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Behavior Modification
The Best Crisis Intervention is Preventing a
Crisis
By Dr. Andrew Savicky
In response to increases
in the need for crisis intervention and the high cost for implementing
a crisis intervention team, alternatives are sought by many
in the field of corrections.
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Dr. Andrew
Savicky
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When an inmate must
be physically restrained, due to a crisis, the potential
for injury to the inmate -- as well as the correctional
officer -- increases dramatically. Clearly, there is a
need to have a crisis team for cell extraction and a means
to manage inmates with behavioral problems.
However, the literature
in the field of behavior modification abounds with examples
of how the environment can be manipulated to gain the
same end result without using force to control a crisis.
In short, the best crisis intervention is to prevent the
crisis from occurring by tactically changing how and what
we do.
Following is a brief
review of some effective proactive strategies that can
be utilized by supervisors and correctional officers to
prevent a crisis. Proactive strategies are those designed
to decrease the chances of unacceptable inmate behavior
over time.
Ecological Manipulations.
Unacceptable inmate behavior frequently occurs as a function
of the inmate's living, working and interacting environment.
Ecological manipulations involve planned changes in the
environment that result in inmates
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being less likely to engage in the unacceptable and problem behaviors.
Examples include changing the location in which
the inmate is housed or even changing the number and/or the quality
of the interactions with others.
Another approach is to change the way an inmate
is taught at the functional level and change the instructional
goals used with certain inmates who may have learning disabilities
or may be mentally retarded.
Yet other approach is to remove or reduce environmental
pollutants, such as noise and crowding, and to use common sense
approaches, such as deescalating. Having the correctional officer
speak softly and slowly can result in the reduction of yelling
by an inmate. The inmate will duplicate the modeled behavior of
the officer.
The goal is to place all of custody on the same
page, with tactics that work.
The success of ecological manipulations is based
on how well a correctional officer can obtain and process information
about an inmate. It is common for inmates to demonstrate unacceptable
problem behavior when others are disrespectful, make unreasonable
demands and interact with them in an undignified manner.
Everyone is fully aware who is the boss. However,
an ecological strategy would be to give the inmate the opportunity
to interact with correctional officers who ask rather than demand,
who talk rather than yell, who are respectful and treat the inmate
with dignity.
Remember, all of us are role models for future behavior
by inmates.
Positive Programs. This is an ongoing instructional
program designed to give the inmate greater skills and abilities.
This tactic will help to control or eliminate problem inmate behavior
in order to avoid a possible crisis in the future.
Positive programming teaches more effective and
socially acceptable ways of getting the inmate to have his or
her needs met -- without acting out or creating a crisis. Inmates
will learn the realities of the physical and interpersonal environments
in which they must act and interact.
The first emphasis of positive programming tactics
is to manage unacceptable problem behavior, such as aggression
or refusal to follow an order. The smart approach is to provide
a rich schedule of positive programming to develop an inmate's
functional communication, domestic, vocational, recreational,
social, community and coping skills. These are skills that will
make them better citizens when they leave prison and help them
better listen to correctional officers. In other words, we want
to raise them to a higher level, and not lower ourselves to their
level, so to speak.)
It is in this correctional environment that positive
efforts should be directed toward reducing the inmate's unacceptable
problem behavior. Theoretically, to the extent that the inmate
develops and exhibits a new list of daily living and coping skills,
these inmate problems should occur less and not require crisis
intervention.
Antecedent Control Strategies. Keep in mind that
the best crisis management method is not to have a crisis in the
first place. Most serious episodes can be avoided, but not if
we continue to make the same mistakes over and over again.
For example, everyone who knows "Inmate X"
knows that he is likely to become verbally abusive in crowded
situations. But custody keeps taking him into large waiting areas
during the busiest hours and is surprised when he becomes verbally
abusive. When asked why they took him there, they report, "He
was sitting quietly in his cell, and he needed to have an appointment
with the doctor, so we thought it was time to take him to the
waiting area."
They believed "the time was right." However,
time generally does not change anything that upsets someone. If
it bothers "Inmate X" now, it will bother him 10 hours
later as well. Yet, if "Inmate X" has not been taught
to tolerate crowds, noise or whatever the problem behavior, episodes
can be eliminated by avoiding the situation ahead of time. This
procedure is called a "B-4 strategy" -- what happens
before a problem happened.
Consider what would happen if there was no reason
to have a crisis? Eliminate the reasons, and the chance of a crisis
is significantly reduced. A "B-4 strategy" involves
the removal or elimination of events, objects or situations that
may "set off," "cue" or "set the state"
for unacceptable problem behaviors and crisis situations involving
an inmate.
Dr. Andrew Savicky is chief psychologist and director
of mental health for the New Jersey Department of Corrections.
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