Treatment/Incarceration of Criminal Offenders

M.Sc. 2nd Semester

Department of Psychology Islamia College
Chapter # 9

Behavioral therapy easily translate into treatment and intervention for delinquents and criminals.
Unlike psychoanalysis it does not require trained therapeutic personnel or years of therapeutic
session. Behaviorists argued that criminal behavior is learned, it can be unlearn.

Behavioral intervention in forensic settings includes:

1. Aversive therapy
2. Classical conditioning
3. Operant conditioning

Aversive therapy: is a form of behavioral therapy in which aversive stimulus is paired with
undesirable behavior in order to reduce or eliminate that behavior. For example alcohol can ca be
conditioned to experience alcohol an unpleasant then pleasant. Nausea is unpleasant sensation
that most humans prefer to accused. Behavioral learning therapy suggests that associate certain
behavior with pleasant sensation, thus alcoholic learn to associate alcohol with good feelings, the
idea is that it is also possible to unlearn this association this association alcoholic could learn to
associate drinking alcohol with unpleasant experience like nausea. There are two types of
aversive therapy

I) Overt sensitization
II) Covert sensitization

Overt sensitization uses drugs to produce unpleasant symptoms when combined with unwanted
behavior, this is most commonly used to treat alcohol abuse.

Covert sensitization it does not induce any drug but instead relies on the client to focus on
unpleasant thoughts if the mind turns on undesirable behavior.
In another example a therapist might show pedophilic, a sexual image of a child at the same time
expressing them to a very unpleasant (rotting meat). After repeating this procedure over time, the
image produces revulsion & nausea rather sexual stimulation.

2. Classical Conditioning: Ivan Pavlov a Russian physiologist first identified classical

conditioning. Pavlov work focused on the relationship between stimulus responses. By pairing
unconditioned stimulus (meat) with neutral stimulus (bell), the eventually produce a conditioned
response (salivation) in dog. Although this technology is still sometimes used to treat criminals,
it also explain why people originally engage in crimes.

Application of classical conditioning for treatment

Alex is convicted of rape and brutal murder, the test that Alex undergoes is a perfect example of
the concept of classical conditioning. The doct0rs force an association to occur Alex’s mind that
violence leads to sickness. They force him to watch videos containing violence material and at
that he has given a shock that make him feel sick. The shock that the Alex receive is the
unconditioned stimulus while the sickness that he feel is the unconditioned response, over a
period of time and repeated viewing of these violent videos (neutral/conditioned stimulus) the
sickness that Alex feels become a condition response to the conditioned stimulus (violent
videos). After this association has been strony formed within the Alex brain he is condition to
stay away from violence because of association of sickness feeling, this lasts until Alex
experience extinction.

Extinction: it is the weakening and eventually disappearance of a conditioned response as a

result of the separated presentation of the conditioned stimulus without unconditioned stimulus.

Operant conditioning: according to this learning method behavior is followed by its

consequences , if the behavior is followed by pleasurable consequences then it tend to be
increases and occur more frequently and likely in the future, but when it is followed by negative
consequences then it tend to be decreases.

 Operant conditioning is applicable in numerous ways, it is applicable in criminal justice

system, in the criminal justice the law enforcement use it reinforcement and punishment
to encourage or discourage certain types of behaviors.
  It is also used in the correction process. Good behavior is often reinforced within
correctional institutions with positive and negative reinforcement.

Reinforcement:

1. Positive reinforcement: positive reinforcement works by presenting a motivating or

reinforcing stimulus to the person after the desirable behavior is performed, making
behavior more likely to occur in the future.
 Positive reinforcement may include a reward for good behavior such a comfort,
entertainment, or pleasant responsibility and trust.

For example an individual perform five tasks daily in the jail setting when the individual show
desirable behavior then we reduce his responsibility of performing five tasks and we give that
individual the responsibility of 3 tasks , that desirable behavior is increases & the individual
show it in the future .

2. Negative reinforcement: negative reinforcement occurs when a certain stimulus (usually

an aversive) is removed after a particular behavior is performed.

For example an individual perform five tasks daily in the jail setting now if he do not perform
these five tasks well , the we add two more tasks and the individual now have to perform 7 tasks
instead of 5 tasks. The two added tasks here acted as aversive stimulus. Now when the individual
show desirable behavior then we remove that aversive stimulus i-e the extra two tasks, and the
individual now again have to perform his previous five tasks.

Punishment

Punishment is another terminology used in operant conditioning in the correctional setting.

 Punishment is a process by which consequences immediately follow a behavior

which decreases the future frequency of that behavior.

Two types of punishment are:

1. Positive punishment: positive word indicates addition.

Presenting a negative consequences after an undesirable behavior is performed, making behavior

less likely to happen in the future.
Positive punishment may include placement in solitary confinement (separate imprisonment),
chaining of hands and feet or physical damage.

2. Negative punishment: negative word indicates subtraction

Negative punishment happens when a certain desired stimulus is removed after a particular
undesirable behavior is exhibited, for example the removal of personal items or prohibition
of to visiting.

Teaching and re-education

Researches indicates that the concept of incarceration as a form of punishment does not alter
criminal activity. Returning uneducated individuals to the community could be threat to
public safety & enhance the rate of recidivism. Sending educated individuals to the society
provide them a better understanding of the society.

Educational programs:

Educational and vocational programs are available at most correctional institutes.

Purpose;

 Purpose of these programs to rehabilitate the individuals so in order to reduce the rate
of recidivism.
 Educational programs consists of adult basic education (grade1-10).
 Educational programs address according to the needs
 Secondary level programs /education include college and university level programs
that are also provided to the individuals inside the jail setting.
 Not only the prisoners but their children are also provided education inside the jail.
 When individual is not interested in education then they are provided vocational
skills.
 Vocational skills for the individual’s include: plumbing, welding, and small engine
repairing.
 Prisoners are provided with job related skills training relevant to employment
opportunities available in the institution & communities.
Social skills training
The rationale for social skills training (SST) is that offenders have poor social skills that either
make them more likely to end up in situations where offending is possible (e.g. being unable to
resist peer pressure) or which tend to exacerbate bad situations (e.g. managing potentially
aggressive encounters poorly). Social skills training aims to equip offenders with micro-skills
(e.g. eye contact, and personal distance) and macro-skills (e.g. assertiveness and negotiation) that
allow them to avoid and deal more effectively with potential offending situations. There is no
fixed set of techniques involved, but most programs involve direct instruction, backed up by
observation of others and role playing, often in group treatment settings.
Three questions must be addressed when evaluating the impact of SST: (1) do the offenders learn
the skills? (2) Do the skills generalise beyond the training situation? (3) Does SST actually
reduce
reoffending? Spence and Marziller (1981) suggest that offenders do learn the relevant skills, but
that they may disappear in the longer term: skills were present after three months but not after
six.
Evidence for generalization is mixed. Goldstein et al (1981) found that generalization beyond the
training situation occurred in only around 20 per cent of cases, although Blackburn (1993)
suggests
that self-report data show a more positive picture. Hollin (1992) confirms that SST is generally
effective if assessed using measures of behaviour and cognition (i.e. looking at whether the
offenders have learned the relevant skills) but suggests that its impact on reoffending is less
clear.
Sarason (1978) found that SST was superior to not treatment but not necessarily superior to other
treatments: 31 per cent of a control group reoffended within five years, compared to only 15 per
cent of the treatment groups. Sarason suggests that it is the additional attention that offenders
receive that has the effect, not the learning of specific social skills. There are signs, however, that
SST may have a role to play in crime prevention: it can be used to equip adolescents with the
skills
to resist offending (Aiken et al, 1977).

Anger Management
Novaco (1975) suggests that some violent offences occur because offenders cannot deal

effectively

with their anger, which tends to be expressed in antisocial ways and displaced onto inappropriate

targets. In an anger management programme, cognitive behavioural techniques are used to help

offenders deal more effectively with their feelings of anger. The aim is to teach offenders to (1)

recognize their own feelings of anger; (2) control their angry behaviour; and (3) resolve conflict

inpositive ways. Ainsworth (2000) identifies three stages in most anger management

programmes:

• Cognitive preparation: offenders analyse their own patterns of anger: the types of situations

that

make them angry and the thinking processes that accompany their anger. They may identify

irrational thinking processes that lead to or sustain angry outbursts.

• Skills acquisition: the offenders learn skills to help them manage their anger. These might

include relaxation, avoidance, or social skills such as assertiveness and conflict resolution.

• Application practice: offenders apply their skills in a controlled and non-threatening

environment. This could include role-playing of angry situations with other offenders.

Anger management has been shown to be effective in a variety of contexts including marital

conflict,

But there have been relatively few studies of its effect on offending. Some results are promising.
Feindler et al (1984) found that anger management training led to improvements in self-control,
more effective problem solving and a reduction in offending in young men. Ainsworth (2000)
argues that it is effective but only if managed properly, given the right resources and targeted at
the right offenders (i.e. those whose offences originate in their ability to manage their own
anger). Howitt (2009) reiterates this, pointing out that some offenders act violently not out of
anger but in order to achieve specific goals. Such individuals are unlikely to benefit from anger
management, and there are circumstances under which treatment may be counterproductive. Rice
(1997) found that psychopaths given treatment were more likely to offend afterwards, possibly
because the skills they acquired raised their self-esteem and allowed them to manipulate others
more effectively