Behaviourism is primarily concerned with behaviour that can be observed, as opposed to the internal events, such as thinking and emotions. It is said that a person's environment plays a large role in determining their behaviour.
"give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and i'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist i might select- doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors" (john watson, behaviourism, 1930)
There is a large belief that behaviour can be measured, trained, and changed. All behaviour is acquired through conditioning, which can occur in many ways, such as interaction with the environment.
Classical conditioning |
A technique used in behavioral training where a naturally occurring stimulus is paired with a response. Then, a neutral stimulus is paired with the naturally occurring stimulus. Neutral stimulus then evokes response without presence of naturally occurring stimulus. Then known as conditioned stimulus and conditioned response.
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operant conditioning |
A method of learning that occurs through reinforcements and punishments. An association is made between a behavior and consequence for that specific behavior. When behavior is followed by a desirable consequence, behavior becomes more likely to occur again in future. Behaviors followed by negative outcomes become less likely to happen again in the future.
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There were many theorists and psychologists that took part in and influenced behaviourism over the years. Some of the most famous influences include: Ivan Pavlov, B.F. Skinner, John B. Watson, and Edward Thorndike.
Cognitive behavioural therapy has been proven to reduce relapse in juveniles and adults offenders, substance abusing and violent offenders, and probationers. A person's thoughts are typically the result of experience and behaviour can be influenced by these thoughts. Mark Lipsey examined effectiveness of various approaches for intervention with young offenders. He grouped evaluations into seven categories:
This research approach based on punishment seemed to increase criminal relapse, therapeutic approaches based on counselling, and skill building. They found that cognitive behavioural therapy considerably reduced relapse even among high-risk offenders. It can also help to restructure disoriented thinking and perception, which in turn changes a person's behaviour for the better.
Behaviorism relates to the idea of prison rehabilitation because it can be an effective way to help prisoners and become a better person from the idea of conditioning. It is of interest to the chosen school of thought because it can reduce the amount of time prisoners spend in rehabilitation (since it has been proven to be an effective and quicker method than some), which can reduce the amount of money that has to be put into a rehabilitation center. It can help prisoners gain a different attitude and want to do well, through the use of tokens and/or rewards. The idea of behaviorism can be used on a wider scale as well, with many different kinds of rehabilitation. It can be useful in treating misbehavior at an earlier stage in order to stop the behavior in its tracks. For example, an aggressive athlete in a rehabilitation center for anger management could have more than likely been treated earlier on in order to reduce the amount of time they spent in rehabilitation and reduce the amount of money they must spend on the athlete. If he had been treated earlier on with the behaviorism theory, through the use of positive consequences and conditioning through the use of the environment, he could have improved his anger earlier on in his life.