have talked about how to use reinforcement and kinds of reinforcers, but what behavior should we really focus on?
Consider the different behaviors you see with the individuals you work with. Offenders exhibit lots of different behaviors.
There are only some of those behaviors though that we want to see again. When we reinforce behavior we want to reinforce prosocial behavior, meaning we want to focus on behavior that is not related to criminal conduct. Reinforcement strengthens a behavior so we are more likely to see that behavior again. With the offenders you work with, what types of behaviors would you like to see again and again? Well, that’s probably an easy question. Most people want to see positive behavior.
But not all behavior is directly related to the offender’s criminal behavior.
Let’s look at this further. Consider the types of behavior your facility may ask of its inmates. Your facility may request that offenders dress a certain way, walk a certain way, have their cell a certain way, etc. Your facility may also request that offenders show self-control, avoid fights, attend programming, and be respectful to staff. To encourage and get offenders to repeat these behaviors you provide them with reinforcement. More often than you think, you are probably providing them
“things” that increase the chance of seeing that behavior again. We will talk about the specific ways and “things” you probably use to do this in a few slides. Go back to the previously listed behaviors that are requested of the offenders. First, consider here which of these behaviors are more likely to help the offender upon release from your facility. Consider behavior that is more likely to lead to long-term behavior change. Self-control, showing respect, avoiding fights, and attending programming are all probably more likely to help the offender in the long run than having a clean cell. Having a clean cell is important to the safety and security of the institution and should not be minimized. However, when we consider helping the offender change his behavior so to avoid future criminal activities, we want to focus efforts on the behaviors directly related to criminal offending, such as lying, fighting, and using appropriate coping skills. As we go through the slides on reinforcement and even punishment, consider the behaviors you are focusing on. Are they the behaviors that are going to help prevent the offender from re-offending?
Slide 14: Reinforcing Expected Behavior
When considering the kind of behavior we want to reinforce, or strengthen, an important question arises: Should we reinforce expected behavior? Many people argue that we should not reinforce expected behavior. That expected behavior is just that, expected, and people should know to perform it. Consider some of the offenders you work with. Do they always know what is expected of them at all times and in all situations? Have they had the same expectations as others in the institution, as those who work in the institution? Some. Most probably have not though. So what do we, as the staff, do? Hold someone to an expectation they do not even know is an expectation or know how to do? No, we educate them on the expectation or teach them the behavior and then reinforce that behavior when we see it. If we reinforce the expected behavior then we will be more likely to continue to see the expected behavior.
Let’s ask another question: what about the people who know the behavior is an expectation and do it? Should we reinforce them for engaging in a behavior they know how to show and that they know they should show? Before answering, consider this: what kind of behavior do you want to see: antisocial or prosocial? Hopefully, prosocial. If we ignore prosocial behavior when we see it there is a chance we may stop seeing it. There is also the chance that the individuals who engage in prosocial behavior and get no reinforcement for it, will see the reinforcement the others who are not engaging in the behavior are getting, and then stop the prosocial behavior altogether to adopt the negative behavior.
In short, we want to see prosocial behavior, even if that prosocial behavior is an expected behavior. If we are to help offenders develop long-term behavior change to avoid future criminal conduct, then we want to spend more time and energy on positive behaviors. We want to strengthen those positive behaviors as much as possible.
Slide 15: Review
Let’s review what we have covered so far. We want to use reinforcers to strengthen positive behavior. Reinforcers aim to increase the chances of the offender engaging in the prosocial behavior again. Reinforcement can come in two different forms. Positive reinforcement gives the individual something he/she desires, like extra recreation time. Negative reinforcement takes away something the individual dislikes such as sentence time. While reduced sentence time is considered negative reinforcement, it still increases the likelihood of the reinforced behavior happening again.
Slide 16: Section 2
This begins Section 2, Selection of Reinforcers.
Slide 17: Types of Reinforcers
As previously discussed, there are two main types of reinforcement, positive and negative. Both work to increase the likelihood of the offender engaging in a specific behavior again. We looked at some examples of both positive and negative
reinforcers, but there is another way to look at reinforcers. We can break them down further into four types including tangible, tokens, activities, and social.
Tangible reinforcers are those that are material objects. These are physical items that we can give the offenders to reinforce behavior we would like to see continue. For example, snacks, or extra food can be very powerful reinforcers for some people… not just offenders! How many times have you rewarded your effort dieting or exercising for the week with that special dessert or bag of chips? Other tangible reinforcers include magazines, letters, music, make-up, or even a single room.
Token reinforcers are those items that have symbolic value. This means that the offender earns a token, sticker, or point that alone is worth little, but in combination with other tokens, stickers, or points is worth a tangible reward. Tokens are useful in group settings as they allow staff to use the same reinforcement mechanism to reward all the offenders, but still individualize the specific reinforcer for each individual offender. Tokens are usually used in a store set up on units in which the offenders are able to exchange their earned tokens for the tangible reinforcer of their liking.
Activities can be very powerful reinforcers for some. Earning an extra privilege can serve as a reinforcer to encourage a specific behavior to occur again. This can include extra television time, shower time, time outside, or even just one-on-one time with a staff person the offender has rapport with.
Although tangible items, tokens, and activities can be powerful reinforcers, the most powerful are social reinforcers. Social reinforcers include attention, verbal praise, a sign of approval, or acknowledgement. Consider “Atta boy”, “Thank you”, and
“I appreciate that” as examples of social reinforcers that can increase a specific behavior in the future.
Slide 18: Social Reinforcers
Why are social reinforcers the most powerful? They seem so easy and yet they are the most powerful, there must be a catch, right? No. Social reinforcers are in fact easy to administer. They require no special equipment, no special funding or approval from supervisors. They are free. There is a limitless supply of social reinforcers and therefore can be applied immediately after seeing the prosocial behavior. How much easier can it get?! The added bonus of social reinforcers is that they are natural. They are the same type of reinforcer the offender can receive upon release from your program. While points, special activities, and tangible reinforcers work to increase behavior, most offenders are not going to be released from your program and find employment where his boss gives him a token every time he is on time for work. However, his boss may say, “I like that you were on time today” or “I appreciate your hard work today”. These are natural reinforcers that you can use within your facility to help the offender change his behavior both inside and outside of the program.
Slide 19: Guidelines for Selecting Reinforcers
Now that you know that reinforcers are consequences of a prosocial behavior that can increase the likelihood of the behavior occurring again and the different types of reinforcers, you may be wondering how you know which reinforcer to use with which offender. If you recall, when we were discussing reinforcers, we noted how important it was to make the reinforcer unique to the individual. That is the first guideline when selecting a reinforcer. The reinforcer chosen should be something the individual desires or at least likes. If you give someone extra recreation time in the gym for having no verbal
confrontations for three days and she prefers to spend her time alone reading, the extra recreation time is not likely to encourage the appropriate interactions with others. Time alone in her cell to read would probably be a better reinforcer for the offender. This example also shows the importance of connecting the reinforcer to the behavior. In particular, because the individual offender handled herself appropriately around her peers and staff, she earned alone time. Another example involves an offender who had no physical altercations on the basketball court and thus earned extra time to play basketball with a staff he had developed rapport with. This reinforcer is directly connected to his behavior. The second guideline on the slide for selecting reinforcers stresses the importance of making sure the reinforcer is in fact, a reinforcer. Recall, a consequence is only considered a reinforcer if it increases the chances of that individual engaging in the prosocial behavior again. If the consequence, such as extra basketball time, did not increase the prosocial behavior of avoiding physical altercations on the court, as the next time the offender was on the court he got into a fight, it would not be considered a reinforcer. Reinforcers increase the occurrences of prosocial behavior; rewards are just a pleasant consequence of a behavior, having no effect on future behavior. Lastly, there are two more guidelines to consider, potency and natural reinforcers. Recall, natural reinforcers are very powerful at supporting long-term behavior change, but potency is also important. The pleasant consequence also has to be strong enough to increase the likelihood of the individual engaging in the behavior again. How we do this is explained on the next few slides.
Slide 20: Identifying Reinforcers
Keeping in mind the guidelines for selecting reinforcers, we have three techniques we can use to help select a reinforcer that
is unique to the individual, potent, natural, and connected to the behavior. We can ask the offender directly, select from common known reinforcers, or observe the individual offender throughout the day. Let’s examine each more closely.
Slide 21: Asking Questions
One of the options is to ask the offender directly what s/he enjoys, desires, or has an interest in. Who better to ask what would be considered a reinforcer for the offender, than the individual! Here the technique merely involves taking a few minutes and discussing with the offender possible interests, likes or wants.
Slide 22: Generalized Reinforcers
On the other hand, the technique of selecting from generalized reinforcers requires a bit more direction on the part of the staff. Here you want to offer the individual a selection of reinforcers to choose from. Specifically, you would allow the individual offender to select from a number of well-known common reinforcers on the unit. This could include increased privileges, extra food or phone calls, or other reinforcers your agency has in place. This can be done rather informally through discussion or more formally through a Reinforcement Survey Schedule or a Pleasant Events Schedule. Using either schedule asks the offender to rate or select from a list of reinforcers the items he finds most pleasing. Staff will then have numerous reinforcers to choose from when the individual engages in prosocial behavior.
Slide 23: Observation
The last technique is observation. Here staff simply observes routine behavior and notes common activities the offender chooses to engage in. By taking note of behaviors the offender enjoys or engages in quite often, staff can generate a list of potential reinforcers to use throughout the offender’s program.
Slide 24: How Do You Individualize Reinforcers?
Before wrapping up this section on choosing reinforcers, let us review the importance of individualizing reinforcers. Each reinforcer should be specific to the individual offender receiving the reinforcer. This does not mean the same reinforcer will not work to strengthen two different offenders’ behavior. In creating and selecting reinforcers, you do not have to reinvent the wheel. Certainly extra recreation time may reinforce two completely different behaviors for two completely different offenders. Consider this example: Frankie has been having problems reporting to work in the institution and his boss has given him his last warning. Every time Frankie gets up in time for work staff have been reinforcing him with first in the shower at night, a special privilege on the unit. Since the reinforcement has been applied, Frankie’s been showing up to work on time daily. Now, consider Jose. Jose is an early riser, but continues to fall asleep during his afternoon treatment group. The group leader and unit staff started reinforcing Jose’s group participation with first in the shower for morning showers. Jose no longer falls asleep during group anymore as he enjoys his shower first thing the morning. This is the same reinforcer, first in the shower, but for two different offenders with two different problem behaviors. The key with individualizing the reinforcer involves matching the reinforcer to the individual and if possible to the individual’s specific problem behavior.
Other things to consider involve the use of multiple reinforcers and public vs. private praise. It is very important to not use the same reinforcers for everyone on the unit. Recall, not all reinforcers are going to be reinforcers for everyone. Lastly, many offenders respond better to private praise compared to public praise. Be careful to monitor the individual’s responses to praise in front of a group compared to praise delivered one-on-one. Sometimes one is more effective than the other and it often depends on the offender.
Slide 25: Review
Let’s review how to select reinforcers from the different types available. We know reinforcers can be tangible items, tokens, activities, or social matters. When choosing which reinforcer to use, remember to make it specific to the individual you are reinforcing. You can ask the individual directly what he/she likes to do or you can ask them to select several potential reinforcers from a list. Lastly, you can observe the offender and note their interests that could be used as reinforcers. The most important thing to remember when applying a reinforcer is to individualize it to the offender. The reinforcer chosen should also be connected to the behavior, potent, and natural whenever possible.
Slide 26: Section 3
This slide begins Section 3, Administering Reinforcers.
Slide 27: Administering Reinforcers
After identifying potential reinforcers, the next step is to administer a reinforcer. Administering a reinforcer needs to consider several things. First it is important to consider who should be the person to deliver the reinforcer. Second, when the reinforcer is applied, how to connect the reinforcer to the behavior and other guidelines need to be considered. Lastly the frequency of the application of reinforcers needs to be discussed.
Slide 28: Who Should Administer Reinforcers?
Many programs often designate people who manage behavior separately from people who deliver treatment services. In doing this, they often consider those who manage behavior to be the only staff to reinforce or punish behavior. This can hinder the strength of a reinforcer. It is important that all people involved in the offender’s life administer reinforcers when they see the offender engage in a prosocial behavior. We will discuss the importance of administering the reinforcer as closely to the observation of the prosocial behavior in a few slides, but it is important to note now that by having the person who directly observed the prosocial behavior apply the reinforcer, the more powerful the reinforcer will be and therefore, the more likely the offender will engage in that behavior again.
It is important that an offender’s prosocial behavior be reinforced in order to increase the likelihood of that behavior occurring again. Therefore, all staff should actively be involved in the reinforcing process. Equally as important is the reinforcement of prosocial behavior provided by the family and peers. It is important to ensure that the family and peers are reinforcing prosocial behavior and not antisocial behavior. Lastly, we want the individual offender to reinforce him/herself. Actually, that is one of the goals of reinforcement: to have the offender reinforce him/herself for something well done.
Slide 29: Self-Reinforcement
When an offender does something again because he told himself it was a good thing to do, or he praised himself for doing it right, he is reinforcing himself. We see this all the time working with offenders. Consider an offender who steals cars. The first time he stole a car it was to get to a probation appointment. He stole the car, made it to probation, and home again without getting caught. He told himself it was a good decision to take the car because he did not get violated for missing his appointment. The next appointment comes up and again he has no ride, so he steals another car. Again, he successfully makes it to and from probation. He is then telling himself that he is smart and really doing this right by making it to his appointments. Do you think he stole a car for his next appointment too? If you answered yes, you are correct. But why? He stole the car again because he has been reinforcing himself for stealing the car after every occurrence of the behavior. Self- reinforcement is powerful because it occurs immediately after the behavior and comes from within the individual.
However powerful self-reinforcement can be we do not want the offender reinforcing himself for negative behavior. The problem in the previous scenario is that the offender was reinforcing himself for anti-social behavior. Something many offenders are already good at. We want offenders to learn how to reinforce themselves for prosocial behavior. As we reinforce prosocial behavior, the offender begins to learn self-reinforcement and begins to reinforce his-self/herself for positive behavior. This allows the individual offender to take responsibility for his/her own actions and it supports long-term behavior change.
Slide 30: How to Administer a Reinforcer
When administering a reinforcer it is important to not only give the individual the reinforcer, but also to immediately tell the individual that you like what he/she did. Being clear and specific regarding the behavior and why you liked it helps the offender connect the reinforcer to the behavior so that he/she is more likely to engage in that behavior again. Recall the earlier example with Jose falling asleep during group. Let’s say Jose stayed awake throughout group today and participated. The group leader’s reinforcer would be something similar to this: “Jose, thank you for your participation in group today. I really liked how you stayed awake and even provided feedback to others. I will tell staff you have first shower tomorrow morning.” Notice the group leader was clear and specific about which behavior she liked and what reinforcer Jose earned as a result. Did you notice that Jose earned more than one reinforcer? He not only earned the first shower but he also received verbal praise.
Another important component of administering a reinforcer that is often left out provides an opportunity for the offender to begin the self-reinforcement process. After telling the individual that you liked the behavior and why, it is important to have the offender explain why the behavior was desirable. Specifically, the offender should identify why it is beneficial for him/her to engage in that behavior, why it is appropriate in that situation, and how it can be helpful to use that behavior again in the future.
Slide 31: Guidelines for Administering Reinforcers
On this slide guidelines for administering reinforcers are presented. Following these will work to increase the strength and effectiveness of the reinforcer. The most important guideline on the slide is the first one: Reinforcers should be contingent on performing the behavior. Consider the example of a young woman, Mary, who has just been admitted to your program.
She has just started anger management group today. The group leader tells the group that everyone who completes their homework for group tomorrow will receive an extra point for the session. Mary comes to group the next day without her homework. After the group leader collects all the homework, he tells the group that everyone will get an extra point for the session. What is Mary thinking at this point? She is probably thinking along the lines of, “See, I knew I didn’t really have to do this stupid homework.” or “I knew he didn’t care if we turned it in or not.” or “He probably doesn’t even read our
homework.” .By giving Mary the reinforcer even though she did not complete her homework, the group leader reinforced the wrong behavior, no homework. Reinforcers should only be given when the appropriate behavior is demonstrated.
The second guideline suggests that reinforcers are more effective when they come immediately after the behavior or knowledge of the behavior. It is also best to explain that the reinforcer is a consequence of the prosocial behavior and why that specific behavior was appropriate. Lastly, continuous reinforcement should be followed by intermittent reinforcement.
Initially, when someone is learning a new prosocial behavior it is best to reinforce every occurrence of that behavior. Only some occurrences of the behavior should be reinforced once the individual begins to consistently display the appropriate behavior.
Slide 32: Continuous vs. Intermittent
Reinforcers can be administered at every occurrence or only at some occurrences. As noted on the previous side, this is the difference between continuous and intermittent reinforcement. Continuous reinforcement means that a behavior is
reinforced every time the individual engages in it. This is helpful when the individual is first learning a new behavior.
Intermittent reinforcement only reinforces some of the occurrences of the behavior. Which occurrences to reinforce, can be determined by a specified interval of time. For example, a reinforcer is given every day after the person performs the behavior. Occurrences to reinforce can also be based on a certain number of times the behavior is performed. In this case, we would reinforce the individual after he/she engages in the behavior 5 times.
Intermittent reinforcement is favored for a variety of reasons. First it is more cost effective than continuous reinforcement when considering time and money. But second, and most important, intermittent reinforcement supports long-term behavior change. It encourages the individual to use the behavior in a variety of situations and is similar to real life situations in that our behavior is not reinforced every time we engage in it. However, this does not mean we should not use continuous reinforcement. We should use that when someone is first learning a new behavior, and then switch to intermittent.
Slide 33: Tips for Administering Reinforcers
Other tips to help make reinforcers effective at influencing long -term behavior change include making the reinforcer unique to the individual. Recall, that a reinforcer for one person may not be a reinforcer for another person. Each reinforcer should be tested to make sure it increases the likelihood of that individual person performing the behavior again. When reinforcing an appropriate behavior it is also important to make sure the offender does not become satiated with the reinforcer. We do not want the reinforcer to lose its effect or for the individual offender to come to expect that reinforcer every time he engages in the behavior. Here is where the importance of using different reinforcers and using reinforcers intermittently are crucial.
Lastly, all staff should use reinforcers consistently. It is important that all staff is involved in the reinforcement process. It is also important to teach family members and support systems of the offender how to appropriately reinforce prosocial behavior.
Slide 34: Reinforcers vs. Punishers
The application of reinforcers should outnumber punishers by at least 4:1 to be the most effective at changing behavior. This means that for every one punisher applied, four reinforcers should also be given. This does not mean you should generate a list of 24 reinforcers and 6 punishers. While this seems to meet the ratio, what the research tells us is that it is not the number of reinforcers and punishers available, but the frequency in which they are used.
Slide 35: Review
All staff should consistently reinforce prosocial behavior. This helps the offender learn self-reinforcement. It is also important that others involved in the offender’s life are reinforcing prosocial behavior. Keep in mind that reinforcers should only be used if the offender engaged in the positive behavior. Once the behavior has been displayed the reinforcer should be applied with an explanation of why that behavior was beneficial.
Slide 36: Section 4
Now that we have wrapped up our discussion on reinforcing prosocial behavior, we turn our attention to punishment. The material presented will focus on using punishers to decrease negative behavior.
Slide 37: Why Punish?
People tend to punish for a lot of reasons. Sometimes people punish because they are angry or embarrassed. Other times people punish to send a message to both the individual and others. People sometimes punish to just stop the behavior.
When considering the goal of long-term prosocial behavior change, there are three reasons to punish. The first is to extinguish the behavior or in other words, to stop the behavior. The second reason is to correct the antisocial behavior and lastly, the third reason is to change behavior. The following slides on punishment are going to discuss in depth how to punish most effectively. Specifically, how to use punishments to stop, correct, and change antisocial behavior to prosocial behavior.
Slide 38: Punishment
Let us start by defining punishment. Punishment is using a consequence to cause a behavior to be performed less frequently in the future. Punishment is used to stop a behavior and ultimately change a behavior. This means that punishment not only involves applying something the individual finds undesirable but also making sure the offender knows alternative behaviors to use.
Slide 39: Types of Punishment
There are three types of punishment to consider: Response cost, extinction, and time out. Time out is probably the most familiar, but I bet you will recognize the other two when we review them.
Slide 40: Response Cost
Response cost uses undesirable consequences to stop a negative behavior. Simply put the offender pays a cost for performing the behavior. This is probably the most common type of punishment used both in corrections and in our daily lives. For example, when you rent a movie and you forget to return it by the due date, you must pay a fine. The fine is your cost for not returning the movie on time. Recall that all behaviors have a consequence that follows. The undesirable consequence that follows an antisocial behavior is the response cost.
Slide 41: Examples of Response Cost
Let’s look at some examples of response cost consequences. Fines. Examples of fines can be library fines, parking tickets, supervision fines for offenders on probation or parole, or even extra days added on to one’s sentence. Certainly many correctional programs use the loss of points to deter inappropriate behavior through token economies. When considering appropriate costs for a specific behavior it is important to consider what will be a cost to that individual. For instance, some individuals may find the loss of extra recreation time enough of a deterrent to avoid that behavior again. Others may find an early bed time or no access to his favorite magazine a response cost.
Slide 42: Guidelines for Response Cost
If you were to use response cost to stop an antisocial behavior, there are three guidelines to follow. First, the behavior to be changed must be identified such as physical aggression. Next, you need to identify potential reinforcers for that specific individual. These may include free time, phone calls, and points. Once determined and the individual engages in the physical aggression you apply the response cost specified, such as loss of one hour of free time. Hence, you removed something the individual valued, free time.
Slide 43: Extinction & Time Out
Response cost is one type of punishment. The other two types are extinction and time out. Extinction completely eliminates the reinforcement for a specific behavior whereas time out only temporarily eliminates the reinforcement for a specific behavior. The idea behind extinction and time out is that all behaviors are maintained by reinforcement and when the reinforcement stops, the behavior eventually stops.
Slide 44: Extinction
Let’s examine extinction first. Extinction is the withdrawing of all reinforcers for a specific behavior. Thus it is crucial to
identify the reinforcers that are maintaining the inappropriate behavior. Once identified and then withheld, it is then important to provide reinforcement for any prosocial behaviors the individual displays.
Slide 45: Examples of Extinction
Consider an example of extinction. The inappropriate behavior is verbal aggression towards staff. The reinforcer for this individual is one on one time with her therapist. According to extinction, what should staff do? The first step is to tell the individual that her language is inappropriate and will not be tolerated. The second step is to explain why the language is inappropriate and that if she continues to use profanity she will not be able to speak to her therapist and that she will not earn her points for the day. The third step is to tell the individual that she needs to complete a thinking report as a result of her use of inappropriate language.
A word of caution: Extinction often results in an immediate increase in the problem behavior. In this case that would be the verbal aggression. It is to be expected that the offender will initially continue to curse. And maybe even increase her verbal aggression and acting out. At that moment it is crucial that staff focus on the positive behavior they can reinforce and encourage to consider both the long and short-term consequences of her actions.
Slide 46: Time Out
Time out is similar to extinction in that we are removing reinforcers immediately after the antisocial behavior. The difference is that with time out the reinforcers are only being removed temporarily and we are removing the individual from all potential reinforcers, not just the one reinforcer maintaining the behavior. This should occur immediately after the inappropriate behavior and only last for a certain amount of time.
Slide 47: Guidelines for Time Out
With that in mind, let’s look at some guidelines for implementing a time out in response to an inappropriate behavior.
Immediately after the individual engages in the negative behavior staff should tell the individual he/she is being placed in time out due to that behavior for a certain amount of time. For example, “Yolanda, for speaking disrespectfully to Mr.
Johnson, you have 15 minutes of time out.” Time out should be a designated area free of potential general reinforcers.
Usually time out areas are separate rooms or areas off to the side where no interaction with others is permitted, no books to read are present, there is no TV to watch, and no other possible reinforcers are available. Once the 15 minutes have expired and the individual is behaving appropriately the time out is over. However, if 15 minutes have expired and the individual is behaving inappropriately, i.e. verbally or physically aggressive, the individual may have the time out period extended for another brief duration or a response cost may be implemented.
As with extinction there is a word of caution: time out should not allow the individual to avoid a situation he/she does not like.
Be careful when implementing a time out for an inappropriate behavior right before treatment group, recreation time, or meal times. Very often individuals know that if they misbehave they will be left behind from the group and this sometimes is a reinforcer for the inappropriate behavior. Another example involves treatment group. Many programs require offenders to complete homework assignments for group and if they are not completed the individual is removed from the group. Think how wonderful that may be for an individual who does not want to be in that group. All he/she has to do is not complete the homework assignment and BAM! No group today! We must be cautious when implementing a time out as we do not want to reinforce the wrong behavior.
Slide 48: How to Administer a Punisher
Whether you are using response cost, extinction or time out, there are four steps to be followed. Recall that we want a punisher to not only stop a behavior, but correct and change that behavior as well. So just as with reinforcers, it is important to explain why punishment is occurring. This way, the offender will connect the consequence to the behavior. After stopping the behavior and explaining why the punishment is occurring, explain why it is unacceptable and discuss with the offender the short and long term consequences of the behavior.
The punishment chosen should reflect the inappropriate behavior. For example, if the offender did not complete his homework for group an appropriate punisher would be to complete that assignment and a second assignment for the next group. The extra assignment is the cost of not completing the first assignment on time.
It is important to punish unemotionally. What that means is that the individual needs to know that the punishment is related to the behavior, not our emotions. Of course we may feel angry and frustrated, but it is vital to the process of behavior change, that our punishment be clearly related to the behavior of the offender, not our feelings of anger or frustration. In other words, the individual is not being punished because you are angry; rather he is being punished because he used
inappropriate language towards you.
Lastly, you want to be certain to stop showing disapproval once the behavior is extinguished. Once the individual stops engaging in the behavior, you want to begin to focus on reinforcing prosocial behavior. If you continue to focus on the past inappropriate behavior, the individual will think the consequence is again just because you are angry.
Unfortunately, it is difficult for offenders to make a connection between the consequence and the behavior. Rather they tend to associate the consequence with him/her and begin to think the staff doesn’t like him/her. For example, “When Ms. Jones gets mad all I do is getting in trouble. I don’t think she likes me.” The offender then accepts no responsibility for his behavior and sees no change needed.
Slide 49: How to Administer a Punisher: Example
If you were to follow the aforementioned steps to administer a punisher to an offender who was being verbally aggressive, what would you do? First, the behavior needs to immediately be stopped. Next, it should be explained to the offender why the behavior is undesirable. Third, time should be taken to process with the offender both the short and long term effects of the behavior and what could be done differently. Lastly, the punisher should be applied. Recall, the punisher should be tied to the offense.
Slide 50: Guidelines for Administering Punishment
For a punisher to be effective at stopping, changing and correcting behavior you want to immediately address the behavior, explain why it is undesirable, apply the punishment unemotionally, and stop showing disapproval once the inappropriate behavior has been replaced by a prosocial behavior. The four guidelines listed on the slide will help you in this process.
Specifically, the punishment should be applied immediately and at every occurrence. Doing both will help the offender connect the consequence to the negative behavior. It is important though that you also tell the offender that the punishment is the direct consequence of the inappropriate behavior. After applying the punishment do not forget to reinforce alternative prosocial behaviors of that individual. By focusing on the prosocial behaviors the individual will 1) be more likely to engage in those same prosocial behaviors again and 2) as a result will have less opportunities to engage in the inappropriate behavior.
Slide 51: Tips On What To Do
This slide includes examples of appropriate punishers to use to stop, change, and correct behavior. They should still be implemented with the aforementioned guidelines for punishers—if not, they will not be effective. For example, an offender should not lose three levels for showing up late to group (the punisher doesn’t fit the crime). Similarly, an offender should not lose free time for 3 months in a 6 month residential program.
Slide 52: Tips On What Not To Do
Research has shown that some punishers are more effective than others. Here is a list of inappropriate forms of
punishment. Offenders should not be yelled at or spoken to in a disrespectful manner by any staff, regardless of how they treat staff. Any punisher that involves shaming, like having an offender wear diapers because he’s acting like a baby, is ineffective, due to its shaming properties. Physical punishment is illegal. Physical restraint, while necessary in some cases, should not be used as a punisher, i.e., an offender should not be restrained because he talked back to staff and made staff angry. Food, water, clothing or other basic human needs should not be withheld as a form of sanction.
Slide 53: What Can and Does Sometimes Go Wrong?
Punishments can produce negative consequences, even when applied correctly. Consider the offender who is told to go to his cell for engaging in a physical altercation and once there destroys it. Or the offender who did not earn enough points to move up to a higher level and therefore engages in self-injurious behavior as a result. These are some of the negative effects that punishment can have.
As a result, all staff should be aware of the signs pointing to negative effects. Staff should look for offenders who withdraw, become upset, begin to become aggressive or begin to use the antisocial behavior more frequently. Some offenders may actually begin to punish others in response to their own punishment. Finally, you should also look for reinforcement of antisocial behavior from other offenders. All of these are signs that punishment is being ineffective and should be dealt with immediately.
Slide 54: Why Do Negative Results Occur?
As mentioned, offenders sometime become angry or upset even though staff follow the steps of administering a punishment perfectly. Other times staff punish offenders emotionally or use an inappropriate punisher. For example, staff yells at the offender to stop and then threatens him when he doesn’t. Other times, the punishment does not fit the crime. An offender is put in time out for 12 hours for verbal aggression. First, 12 hours is considered over punishing. The punisher should be applied at the level of the behavior. Second, after a few hours the offender forgets why he is even in his room. Lastly, over- punishing results in feelings of anger towards the staff and the situation.
Slide 55: How to Avoid the Negative Effects of Punishment
Upon recognizing that an offender is responding negatively to punishment, steps should be taken to calm the offender down and discuss the situation. You should focus on the thoughts and feelings of the offender and how they have led to the outcome. Moreover, you should have the offender discuss how the outcome could have differed if different actions had been used and what those different options are. Ensure that the offender has the skills to manage the situation better next time.
Slide 56: Review
People punish for a variety of reasons, but if changing behavior is the goal, people should only punish to stop, correct, and change an antisocial behavior. There are three types of punishment that can be used to do this. Response Cost, extinction, and time outs are effective at stopping, changing, and correcting an antisocial behavior. Response cost applies a cost for performing the negative behavior while extinction and time outs operate to eliminate a reinforcer for the specific negative behavior. When administering any punisher the first step is to stop the negative behavior. Next, you want to tell the offender what the punishment is and why. It is important that you stop showing disapproval once the negative behavior has stopped and the punisher has been applied. Punishers are most effective when applied consistently and alternative prosocial behaviors are reinforced.
Slide 57: Review of Learning Objectives
Recall the learning objectives outlined at the beginning of the module:
• Provide definitions for reinforcement and punishment
• Explain the different types of reinforcers and punishers
• Identify best practices for administering reinforcers and punishers
• Hopefully this module expanded your knowledge regarding reinforcement and punishment and their application to changing behavior.
Slide 58: References
Esveldt-Dawson, K., & Kazdin, A. E. (1998). How to maintain behavior 2nd ed. Austin, TX: Pro-ed.
Gendreau, P. (2003). Invited Address, Division 18, APA Annual Convention, Toronto, CA.
Hall, R.V, & Hall, M.L. (1998). How to select reinforcers 2nd ed. Austin, TX: Pro-ed.
Hall, R.V, & Hall, M.L. (1998). How to use planned ignoring (extinction) 2nd ed. Austin, TX: Pro-ed.
Hall, R.V, & Hall, M.L. (1998). How to use time-out 2nd ed. Austin, TX: Pro-ed.
Spiegler, M.D, & Guevremont, D.C. (2003). Contemporary behavior therapy 4th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Slide 59: Thank You!
Thank you for your participation. This concludes our module on Reinforcement and Punishment. We hope that you found this information helpful to your work at the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your program director.
