behaviors,quizzesfor parents,and furtherresourcesfor both parentsand professionals.

The audiotapeHow to Use Timeout Effectivelyclosely parallelstopics covered in the

SOS! Helpfor Parentsbookwith a few extrasincluded.A demonstration ol timeoutwith a 2-
year-oldis very enlightening.Interviewswith two children,ages 9 and'11, with whom
timeout had been used are quite informative.Common questionsasked by parentsare
answeredand common pitfallsare demonstratedthroughenactedexamples.This tape is
recommendedby the authorfor use by small groupsand/or individualsduringtraining
SESSIONS.
Basic Child RearingMethodsand BasicTimeoutSteps flipcardsare 8-112"x 11"bound
flipcardswhich coordinatewith the audiotapeand the book. Each pictureis clearlydrawn
and accompaniedby a writtencaptionof the procedurebeingdepicted.
The TimeoutParentInventory((TOPI)is intendedto be administeredby the professional
to the parentin orderto assessa parent'sskill in usingtimeoutwith her/hischild.The TOPI
is usedwith parentswhosechildrenare ages 2to 12.
ParentsHandoutsand Quizzesfor Parentsare materialswhich the author recommends
for use by the professional workingwith parentsduringtrainingsessions.
The ProfessionalManualties all these materialstogetherand offerssuggestionsfor
im p l e me n ti n gth e i r u s e i n p a re nt counsel i ngand parenttrai ni ngsessi ons.P ossi bl e
presentationalternativesare also suggested.
The TimeoutSolutionis a condensedversionof SOS! Help for Parents,writtento assist
parents whose childrenexhibit behavioralproblems.lt offers various forms of discipline
techniqueswith a focus on timeout.The text is dividedinto three sections.Part I outlines
basic rulesfor successfullyimprovinga child'sbehavior.lt also toucheson communication
skills and mild punishmentmethods.Part ll covers the basic skills for correctlyusing
timeout.The chaptersin this sectionare dividedinto instructionsfor variousage groupsfor
ease of implementation.In Part lll the author discussespoints, tokens, parent-child
conlracts,and reflectivelisteningskills. Each chapter ends with a section entitled"main
points to remember''that summarizesthe most importantaspects of the chapter.This book
is an excellentresourcefor parentsin needof solutionsfor theirchildren'smisbehaviors.
S O S ! H e l p fo r P ro fe s s i o n a l si s i ntendedas a set of teachi ng ai ds desi gnedto
supplementexistingprogramswhich teach child managementskills.This package is
t h o ro u g h i n i ts c o v e ra g e o f b ehavi or management techni ques, and especi al l y
comprehensiveand practicalin its approachto timeout.As such, these materialswill prove
extremelyeffectivein teachingtimeoutskillsto parents.

Kathryn A. Anderson, Graduate Student, Special Education Programs, Division of

Curriculum and lnstruction, 305 Farmer Building, Arizona State University, Tempe,
Arizona 85287-2011

COERCIONAND ITS FALLOUT

Murray Sidman
Authors Cooperative,lnc., Boston,MA, 1989

Sidmanwrote Coercionand lts Falloutas a personalstatementof concernabout the future

course of humanity.While the book is a personalstatement,the personalnature of the book
cannot be separatedfrom Sidman'sconsiderableand deserved reputationas a professional
behavioranalyst.
Sidman believesthat we, as a species,must "changeour conduct' if we are going to
succeed "at least to postponethe current headlong rush toward extinctionof the species."
He believesthat the developmentof a scienceof behavioris virtuallythe only event that
offers us any hope lor survival.
At the root of our problems, according to Sidman, is the widely accepted belief by
parents,teachers,politicians,bureaucrats,businessand labor leaders,and religions
leaders,amongothers,that coercionis the naturalorderof things.Most,if not all, members

BehavioralDisorders May 199'1 315

 of societybelievethat behaviorcontrolis necessaryif societyis goingto work. Sidmandoes
not argue against the necessityof behavior control. He does, however,argue strongly
againstthe widespreadview of behaviorcontrolas coercivecontrol.
The root of socialevil,so to speak,is not the use of coercivebehaviorcontrolper se but
the reciprocaland escalatingrelationshipbetweencoercivecontroland countercontrol. The
issue is not whetheror not there shouldbe behaviorcontrolbut ratherwhetheror not it will
be done scientilically. Scientilicbehaviorcontrol,basedon the scienceof behavioranalysis,
is control that is exerted systematically, effectively,thoughtfully,and most important,
humanely.Scientificbehaviorconlrolis controlthroughpositivereinforcement as elucidated
in the scienceof behavioranalysis,not through negativereinforcementand punishment,
that is, coercivecontrol.
Sidmanallowsthat there may be a few extremeinstanceswherecoercivecontrolcan be
justified,but they representexceptions,not the rule for behaviorcontrol.Even when
justified,Sidmanarguesthat such instanceswill only occur becauseof mistakesmade by
agentsof control,ignorance,or emergencysituations.In the rare case where coercive
controlis justified,Sidmanarguesit shouldbe a last resortand shouldbe only a temporary
expedientprovidingan opportunityto put into place reninforcement-based techniquesfor
behaviorcontrol.
Sidman argues that, in additionto the "main effects" expectedas an outcome of
coercion,there are also "secondaryeffects" that are often of greater significancethan the
intendedeffect,such as the probabilityof other behaviorbeing increasedin the punished
individual.One of the outcomesof the use of coercionis escaoebehavior.
Sidman discussesa number of examplesof escape behaviorinitiatedby coercive
environments.Only those examplesdirectlyrelatedto educationwill be cited. Escape
behavioris expressedthroughtwo basic forms. First,escapemay take the form of "tuning
out." Educationally speaking,tuningout is evidentin studentswho are nonparticipants in the
educationalprogram.Educatorslrequentlylabelthese studentsas underachievers. Second,
escapemay take the form of "droppingout."Studentswho are preventedfrom tuningout or
droppingout - that is, escapeis not permitted- usuallybecomedisciplineproblems.
Educatorsoften label these studentsas "troublemakers,"emotionallydisturbed,behavior
disordered,and more recently,as sociallymaladjusted.Sidman would say that such
studentsare respondingto a coerciveenvironmentwith attemptsat countercontrol.
Anotheroutcomeof the use of coercionis avoidance.Initially,escapeis the more likely
outcomeof coercionbecausesomethingmust be experiencedin some way beforeone can
respondto it. However,avoidanceis more adaptivethan escape,and if the conditionsfor
c o e rc i o n c a n b e d i s c ri m i n ated,the ci rcumstancesassoci ated w i th coerci on w i l l
subsequentlybe avoidedif avoidanceis possible.Evenwhen there are significantnegative
consequencesrelatedto avoidance,they will usually not be powerfulenough to prevent
avoidancebecausethe reinforcingconsequencesof avoidanceare immediateand the
punitiveconsequences of avoidance are usuallydelayed.
Earlier,droppingout of schoolwas given as an exampleof escapebehavior.However,
the dropout'sbehavioris maintained,at leastin part,by avoidance.That is, by stayingaway
from school,the dropoutis able to preventfurthercontactwith a coerciveenvironmentand
this avoidancebehaviorhas the immediateand maintainingconsequenceof negative
reinforcement. Clearlyfor most dropouts,lack of educationhas some significant,long-term
punitiveconsequences.Unfortunately, these consequencesare oftenso delayedas to have
littleimpacton currentbehavior.By the time these consequences are experiencedand
begin to impacton currentbehavior,it is usuallytoo late to make appropriateadaptive
resoonses.
In additionto the delayedpunitiveconsequencesof avoidance,there is usuallythe
compoundingeffectof positivereinforcementbecomingassociatedwith the avoidance
b e h a v i o r.O n c e o u t o f s c h o ol , the dropout frequentl ycomes i nto contact w i th new
contingencies of positivereinforcement that significantly
contributeto the maintenance of
the avoidancebehavior.In somecases,the positivereinforcement benign(e.9.,
is relatively
a job). In other cases,the positivereinforcementmay be destructive(e.9.,involvementin a
subculturesuch as the drug subcultureor a cult).

31 6 Mav 1991 BehavioralDisorders

 One pointmade by Sidmanthat is discussedrelativeto many areasof life but which has
particularrelevancefor educationand specialeducationis reflectedin the followingquote:
lf we regardpunishmentas the only way to manageothers,then we are
nol likelyto pay much attentionto desirableconduct.We automatically
adopt a destructiveapproachto behaviormanagement.We try to destroy
unwantedbehavior,overlookingthe likelihoodthat we could get rid of the
unwantedconductjust by constructing new behaviorto replaceit. (p. 213)
lmplicitin this quote is the guidingprincipleespousedby Sidman,that is, "Positive
reinforcement worksand coercionis dangerous."
Sidman argues that most reinforcementin educationis negativeand that the all too
inlrequentpositive reinforcementfound in educationalsettings is seldom contingenton
learning.He suggeststhat the firststep in "curing"the ills of educationis to teach educators
the techniquesneededto turn schoolsinto positivelyreinforcingenvironments.In order to
m a k e s c h o o l s re i n fo rc i n ge n v i ro nments,educatorsmust forsake,w i th possi bl yrare
exceptions,the use of coercivetechniquesfor behaviormanagementand teaching.
Not only must educatorsactivelyseek opportunitiesto providepositivereinforcement for
good behaviorand accomplishment, they must also give up the beliefthat learningmust be
a trial-and-error process.Errorsin learningmust be extinguishedand extinctionis ultimately
a coercive technique because it depends upon withholdingpositive reinforcement.The
solution,accordingto Sidman is not, of course,to also reinforceerrors but ratherto
minimizeerrorsthroughthe use of carefullyindividualized programing.Educatorsmust be
taughtthe skillsneededto provide"errorlesslearning"and providea teachingenvironment
supportiveof this approach.
The effectsof coerciveeducationalenvironmentson studentsare, followingSidman's
analysis,clearlyvisible in studentswho simply withdrawfrom the tasks of educationand
who may also exhibitsymptomsthat sometimeslead to labels such as neurosis,mental
illness,or emotionaldisturbance,or who engage in either aggressiveor destructive
countercontrol that sometimesleads to labelssuch as conductdisorder,delinquent,or
sociallymaladjusted.The effectsof coerciveeducationalenvironmentsare also evidentin
studentswho have literallyescapedfrom and "succeeded"in avoidingcoercionby dropping
ou t o f s c h o o l .l f S i d ma n ' sa n a l ysi si s accepted,an i ndi rectmeasureof educati onal
coercivenessfor a giventeacher,school,or systemwouldbe an indexbasedon the degree
of underachievement, referralsfor behaviorproblems,and dropoutsproduced.
For the potentialreaderof Sidman'sbook, it should be noted that his use of the terms
negativereinforcement and punishmentare a littleconfusing.At times, his use of negative
reinforcementreads as though he means punishment.One must keep in mind that both
employan aversivestimulusand it is the aversivenessthat is being referredto ratherthan
the actual operationbeing performedwith the stimulus.While it might be possibleto
marshal argumentsagainst some of Sidman'sanalysis,this book makes some very
impoftantcontributions towardunderstanding the causesof and possibleremediesfor many
problemsprevalentin educationincludingnot only problemsof studentsbut also of teachers
and administrators.Sidman'sbook providesa thoughtfuland useful attemptto apply the
principlesof behavioralscienceto the problemsof contemporarysociety,of whicheducation
is but one example.lt is recommendedreadingfor anyonewho wishesa new perspective
on socialproblems.

David B. Center, Professor of Special Education, College of Education, Georgia State

University, University Plaza, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-3083

BehavioralDisorders May 1991 317

Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further reproduction
prohibited without permission.