What are some negative side effects of punishment?
Show Punishment & Consequences......Ahhhh. So much can be said about these two concepts. Unfortunately much of what is said or understood is incorrect, outdated, or just wrong. Punishment may be viewed as a dirty word, when in reality our behavior is "punished" daily by variables or events outside of our control and it is how we learn. Anyone who has regular contact with children should have a basic understanding of reinforcement and punishment, but especially if you work within the field of ABA. This is helpful and vital knowledge to have, and can change the way you teach. So lets jump in! First, here's a definition: Punishment- Punishment has occurred when a response is followed immediately by a stimulus change that decreases the future frequency of similar responses (Cooper & Heron, 2007, Applied Behavior Analysis). Sound confusing?? It's really not. Simplified definition: Punishment is part of learning. Every behavior has a consequence to that behavior. Something good
happens, something bad happens, or nothing happens (in ABA speak, even if "nothing" happens after the behavior that is still a consequence). Punishment is a necessary tool so that we can learn to avoid things, or not do things at all. If we didn't learn from consequences it would impact our lives in a negative way. Something is labeled a punisher only if it made the behavior go down in the future. So if a teacher sends a student to Time Out every day for acting up in class, and after a week the behavior has gone up then Time Out is not a punisher. Most educators intend Time Out to be punishing, but it is what happens to the target behavior that determines if punishment has occured, and not our intentions. Punishment has gotten a bad rep and most people think of it as a negative thing intended to cause harm or hurt. That's just not true. Here is a helpful chart (I just love visuals)-
So based on what most people think about the word "punishment", which one sounds worse- positive punishment or negative punishment? Negative punishment sounds worse. This is why its important to understand what these concepts actually mean, because doing something "bad" is what most people think of when they hear the word "punishment". In actuality, positive punishment is the one you want to avoid, which includes things like spankings, electric shock, restraint, or aversives. Professionals in the field of ABA are ethically required to select punishment interventions carefully, judiciously, and to have parent/client consent. Punishment techniques are often only added to a behavior plan after several other options have proven unsuccessful, and it will likely be a form of negative punishment (the client loses access to something), such as Response Cost. Punishment is a learning tool, just as reinforcement is. When
implemented ethically and effectively, punishment can bring about swift change in behavior. *(For anyone interested in the history of ABA and
punishment see: Life Magazine article, 1965 and read up on the recent ban of electric shock in the United States. We must learn from our history, even when it is painful to do so, in order to move forward and do better)
These are all evidence based forms of punishment that may be a necessary component to a behavior plan. Now I must mention, whenever you are implementing a punishment procedure it is imperative
that you think of the behavior plan as a coin. On one side of the coin you have the punishment procedure. If you flip that coin, you must have a schedule of reinforcement so that client has a way to contact a reward. Otherwise you are setting them up for a lose- lose situation, because they get nothing for good behavior and something for bad behavior. That "something" may prove more important than the "nothing" over time. So finally, lets address "The Ugly" of Punishment. If done incorrectly, unethically, or without adequate supervision by a qualified BCBA, punishment will have negative side effects or could even be harmful to the client/learner/student. Here are a few side effects of punishment that everyone should know about:
Please remember: punishment on its own does not teach anything. Yes, you may reduce or eliminate challenging behavior but you need to also teach what to do instead of the inappropriate behavior. Otherwise the learner could just replace the behavior you didn't like with another behavior that you really won't like. It is important to teach what TO do, not just tell someone to stop doing something. *Recommend Reading- What are examples of negative punishments?Negative Punishment Examples. Taking away a boy's recess privilege to stop his disruption.. Giving the driver a parking ticket (taking away money) to stop his illegal parking.. A child's screen time is cut to stop his tantrum.. Taking away a teenager's phone to stop the bad attitude.. What are two possible side effects of punishment?Side Effects of Punishment. Mutual escalation (or) everybody gets more & more angry.. Greatly reduces time spent teaching & program implementation.. Increased aggression by the child towards 'safe' targets.. 'Countercontrol'… or punishing the punisher.. What problems can result from punishment?Punishment could ruin our relationships with animals, cause anxiety, aggressive behaviour, or apathy – and it easily transforms into abuse.
What are the effects of punishment on behavior?Remember that reinforcement, even when it is negative, always increases a behavior. In contrast, punishment always decreases a behavior. In positive punishment, you add an undesirable stimulus to decrease a behavior. An example of positive punishment is scolding a student to get the student to stop texting in class.
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