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Achievement Place: experiments in self-government with pre-delinquents
D L Fixsen1, E L Phillips, M M Wolf
1University of Kansas.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
|April 1, 1973
Summary
Youths in a democratic self-government system at Achievement Place showed increased participation in rule-setting when given more responsibility. Peer reporting of rule violations varied based on who initiated trials, impacting participation and violation reporting.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Criminology
- Sociology
Background:
- Treatment programs for pre-delinquent youths often aim to develop democratic decision-making skills.
- Achievement Place utilizes a semi-self-government system for behavioral rule development and enforcement among youths.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of specific procedures in pre-delinquent youths' participation in a self-government system.
- To identify variables influencing democratic decision-making processes in a therapeutic setting.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted to examine youths' involvement in rule violation trials and reporting.
- Experiment I compared youths' participation in consequence setting versus teaching-parents setting consequences.
- Experiment II analyzed trial initiation responsibility and the impact of incentives on reporting.
Main Results:
- Youths participated more in consequence discussions when they held full responsibility for setting consequences.
- Youths reported more rule violations, including serious ones, than adults did.
- Teaching-parents initiating trials led to more trials, while incentivizing youths increased trial frequency but also reporting of trivial violations.
Conclusions:
- Democratic decision-making processes in pre-delinquent groups can be studied and optimized.
- Variables such as responsibility and incentives significantly affect participation and reporting within self-government systems.
- Findings offer insights for refining therapeutic interventions focused on behavioral and social skill development.
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