DEVELOPMENT AND LEGAL REGULATION OF COERCIVE BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES WITH OFFENDERS

• NCJ Number: 857
• Author(s): R K Schwitzgebel
• Date Published: 1971
• Length: 96 pages
• Grant Number(s): NIH 69 1122
• Corporate Author: US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

ALTHOUGH BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES APPEAR TO BE EFFECTIVE IN A LABORATORY ENVIRONMENT, THERE HAS BEEN NO BROAD SCALE APPLICATION OF THESE TECHNIQUES TO OFFENDERS.

Abstract

SUCH TECHNIQUES SEEM TO BE WELL SUITED FOR INTEGRATION INTO THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM BECAUSE THEY, AND THEIR UNDERLYING THEORIES, FOCUS UPON BEHAVIOR, AND MOST OFFENSES INVOLVE OBSERVABLE BEHAVIOR. HOWEVER, THE APPLICATIONS OF SUCH TECHNIQUES AS AVERSIVE STIMULI OR SUPPRESSION MAY BE BOTH LEGALLY COERCIVE AND PHYSICALLY UNPLEASANT. IN A SYSTEM WHERE TREATMENT HAS BECOME A MERE EUPHEMISM FOR PUNITIVE CONTROL, THERE NEEDS TO BE A LEGAL, LEGISLATIVE, AND ADMINISTRATIVE RECONCEPTUALIZATION OF WHAT IS MEANT BY OFFENDER TREATMENT.