{"id":1365,"date":"2015-04-22T16:19:14","date_gmt":"2015-04-22T16:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/?p=1365"},"modified":"2015-05-12T18:07:15","modified_gmt":"2015-05-12T18:07:15","slug":"response-to-a-facebook-post-bullies-and-behavior-analysts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/?p=1365","title":{"rendered":"Response to a Facebook post: Bullies and Behavior Analysts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"img_Little-Bullies-Boy\"<\/a><\/span>Recently a person posted on Facebook a wish that all children be trained with “positive” methods. The specific Facebook page is run by the largest professional organization of behavior an<\/span>alysts. Comments of that ilk are common along with grandiose promises of behavior analysis as the tool to save the world. I think not. Here’s my reply to that wishful thinking.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The Correct Use of Behavior Analytic Terminology:<\/strong>
\nAccording to the foundational definitions of behavior analysis, “positive” methods and “negative” methods have fundamentally opposite but symmetrical effects on behavior. If we apply “positive-only” methods to all children it would logically limit the effectiveness of the application. “Positive” methods cannot immediately stop or inhibit behavior, by definition. The logical progression of a “positive only” behavior program is the inability to stop behavior – any behavior.<\/span><\/p>\n

The thorn on the rose of current cultural norms is that humans have instinctive behaviors that are problematic if not inhibited. Hitting and biting come to mind. Infants are not taught to ball their fists and strike things. They are not taught to bite. They are not taught to take things from others. These behaviors occur in all humans and are developmental. Once displayed, they are influenced by external contingencies. If the child benefits (a positive consequence) from taking another child’s toys the behavior will increase in likelihood and can become a ruling factor in the child’s life. That is positive reinforcement \"img_Little-Bullies-Boy\"<\/a>at work. Theft and robbery are behaviors generated by “positive” influences on behavior. Behavior analysts do not acknowledge that positive reinforcement is the process that strengthens any behavior that is perceived as desired or beneficial from the perspective of the “reinforced”, regardless of its societal value. People who become domineering because of the reinforcing effects of their domination are everywhere. We call them bullies or if adults, thugs.\u00a0 The types of behaviors that create a bully must be inhibited for a human to learn to live in society – but \"53ee25f082508.preview-620\"<\/a>not totally inhibited. The human must learn when the behavior is appropriate\"Bloody_face_shock_by_BlueTigressSto\" and when it is not. EG: Violence in the protection of innocents or self is rational and ethical. Violence to take from the weak is evil. The current problem with bullying shows how a failure to use “negative” methods can leave innocent people in harm’s way. The bully is protected because of all the “harmful” side-effects of punishment. The innocent is left twisting in the wind because society panders to “positive” methods that cannot inhibit the bullying. The same unethical behaviors that make and perpetuate bullying are ethical if used to suppress the bully.<\/p>\n

For those afflicted with severe mental illness the problem is compounded. As “positive” methods cannot stop behavior, people in treatment facilities hurt themselves and their care-givers. Their violence is unchecked. Those in charge of their care are not allowed to use the behavioral effect known to stop behavior – because of all the “harmful” side-effects. This leaves the primary effects of a violent human to flourish and be a constant danger to the patient and the care-givers. This is a quote from a private communication I received from a BCBA in current practice.<\/p>\n

“Here in my current position, I often struggle with years and years of ‘reinforcement’ procedures that still have my students breaking their own noses and requiring 2-person holds \u2013 often on a daily basis, and an absolute resistance to even discussing the possibility of using a punishment procedure.”\"restraints-callout-460-300x200\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I don’t think she was making that up. The picture on the right is a cleaned up version of the reality. You will note the absence of blood from the broken nose, spittle, saliva, and the incredible sounds that come out of human mouths tormented by endless restraint for a behavior they cannot control. This raises the question if there is a better way to do it as “positive” methods have no influence on this kind of behavior – and everyone knows it. Here is a quote from Nate Azrin, PhD. His credentials are as impeccable as anyone within behavior analysis.<\/p>\n

“Providing negative consequences is the fastest, most effective means of eliminating unwanted behavior. Far faster than developing stimulus control or teaching an alternate behavior. ” (Personal communication)<\/p>\n

At the upcoming ABAI conference there will be no presentations about the skilled, rational, ethical, practical use of “negative” ways to inhibit behavior. That is not a fluke. There is no text, instructor, course, certification or credential that would qualify a behavior analyst to use “negative” ways to stop abusive behavior. They do not study it. They oppose it. If someone brings up the logical contradiction of behaviorists ignoring the most powerful primary tool for stopping unacceptable and dangerous behavior because of lesser, side-effects, that person will be strongly opposed and\/or attacked. Think about this for a moment. The people who oppose punishment use it against those who disagree with them.<\/span>\u00a0 The BCBA who wrote the quote above knows that if she pushes discussions of punishment she will ironically suffer ‘negative’ career consequences from her supervisors and colleagues.<\/p>\n

Weasel in the Henhouse:<\/strong>
\nThe defense of positive methods leads to some interesting evasions because of obvious contradictions. They claim that they cannot use “negative” means of stopping behavior but routinely use negative means to restrain people but do not provide treatment that will influence future behavior. Meaning the violence and restraint becomes a permanent factor in the person’s life. The restraint does not cause a diminution in the “rate of response” – the primary concept of behavior analysis. The process of restraint often causes physical damage to the individual or those doing the restraining. Behavior analysts refine restraint but not therapy that would reduce the need for it. In most cases they simply strap the person into protective gear and contraptions that limit the damage – but doesn’t stop the behavior. On a behavior practitioner Facebook page recently, these two comments were on the same page with an advertisement for a restraint seminar.<\/p>\n

“Hi, I just got a teen client who is highly aggressive and tears at skin (mostly arms, but also necks) with his nails. Does anyone have recommendations for a place to purchase protective equipment?”<\/p>\n

“Thanks for accepting me into the group. Looking for suggestions for a client (non-verbal) teen who self abuses (slaps\/hits himself in the head causing bruises). Does anyone have any interpositioning techniques Less restrictive than helmets. He hits himself even more when we use interpositioning boards and I’m clueless about what else to try.”<\/p>\n

Where is the “positive” solution to these problems? Why do trained behavior analysts need to get protective gear for people if applied behavior analysis is the best tool for behavioral treatment and care?<\/p>\n

“They won’t let us use the most effective tools.”<\/strong>
\nAnother disingenuous defense of positive methods is that the public will not allow it and many states have outlawed the use of aversive control in state-run facilities. This is disingenuous because behavior analysts helped make those cultural changes. According to the Association for Behavior Analysis International, their founder, spent a career promoting positive methods and conversely opposing negative methods.<\/p>\n

“Throughout his career, Skinner opposed the use of all forms of punishment; he advocated positive ways of changing behavior. ”<\/p>\n

If you want to know who helped create the bias toward positive solutions you need look no further. To claim to have an objective view of behavior while attempting to create a biased ideology is best described by the word weasel. The effect on society is devastating. Brutes rule while the innocent suffer. Animals and humans live in life-long struggle, pain and discomfort because effective treatment is banned. Their violence is met by violence in the form of “restraint” if they are in a treatment facility and ignored if they are on the street. The question comes down to this – why do you love the bully but hate the victim? The Hebrew Bible speaks to this issue. “Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.” (The anti-punishment ideologue will instantly read this to mean that only the rod is used to teach a child – an illogical conclusion. The necessity of using “negative” means to inhibit anti-social behavior does not imply using only that tool for all things. It merely points to the need to inhibit anti-social behaviors. Logically, this form of punishment is self limiting – once the anti-social behavior is gone there is no purpose to using the “rod.” A person who applies aversive control other than than to stop bad behavior would logically be guilty of abuse and would be punished by society.)
\n
\n<\/span> If my criticism of favoring bullies seems harsh it is merely because protecting the bully is not acknowledged in context.\u00a0 The bully punishes people but may not be punished. If you do not agree with that conclusion you are still morally obligated to find out what it takes to protect the innocent and discover how to do it correctly. Trust me, “positive” solutions are important in life but cannot control previously reinforced or innate violence. The real answer lies with developing methods that regardless of polarity improve the lives of those who need help and protection. Make up your mind – the bullies and innocents are waiting for your response.<\/p>\n

Note: In 1995 I received the coveted Mass Media Award from the Association for Behavior Analysis International. I was the second recipient of the award and it was unsolicited. My point in mentioning that is that I know the language of behavior analysis at a level that allows me to present at their conferences, speak at university psychology departments and teach as an associate professor at a major university. (ASU) I know the literature of their discipline and can cite references that confirm the points I made here. If you are further interested in this topic, I have about 20 blog posts covering this problem in greater depth.
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Recently a person posted on Facebook a wish that all children be trained with “positive” methods. The specific Facebook page is run by the largest professional organization of behavior analysts. Comments of that ilk are common along with grandiose promises of behavior analysis as the tool to save the world. I think not. Here’s my reply to that wishful thinking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behavior-modification-and-training","category-ethical-issues","category-science-behavior-and-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1365"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1448,"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1365\/revisions\/1448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}