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| Applications of Behavioral Analysis: Historical Review of Three Societal Problems |
| Monday, May 31, 2004 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| Beacon H |
| Area: CSE/CBM; Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Judy G. Blumenthal (Association for Behavior Change) |
| Discussant: Donald K. Pumroy (University of Maryland) |
| Abstract: . |
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| Parent Licensing and Child Abuse: Thirty Years of Research and Debate |
| ROGER W. MCINTIRE (University of Maryland) |
| Abstract: In the October 1973 issue of Psychology Today, an article by this presenter stimulated more letters (385) to the magazine's editors than any other article before or since. The article presented the notion that parents take a test and obtain a license before having children. At first the majority of letters expressed outrage at yet another interference by government. However, the majority of letters in the weeks that followed became more positive to the notion after a series of news stories reported excessive child abuse in variety of circumstances. This presentation reviews the recent research concerning parenting techniques and strategies in child rearing. Survey statistics that describe contemporary child rearing practices are reviewed. While the research identifies many effective parenting approaches, the survey information shows that useful techniques often go unused. Census data presented supports the relationship of family quality and parenting skills to frequencies of societal problems in sections of the population. In addition, a review of recent changes in the political climate and the growing concern for family quality shows a renewed acceptance for reforms in child rearing responsibilities. |
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| TV Violence, an Intruder in the Home: Thirty Years of Research |
| LEOPOLD O. WALDER (Behavior Service Consultants, Inc.) |
| Abstract: In the early 1970s this presenter, as part of a team of researchers, published the first empirical data showing the long-term effects of watching the more-violent TV programs by a normal, sizable group of eight-year-old children. The data were analyzed to test whether (a) children watched the more-violent TV programs because those children were more aggressive or (b) children became more aggressive as a result of their watching the more-violent TV programs. Our data supported the hypothesis that watching more violent TV programs increased the aggressiveness of these eight-year-old children. It appears that certain children are more susceptible to the effects of watching the more-violent TV programs and also that there is intergenerational consistency in level of aggressiveness. Subsequent studies of children done in other parts of this country, and in a variety of other countries, showed essentially the same results and will be presented. Also the struggle of the TV industry with the possible meaning of these results will be discussed. These findings have important implications for child rearing, for freedom of speech issues, for ethical business practices by the public media industry, for behavior theory, for public health and for a peaceable society. |
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| The Great Fraud of "Biological Psychiatry" |
| W. JOSEPH WYATT (Marshall University) |
| Abstract: The notion that the majority of mental and behavioral disorders are caused by chemical imbalances, genetic abnormalities or other biological phenomena is not supported by empirical evidence. This paper will behaviorally analyze the variables that gave rise to the biological causation “revolution.” For example, during the decade of the 1970s the percentage of medical school graduates choosing psychiatry dropped by more than half. At the same time, organized psychiatry was becoming increasingly concerned about the influx of psychologists, counselors and others into the mental health field. As a guild, psychiatry's response was to wrap itself tightly in the white cloak of medical respectability. One way to accomplish that was to conceptualize greater numbers of problem behaviors as biological in their origins, although there is scant evidence to support such a move. The pharmaceutical and insurance industries played roles in this cultural/rhetorical transformation as well. |
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