Cognitive Behavior Treatment Of The General Population

Cognitive behavior treatment: The traditional method to reintegrate an offender into the general population usually takes constant direct supervision of the offender and the environment they live in. Behavioral psychologists have spent time and effort into researching ways that social learning connects to socially acceptable behavior. Many offenders in the system were arrested and placed due to not knowing the correct way to behave and act in the general population. Depending on the offenders past or current lifestyle, it may not be acceptable for him or her to act in accordance to how one should act due to the way peers look at the offender or the way the environment influences. Often the behavioral thinking patterns are set deep enough†¦show more content†¦The environment also provides the opportunity for practice and success (Gornik 2002). Eventually, as the offender is working their way through the entire process, he or she will continually be reinforced with positive benefits and will hopefully bui ld self-efficacy. This is where cognitive behavior therapy plays a large role in improving offender’s lifestyles. Cognitive behavior therapy programs operate with some common assumptions. Problematic behavior is mostly rooted in the ways of thinking that promote and support such behavior. For example, take a look at a person who has stolen property all his life. Due to that offenders corrupted thought process, he believes that the only way to obtain property is to take it with no one knowing or by force without any sort of regards to consequences. To change this problematic behavior one must change his or her beliefs, attitudes and modify the ways of thinking. Punitive methods of controlling behavior all too often reinforce modes of thinking that were responsible for the initial anti-social behavior (Gornik 2002). Authority helps to pinpoint rules and assists in reinforcing consequences while reminding and encouraging offenders to make their own decisions. As offenders learn to make conscious and deliberate life choices, they began to take