Punishment

Description of the Strategy

Parents, teachers, and others have used punishment throughout history to manage behavior. Nonetheless, in spite of its pervasive and historical legacy as a management method, no topic evokes a stronger visceral response and greater controversy than the use of punishment. Indeed, images of abuse and mistreatment are likely to occur, especially in the current era of positive behavioral supports and treatments. Notwithstanding these negative images, the strategy from the perspective of behavior modification and behavior therapy refers to any one of a number of systematically applied methods that are used to decelerate or eliminate behaviors that are judged to be inappropriate in a particular situation. Accordingly, any systematically applied consequence that reduces the future occurrence of a behavior that ...