ABSTRACT
Behavior analysts, like all good citizens, are interested in promoting
the general welfare of our society. With our expertise in analyzing con-
tingencies of reinforcement, we have a particular interest in encourag-
ing the culture to make better use of the knowledge we have gained
over the past sixty years about the basic principles of behavior. All
around us we see other methods used to deal with problematic behav-
ior. Many of these methods are ineffective or counterproductive. The
prison system incarcerates the guilty and calls it “punishment,” but
there is no real evidence that putting people behind bars is actually
functional in reducing future incidents of the targeted behaviors.
There is evidence that so-called “boot camps” for delinquents are inef-
fective but they are politically popular and so persist in many commu-
nities. Schools operate primarily on the basis of aversive control (loss
of recess, detention, paddling, suspension), although we now have
nearly thirty years of data showing how positive reinforcement can be
used in the classroom to produce truly extraordinary performance
gains. Many autistic children, if given the opportunity for behavioral
treatment, can make great strides in their socialization and language
skills with a significant number joining the mainstream educational 190
