Improving Juvenile Justice Settings by Decreasing Coercion: One Lab’s Perspectives from Behind the Fence
ABA can run a juvenile hall without coercion—just teach youth coping skills and flood staff with praise.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Luna et al. (2022) describe years of work inside a juvenile justice facility.
They ran group and one-on-one ABA lessons for teens.
They also coached staff to give more praise and fewer orders.
The paper is a story, not an experiment, so no numbers are given.
What they found
The team saw less yelling, fewer restraints, and calmer living units.
Youth learned to ask for breaks instead of escalating.
Staff said they felt safer using praise and clear directions.
How this fits with other research
McDonald et al. (2024) scanned every behavior study in criminal justice and found almost none.
Luna’s story fills that gap by showing ABA can work behind the fence.
Henry et al. (2022) asked school staff about zero-tolerance rules.
Staff already knew ABA tools, but they were afraid to use them.
Leland et al. (2022) and Pavlacic et al. (2022) push restorative justice instead of punishment.
Luna uses behavioral skills training and group contingencies, not circles, yet the goal is the same: replace coercion with cooperation.
Gerhardt et al. (1991) once argued aversives could stay if tightly monitored.
Luna’s work shows you can drop aversives entirely and still keep order.
Why it matters
If you consult in a facility, copy Luna’s two-step plan.
First, teach youth simple replacement behaviors like requesting a break.
Second, train staff to give five positives for every correction.
Start small on one dorm, track reductions in restraints, then scale up.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
In this article, we outline an emerging role for applied behavior analysis in juvenile justice by summarizing recent publications from our lab and discussing our procedures through the lens of coercion proposed by Goltz (2020). In particular, we focus on individual and group interventions that target a range of behaviors emitted by adolescents in a residential treatment facility. In general, individual interventions involve teaching adolescents to (1) respond appropriately to staff, (2) tolerate nonpreferred environmental conditions, and (3) control problematic sexual arousal. Likewise, group interventions involve low-effort manipulations that decrease disruptive behavior and increase appropriate behavior in settings with numerous adolescents. Thereafter, we describe behavioral interventions for staff working in juvenile justice. These staff-focused interventions aim to increase staff-initiated, positive interactions with students in order to change subsequent student behavior. In addition, we review our recent endeavors to assess and conceptualize other service providers’ behavioral products (i.e., prescription practices) in a juvenile facility. Lastly, we discuss future directions of behavior-analytic intervention with juvenile-justice involved adolescents.
Perspectives on Behavior Science, 2022 · doi:10.1007/s40614-022-00325-2