Focused Behavioral Intervention
3. Behaviorists assert that interventions should focus, when possible, in reinforcing rather than punishing behaviors. Why is this? Think about client populations such as substance abusers or aggressive children. How can social workers develop interventions that reinforce certain client behaviors while extinguishing others?
Punishing behaviors can be alienating and result in a loss of a practitioner’s perceived reinforcing behavior. People naturally prefer seeking rewards over avoiding punishment. Also, an over-reliance on punishment can lead to an increase in problem behavior.
An operant behavioral intervention reinforces certain client behaviors and extinguishes others. An example would be of a parent praising a child for playing well with her brother, while punishing hitting or ignoring a temper tantrum. …show more content…
4.
Recall any clients you have worked with or observed in the past in the context of the five domains of behavior analysis. How would your client’s responses to the various questions have helped you to devise a focused behavioral
intervention?
A client’s responses to a Functional Behavioral Analysis (FBI) can define a client’s problem behavior, identify the environmental conditions that maintain the behavior and describe the consequences of the problem behavior. This type of questioning is critical to developing a behavioral intervention. Pinpointing the antecedents (triggers or cues) and the consequences (reinforcers) of a behavior are key to understanding a client’s issues.
If I have a client that uses methamphetamine, knowing how often she uses isn’t sufficient. I need to know if she uses alone or if she has friends that she uses with. If she uses socially, are these people family, long-term friends, or are they drug buddies? Does she often use at her home or does she go elsewhere? Does she use on the weekend to party, or does she use as a response to stressors? Does she even see her use as a problem? If so, what have been some of the negative effects of her use? How is her usage affecting her relationships, her health, her ability to earn a living? These answers are going to be what molds the intervention.
Punishing behaviors can be alienating and result in a loss of a practitioner’s perceived reinforcing behavior. People naturally prefer seeking rewards over avoiding punishment. Also, an over-reliance on punishment can lead to an increase in problem behavior.
An operant behavioral intervention reinforces certain client behaviors and extinguishes others. An example would be of a parent praising a child for playing well with her brother, while punishing hitting or ignoring a temper tantrum. …show more content…
4.
Recall any clients you have worked with or observed in the past in the context of the five domains of behavior analysis. How would your client’s responses to the various questions have helped you to devise a focused behavioral
intervention?
A client’s responses to a Functional Behavioral Analysis (FBI) can define a client’s problem behavior, identify the environmental conditions that maintain the behavior and describe the consequences of the problem behavior. This type of questioning is critical to developing a behavioral intervention. Pinpointing the antecedents (triggers or cues) and the consequences (reinforcers) of a behavior are key to understanding a client’s issues.
If I have a client that uses methamphetamine, knowing how often she uses isn’t sufficient. I need to know if she uses alone or if she has friends that she uses with. If she uses socially, are these people family, long-term friends, or are they drug buddies? Does she often use at her home or does she go elsewhere? Does she use on the weekend to party, or does she use as a response to stressors? Does she even see her use as a problem? If so, what have been some of the negative effects of her use? How is her usage affecting her relationships, her health, her ability to earn a living? These answers are going to be what molds the intervention.