Punishment Procedures: Why Punishment Doesn't Produce Lasting Change
“The single most commonly used but least effective method for addressing undesirable behavior is to verbally scold and berate a student” (Alberto & Troutman, 2006). - CENTER ON THE DEVELOPING CHILD, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Punishment occurs when a response is followed immediately by a stimulus that decreases the future frequency of that or similar behavior. That means that punishment is about the behavior, NOT THE PERSON! Punishment should always be a last resort and used with reinforcement procedures that develop appropriate behaviors.
When administering punishment, deliver the punishment consistently every time the behavior occurs or it will continue. If a child thinks there may be times when they will get away with their behavior, they will take the risk and engage in it!
Punishment should be delivered calmly and only for the minimum duration and intensity to be effective. Neither low intensity nor long, drawn out punishments will develop appropriate behavior.
For example, time out is effective with just a few minutes of removal rather than longer durations. On the other hand, suspensions are not effective at changing behavior because the removal is not immediately following the behavior, the duration is too long, and the removal does not teach a child appropriate replacement behaviors. Read more tips and examples below!
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When punishment is removed or stopped, the effects are not permanent. Behavior will recover and even possibly exceed prior levels. (i.e. Mr. Smith kept putting Johnny in timeout because he was disturbing the instructional time. He finally started keeping quiet so Mr. Smith let him back into class. However, because the work was too difficult and he wasn’t taught how to ask for help or for a break, he wanted to immediately escape the task demand. Now his disruptive behavior is even louder and more frequent than before to ensure the task demand is removed.)
- Punishment procedures can cause undesirable emotional responses such as aggression or escape/avoidance behaviors. (i.e. Johnny knows his teacher, Mr. Smith puts him in time out every day so he started skipping class to avoid the punishment. At least this way he can roam the halls instead of sitting in the back of the classroom being embarrassed.)
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Doesn’t teach a replacement behavior to get their needs met. (i.e. Johnny has a hard time processing math problems. He doesn’t know how to ask for help in a way that’s not embarrassing so he keeps playing on his phone during class instead of attempting the work.)
- The person implementing the punishment may engage in the procedure for too long or too often because it removes the challenging behavior for a short time and relieves the stressful situation. (i.e. Mr. Smith sends Johnny out of the room every time he is disruptive because it becomes quiet and he can finally teach something in peace! Now Johnny misses class every day and keeps falling behind because he is never in class.)
- Other students may begin imitating the student's challenging behaviors. (i.e. Sarah sees that Johnny gets the teacher’s attention every time he refuses to listen during class. Sarah also wants the teacher's attention and since he isn’t calling on her when she raises her hand, she begins refusing to follow directions and comply, just like Johnny! Now she’s got Mr. Smith’s attention and she’s going to try and keep it.)
Behavior change only happens when we are consistent with reinforcing the appropriate replacement behavior!
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