Joanne Capozzi Assistant Crown Attorney

Ministry of Attorney General Ontario Downtown Toronto Crown Attorneys’ Office

Joanne.Capozzi@ontario.ca

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Reflecting on what it is we are trying to achieve through “I” and “S”

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Incentives & Sanctions as Behaviour Modification

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Reinforcing positive behaviour and change Sanctioning behaviour that needs to be

discouraged or eliminated

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Bringing the benefits of behavioural change forward in

time by providing immediate rewards

Reinforce positive behaviour and change

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Discourage or eliminate undesirable behaviour

Bring the consequences of undesired behaviour forward in time by providing immediate consequences

Sanctions help us to effect change; they are not meant to

be overly punitive

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Proven effectiveness for promoting sustained behaviour change in drug abuse populations

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Either:

GIVE—a Reward (Positive Reinforcement)

OR TAKE–- a Punishment away (Negative Reinforcement)

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Praise and encouragement from the Judge/Team

Applause from the court team and participants

Early Leave from Court

Phase Advancement up to Graduation!

Graduation Certificates and Ceremonies for Phase

Advancement/Program Completion

Tangible rewards: Examples: toiletries; makeup; Gift Cards for items

or activities or services; hosiery; toys, etc!

Contingency Management Programs

Fish Bowl tickets/opportunities

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Praise, encouragement and genuine supportive comments are excellent

motivators:

“It (DTC) was the first time a Judge ever looked at me when they

spoke.”

Look for:

donations from the community

donations from businesses

fund raising opportunities

Bargains!

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Removal/Reduction of curfew

Decrease court appearances

Decrease probation contacts

Expunge record

Reduction/Removal of jail sentence

Reduction of term of probation

Charge dismissal

Delayed Sanction

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Target specific behaviours for reward:

Ask, what is the behaviour that needs targeting?

Attending treatment

Attending court

Providing urine screens

Providing clean urine screens

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EITHER: GIVE–- A Punishment,

OR:

TAKE –- A Reward Away (Response Cost)

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Judicial Reprimand Attending Court/Courthouse Early Verbal apologies to judge and group Essay writing Jury Box/Penalty Box for Court Session Community Service Hours Doubled Community Service Hours Custody for the Court Session House Arrest Bail revocation ( range of # of days ) Expulsion and Sentencing

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Increase court appearances Increase supervision Increase drug screening Delay phase advancement Increase time in program Return to Lower Phase Suspend privileges Limit privileges, eg. curfew Increase probationary period Return/Forfeit coupons/certificates

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Target specific behaviours for Sanctions—Identify

Behaviours which will garner a sanction:

Dishonesty

Non-attendance at any Treatment or Court Sessions

Late attendance at any Treatment or Court Sessions

Failure to provide Urine Sample for screening

Incurring new charges

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Incentives and Sanctions must be applied with certainty

Behaviours that garner Incentives or Sanctions must be monitored regularly

Every time participant engages in positive behaviour that garners a reward, reward that behaviour

Every time participant engages in negative behaviour, sanction that behaviour.

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Need implementation plan to ensure immediate, reliable, consistent application

Recording the behaviour/misbehaviour Recording the points/earnings Delivering the reward/sanction in a timely

manner Same application for all participants See: NDCI, Quality Improvement for Drug Courts, Motivational Incentives in Drug Courts, Monograph Series 9, Chapter 10, by Maxine L. Stitzer

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As much as possible, give the incentive or the sanction as close in time as possible to the event.

Effectiveness declines rapidly over time Problem is that there may inevitably be intervening

time between the behaviour and the next Court date

Deal with it soonest!

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Minimal, Moderate or Severe? For Incentives: Bonus! Low to Moderate work well! For Sanctions want to be in the Moderate Range + need to be able to increase or decrease the

Incentives and Sanctions accordingly

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Severe Sanctioning means the Court has no options left! And the danger is it leads to participants giving up.

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Low Sanctioning makes bad behaviour worse

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Procedural fairness: give participants an opportunity to be heard

Treat participants with respect and dignity; Punish the behaviour, not

the person Like people in like circumstances get the same treatment

Proportionality

See NDCI, Quality Improvement for Drug Courts: Monograph Series

9, Chapter 11, Application of Sanctions by Douglas B. Marlowe.

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Procedural Justice: Make sure the rules and range of sanctions are clearly understood in advance

advance notice of behaviours that trigger a sanction is

important; Define the behaviour and make sure it is objectively

measurable; Define the range of sanctions that can be imposed for

specific conduct in writing

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Short term goals = greater consequence

Long term goals = lesser consequence

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Punitive sanctions for wilful noncompliance = punishment for

misbehaviour

Therapeutic responses for insufficient progress in treatment =

treatment for dysfunction

Examples:

Attend withdrawal management centre (detox)

Attend residential treatment

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A toolbox for behaviour modification

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James Budd, Manager, Treatment Provider for Ottawa DTC for providing and inspiration for graphics

NDCI, Quality Improvement for Drug Courts,

Motivational Incentives in Drug Courts, Monograph Series 9, Chapter 10, by Maxine L. Stitzer

NDCI, Quality Improvement for Drug Courts:

Monograph Series 9, Chapter 11, Application of Sanctions by Douglas B. Marlowe.

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J.E. Lessenger & G.F. Roper (Eds.), “Drug courts: A new approach to treatment and rehabilitation” New York: Springer, Chapter 22, Strategies for Administering Rewards and Sanctions by Douglas B. Marlowe

NDCI, The Drug Court Judicial Benchbook,

Chapter 7, Applying Incentives and Sanctions by Douglas B. Marlowe

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