Attitudes toward behavior modification. A comparison of prison, criminal justice, and other undergraduate populations.
Your audience's background shapes how they see behavior mod—address stigma and teach the real steps first.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Delamater et al. (1986) handed out attitude surveys to three groups: regular college students, criminal-justice majors, and adults in prison.
The survey asked how acceptable, ethical, and useful behavior-mod ideas seemed. It also checked how much each group knew about the actual steps.
What they found
Criminal-justice students and prisoners viewed behavior mod more harshly than other undergrads.
The harsher views were strongest when the method was aimed at already-stigmatized groups. Knowing the real steps helped a little, but stigma still won.
How this fits with other research
Cooper et al. (1990) later ran a prison skills program for mentally-ill inmates and saw gains, showing the method can work even where attitudes are poor. This extends the 1986 warning into real-world practice.
Foltin (1997) argued that behavior therapy empowers clients, directly pushing back against the "control" fear the 1986 survey uncovered. The two papers form a call-and-response: first the worry, then the rebuttal.
Hattier et al. (2011) used the same survey style on CBT therapists and found tiny attitude gaps between waves. Their neutral result hints that once people master the steps, background matters less—supporting the 1986 finding that accurate knowledge softens resistance.
Why it matters
Before you teach a procedure, learn what your listener already thinks. If you train prison staff, probation officers, or even skeptical parents, spend an extra minute on clear steps and show how the learner gains control, not loses it. A quick demo plus honest Q&A can cut stigma and boost buy-in.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Students from four distinct student populations were surveyed, including inmate students at a state prison, students at a private Christian liberal arts college, students at a large state university, and criminal justice students at that state university. Their attitudes toward behavior modification were measured by having them respond to a series of statements developed by Turkat, Harris, and Forehand (1979). The student groups differed in the extent to which they viewed behavior modification as appropriate or ethical with such target populations as prisoners, homosexuals, retarded individuals, normal children, and those with marital problems. It was suggested that the extent to which one views behavior modification as appropriate or ethical depends, at least in part, on the extent to which the proposed target group is stigmatized by one's particular culture. Furthermore, it was quantitatively verified that the overall favorability of one's views regarding behavior modification depends, in part, on the accuracy of one's perceptions regarding what constitutes valid procedures.
Behavior modification, 1986 · doi:10.1177/01454455860104004