Discipline_Alternatives_To_Punishment

Discipline Alternatives To Punishment "Discipline Alternatives to Punishment" Introduction Discipline alternatives are the positive methods of procedure or practices which child and youth workers use to control or correct inappropriate behavior. There is sufficient evidence to indicate that punishment, one form of discipline, is not an effective technique to use with troubled youth (Krueger, 102). Punishment may provide immediate control in some situations, but over time, it usually leads to more severe behavior patterns than the ones the user was trying to correct. In other words, punishment reinforces poor self-images, and this often leads to more self-destructive behavior. Discipline alternatives, on the other hand, can be effective if used as part of an overall positive approach or treatment plan. Effective discipline alternatives improve children's self-images, and lead to more self-fulfilling behavior (Pearce, 1). Significance of Issue More than 125,000 of America's youth were in custody in nearly 3,500 public and private juvenile correctional facilities across the nation (Snyder). The majority of youth enter correctional facilities with a broad range of intense educational, mental health, medical, and social needs. Large numbers of incarcerated juveniles are marginally literate or illiterate and have experienced school failure and retention (Center on Crime, Communities, and discipline, child, youth, punishment, krueger, alternatives, children, behavior, troubled, group, example, adult, discipline, part, pain, effective, control, consequences, consequence, authority, after, activity, youths, work, time, social, should, school, lunch, adults, about, workers, treatment, psychological, power