Transcript 1K_Heck_Managing Participant Behaviors

Managing Participant Behavior in
Treatment Courts: Maximizing the
available tools
Cary Heck, Ph.D.
University of Wyoming
and Denver District Adult Drug court
Why people don’t just change?
• What causes deviant behavior?
• Risk and Need factors
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Social disorganization
Life course offenders
Sub-cultural norms
Mental health issues
Economic issues
Family and peers
Drugs and alcohol feel good
What about addiction?
• Dopamine, Serotonin, and the changes in the
brain
• NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES
• Tolerance
• Withdrawal Symptoms
• Substance Abuse is the same thing basically
without the physical symptoms of withdrawal.
Behavior Modification
• The goal of treatment court behavior
modification is to create positive, prosocial change that lasts.
• The targeted behavior goes beyond
substance abuse issues and includes
numerous other domains in the lives of
program participants.
• B.F. Skinner (rewards and sanctions)
• Common sense
Important Considerations for Incentives
and Sanctions
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Behavior can be taught
Celerity
Certainty
Appropriateness
– Ceiling Effects
– Habituation Effects
• Warnings?
• Ratios of Incentives to Sanctions
• Do we treat phase 3 people like phase 1
people?
Celerity
• Not a vegetable
• Behavior and consequence have to be linked in
time.
• The effects of the consequence diminish
exponentially with the passage of time.
• This is particularly true of children and those
with stunted emotional growth.
• Principle #1: Be speedy
• Principle #2: If you can’t be speedy be
honest.
Certainty
Part of the “Rational Calculus.”
Accountability
Response ratios
Drug testing policies (maintain testing levels
throughout program)
But life just isn’t certain!!!!
Principle #3: Use all the means available to you to
ensure that you are monitoring behavior.
Principle #4: Provide participants with clear
expectations.
Principle #5: Follow through!!!
Appropriateness
• NOT Severity
• Determine the level of sanction or incentive
needed to change behavior.
• Graduated sanctions and incentives.
• Do NOT “Make an example” of someone.
• Habituation Effects
• Ceiling Effects
• Principle #6: Make the sanction or incentive fit
the behavior you are trying to change or
reinforce.
Fair and Just
• Why do drug court sessions include the whole
group?
• The perception of fairness is important.
• Individualize the programmatic responses to the
extent possible.
• You have to get to know your participants.
• Do NOT be a source of discouragement.
• Principle #7: Be open with participants about
decisions you make to the extent possible.
• Principle #8: Try to be fair and don’t have
favorites.
Should we give warnings?
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Think about the benefits of warnings
Now think about the costs
Who really benefits from a warning?
What are we teaching with warnings?
Are they ever appropriate?
Desired Ratios and Why
• 3 or 4 Incentives to every Sanction seems
to provide the best motivational effects.
• What if they just won’t act right?
• Think about meanings of actions.
• Possible negative outcomes.
• Principle #9: Be liberal with incentives
and cautious with sanctions.
How do we implement the model?
• Rethink the chart.
• Brainstorm a list of available incentives and
sanctions.
• Keep that list on hand when discussing participant
behavior.
• Get to know your participants.
• Be open in court whenever possible.
• Use therapeutic responses when participants are
not responding to treatment interventions
• Principle #10: Be thoughtful and consistent so that
participants know what to expect.
Conclusion
• The science of Behavior Management is clear
about the benefits of a model of graduated
sanctions and incentives.
• A careful and complete supervision strategy
(including frequent and random drug testing)
is imperative for the model to be effective.
• This science has also been studied with drug
court and substance abusing populations.
• Thanks so much for your time.
References
• Marlowe & Fox (2013) Adult Drug Court Best
Practice Standards, Vol I. NADPC, Alexandria,
VA
• Burdon, Roll, Pendergrast, & Rawson (2001)
“Drug courts and contingency management.”
Journal of Drug Issues. 31(1) 73-90.
• Carey, Mackin, & Finigan (2012) “What Works?
The Ten Key Components of Drug Court:
Research-based best practices.” Drug Court
Review 8(1), 6-42.