A Behavioral Modification Proposal for U.S. Prison

[McGyver]

Much has been written within psychology that the personality traits of an individual are completed and arguably solidified by the age of 12 years. Having said that, I ponder over the rehabilitative objective of the U.S. prison system. A majority of prisoners actually come out worse than when they entered. There's plenty of weight lifting, billiards, TV, sharing of crime skills, racial profiling, and fighting. I've was personally exposed to the behavioral mod program of 12 years of Catholic education, and I'm not a big fan of negative reinforcement. My best results came during 10 years of coaching youth sports. I honed my own unique teaching and motivational method by observing many other coaches. It is imperitive that you earn the TRUST of the individual, and be clear on objectives. Setting aside neurological disorders and learning disabilities, which must be separately addressed, I sought each kid's inquisitive "button" for learning and self esteem to get their cooperation. Yes, abuse and learned bad habits over time make behavioral mod more difficult, but varying degrees of rehab are obtainable. Probably the biggest obstacle is ascertaining and treating underlying neurological dysfunction. For the U.S. prison system, I would propose my above coaching model along with a fairly rigid structure as in the Catholic school model. The emphasis should be on growth, NOT on maintaining control. All amentities and such that do not lend themselves to personal and edicational growth should be removed. A little hardship such as cold water showers, structured studies, fewer amenties and fun time, and more self discipline could go a long way in learning new behaviors. I have great personal experience with self discipline and relearning following a 1992 brain injury and rehab. Read some of my challenging experiences, methods, and findings at www.diaceph.com. I learned to NEVER give up. Perhaps we shouldn't give up on prison inmates either.

[orbsycli]

great thread, i will have to check out your website.
i agree with you about all of that, and YES! never EVER give up.

[Fishteacher73]

The largest problem with the US prison system is that it is neither a negative reinforcement (ie deterrent to crime) nor a rehabilitive institution. Its a bad mix of the two and totally ineffective as either.

[lindagarrette]

Originally Posted by Fishteacher73

The largest problem with the US prison system is that it is neither a negative reinforcement (ie deterrent to crime) nor a rehabilitive institution. Its a bad mix of the two and totally ineffective as either.

It is my impression mostly from books and films that prisons are primarily for the purpose of keeping criminals out of circulation among the rest of society. Any other function is just humanitarian. It is too costly for us to rehabilitate most people who have been conditioned to disregard the law.

[UncleAl]

Perhaps we shouldn't give up on prison inmates either.

There is only ONE prison in America that works - big, cheap to run, almost zero recidivism rate. Maricopa County, AZ Sheriff Joe Arpaio brilliantly solved a problem that has plagued America for 200 years. He didn't need a building filled with scam artist PhD psychologists to do it, either, or a big budget.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Arpaio

Google
"Joe Arpaio" 18.700 hits

What is his secret? Military standards for food and clothing. Treating criminals like criminals. Intense education and drug addiction intervention. The whole package costs about 10% as much per prisoner as any other prison in the country. And it works. it's hard to argue against that last point - though every social activist in t he world is screaming in indignation. Exercise of personal responsibility would put them all out of work.