Training Description
This workshop reviews the scientific principles of operant conditioning and contingency management for enhancing rehabilitation outcomes and reducing criminal recidivism, illicit substance use, and other infractions among persons charged with criminal offenses. Participants will learn about common errors in behavior modification programs that can reduce their effectiveness, learn to avoid potential side effects that can make outcomes worse, and identify practical and low-cost strategies for intervening effectively with persons in community-based correctional programs. At the end of this training attendees will understand the basic techniques and essential parameters of operant conditioning for increasing desirable behaviors and reducing undesirable behaviors; be able to design effective positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and sanctioning regimens; and avoid potential side effects and pitfalls of behavioral techniques, such as learned helplessness, habituation, and complacency. Presented by one of the leading correctional scholars in North America, this comprehensive training is eligible for 3.5 valuable Continuing Education credits.
Trainer Biography
Douglas B. Marlowe, JD, PhD, is a Senior Scientific Consultant for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP), and a Senior Science & Policy Advisor for Alcohol Monitoring Systems. Previously, he was the Chief of Science, Law & Policy for NADCP, the Director of Law & Ethics Research at the Treatment Research Institute, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. A lawyer and clinical psychologist, Dr. Marlowe focuses on the impact of coercion in substance use disorder treatment, the effects of drug courts and other rehabilitation programs for persons with substance use disorders involved in the justice system, and behavioral treatments for persons with substance use disorders and criminal involvement. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and has received proficiency certification in the treatment of psychoactive substance use disorders from the APA College of Professional Psychology. Dr. Marlowe has published over 175 articles, monographs, books, and book chapters on topics of correctional rehabilitation, forensic psychology, and treatment of substance use disorders.
Learning Objectives
This training is designed to help you:
- Understand the basic techniques and essential parameters of operant conditioning for increasing desirable behaviors and reducing undesirable behaviors in criminal justice populations
- Learn to design effective positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and sanctioning regimens for persons involved in the criminal justice system
- Learn to avoid potential side effects and pitfalls of these techniques, such as learned helplessness, habituation, and complacency
- Understand when to select incentives, sanctions, or treatment adjustments in response to participants’ achievements or infractions in community corrections
- Learn to design sequential program phases that shape adaptive behavior and avoid overburdening participants