Social psychology of behavior modification: Problems of implementation in natural settings.

Discusses problems encountered by psychologists who have attempted to use behavior modification principles in applied settings, and illustrates these problems through the authors' experiences implementing a behavior modification system at a large state training school for male delinquent adolescents. Difficulties developed as a result of (a) institutional constraints causing frustrating setbacks or delays in implementing certain aspects of the program; (b) external pressures exercised by political, economic, or administrative forces which endorsed changes in conflict with behavior modification principles; (c) misunderstandings caused by inconsistencies in language and meanings used by behavior modifier psychologists and indigenous staff; (d) inconsistent reinforcement given by indigenous staff and created by peer pressure; (e) limited resources restricting certain aspects of a behavior modification program (e.g., behavior measurement); (f) labels used to suggest certain values (e.g., recreation, therapy, and education) which were upon occasion in conflict with the concept of positive reinforcement; (g) perceived inflexibility of behavior modifiers seeking to ensure program integrity; and (h) compromises necessary to remain in the applied setting. It is concluded that psychologists seeking to implement institutional change in applied settings must be aware of the theoretical limitations of behavior modification. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)