NCJ Number
79030
Date Published
1978
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Problems encountered in the replication of a successful token economy program for juvenile delinquents are discussed.
Abstract
Achievement Place, a community-based family-style treatment home for delinquent youths, was designed to teach the residents basic skills--social, academic, self-help, and prevocational--that would prepare them to live normally. The program was based on a token economy system of reinforcement. The boys received points each time they completed a task, and the points could be exchanged for desired items or privileges. The program produced significant changes in the skills of the six to eight boys who lived in the home with two professional teaching-parents. Controlled studies indicated that it was a usable model for almost any community. The first attempt to replicate the model in another community, however, had problems. The problems derived from the belief that the token economy system in itself produced the behavioral change. The replication attempt revealed that the heart of the model's initial success had been the teaching, social-interaction component of residential life. The manner in which the teaching-parents implemented the token economy system in interaction with the residents proved to determine the success or failure of the program. Another important component of success was found to be the establishment of communication between the teaching-parents and the home's board of directors, as well as with other community agencies. Training the teaching-parents in interaction skills along with the techniques for operating the token economy helped to turn the program in a positive direction. Details of the program components are described, and comparative achievement data on residents are provided.