APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS AND THE IMPRISONED ADULT FELON - PROJECT 1 - THE CELLBLOCK TOKEN ECONOMY

• NCJ Number: 16247
• Author(s): M A MILAN; L F WOOD; R L WILLIAMS; J G ROGERS; L R HAMPTON; J M MCKEE
• Date Published: 1974
• Length: 138 pages
• Grant Number(s): 21-01-73-38
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Labor
• Corporate Author: Rehabilitation Research Foundation
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A REPORT ON FIVE TOKEN ECONOMY EXPERIMENTS CONDUCTED AT THE MAXIMUM SECURITY DRAPER CORRECTIONAL CENTER IN ELMORE, ALABAMA, IN ORDER TO ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY OF EMPLOYING BEHAVIORAL TECHNIQUES IN CORRECTIONAL SETTINGS.

Abstract

A SAMPLE OF 56 INMATES PARTICIPATED IN THE CELLBLOCK TOKEN ECONOMY PROJECT. TOKENS GIVEN AS POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT FOR DESIRED BEHAVIOR CONSISTED OF POINTS THAT WERE ACQUIRED AND EXPENDED THROUGH A SIMULATED CHECKBOOK BANKING SYSTEM. THE TARGET BEHAVIORS WERE THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THE FIVE EXPERIMENTS WHICH COMPOSED THIS PROJECT. IN GENERAL, THEY CONSISTED OF SUCH THINGS AS THE COMPLETION OF FOUR ROUTINE MORNING ACTIVITIES, PERFORMANCE OF ASSIGNED MAINTENANCE TASKS, AND PARTICIPATION AND PERFORMANCE IN A REMEDIAL EDUCATION PROGRAM. FOR EACH EXPERIMENT, THE RESPONSE DEFINITIONS, EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS, AND RESULTS ARE DISCUSSED. THE MANNER IN WHICH INMATES EXPEND POINTS WAS EXAMINED, AS WAS THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE TOKEN ECONOMY ALTERED THE DAY-TO-DAY ROUTINE OF THE INMATE PARTICIPANTS.