Expert: Carl Fuglein - 2/2/2002

Question
What are the advantages of punishing bad behaviour as opposed to learning by reinforcement of good behaviour?

Thanks

Answer
Hi again,

You have asked some very tough questions.

Punishing bad behavior rarely works.  Taken at a simplistic view - if you constantly hit a child when they do wrong, all they learn is that they can do that wrong to get your attention, and, in turn, have attention paid to them, even if it IS painful.  A basic instinct in all humans is that they want to be loved - if they grow up and are only punished, and never rewarded, they will never learn what real love is, and they will substitute bad behavior, because it gets them attention - i.e., love.

Our prison system has become a teaching ground for criminals rather than the other way around - criminals get caught, they go to jail, they learn more criminal behavior, and they repeat it when they get out. Prisons should try to rehabilitate, and some do, but mostly they don't.  What I am personally in favor of is more programs like boot camp programs for young offenders - they are are rewarded for doing well and given something to work towards, even if it is only freedom.

Positive reinforcement works much better.  If you praise a child when they do good, they will want to do more good, because, just like the punishment, they crave the attention.  I'm a supervisor - I get much more work out of employees when I praise them for doing good rather than fuss at them for doing wrong.  There is a management philosphy called - MBWA - Manage by walking around and catching your employees doing something right.

If you don't believe that positive reinforcement is good - try training a dog by hitting him when he does wrong, and ignoring him when he does good.  He will continue the bad behavior only because he wants the attention.  Positive reinforcement by giving treats, petting, making a fool of yourself (say "Him's a good boy, yes him is", while furiously scratching his ears) works wonders with dogs and other trainable animals.  My dog will come up to me and immediately sit down and shake hands on the off chance he might get a treat, but more so because I will pet him and talk to him when he does it - only because I trained him that way.

I hope you had an opportunity to watch First Monday last night - the new TV show about the Supreme Court - last night's show was about a 3 strike law.

hope I've helped.

carl