Week 8

1. Explain the new low-rate behavior program to your child. 2. List the four things to remember when praising. A. _______________________________________________________________________________________ B. _______________________________________________________________________________________ C. _______________________________________________________________________________________ D. _______________________________________________________________________________________

Parent Management Training SESSION 8: Low-Rate Behaviors

Copyright 2005 Oxford University Press

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SESSION 8 Chart I Low-Rate Behaviors

Stealing and shoplifting Firesetting and matchplay Destroying property Running away Physical attack Disobeying curfews and wandering Alcohol and drug use Inappropriate sex activity (early, promiscuous, inappropriate comments and/or gestures) Truancy Lying Playing with weapons (guns or knives)

Parent Management Training SESSION 8: Low-Rate Behaviors

Copyright 2005 Oxford University Press

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SESSION 8 Chart II Low-Rate Rules

1. Be sure you can observe (strongly suspect) the behavior you want stopped. 2. Select a chore that is tedious, not something you would like him to do or that he would like to do on a regular basis. 3. Stay calm. 4. Before using a low-rate chore, explain to the child and role-play, if he will cooperate. 5. Assign the chore immediately, based on evidence or strong suspicion. 6. Dont threaten the chore; give it right away. 7. Dont debate or argue. Tell your child what he did wrong (or suspect he did wrong) and calmly give him the chore. 8. If he wont do the chore, calmly tell him you wont be able to start the time until he starts the chore. 9. If he still wont go, give him a choice of either doing the chore or losing a privilege. 10. If the child starts the chore but is angry, out of control, or purposely doing a terrible job, calmly stop the chore and take away the privilege. 11. Praise your child once he begins the chore and while hes doing the chore. 12. Continue to praise the positive opposite of the problem behavior.

Parent Management Training SESSION 8: Low-Rate Behaviors

Copyright 2005 Oxford University Press

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SESSION 8 Chart III Low-Rate Behavior Worksheet

Program for __________________________________________________________________________________ 1. ______________________________ is to be dened as: ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Low-rate behaviors happen no more than once a week. If any of these behaviors happens more often than that, then a positive reinforcement program should be set up. The following behaviors and denitions are suggested, should any be a problem with your child. Stealing: possession of anything that does not belong to him or taking anything that he does not own. This includes items found and borrowed. The burden of proving ownership is on the child. Firesetting: playing with matches, starting a re, playing with the stove, or being around, reporting, or even putting out res. Destroying property (vandalism): breaking or damaging, using in a way it was not intended, handling in such a way as to risk damage to any objects, including those owned by the family or by another child, the school, a business, or the community. Running away: being in a prohibited area, not being where the child says he will be, not returning within 15 minutes of the time period. Lying: telling something that isnt true, omitting relevant information in telling something (telling a halftruth), shading or bending the truth. Physical attack: attempting to inict injury on another person, such as by hitting, punching, kicking, or biting. Disobeying curfew: returning home after specied time. Alcohol or drug use: any suspected use of drugs or alcohol, including intoxication, nding drugs, alcohol, or other related evidence. Inappropriate sexual activity: any evidence of sexual activity that is early or promiscuous, or inappropriate comments or gestures. Truancy: any evidence that the child is not attending school or is skipping classes. Playing with weapons: any activities involving guns, knives, or objects used as or like a weapon. 2. The parents alone decide whether ____________ has occurred. They need not prove ____________ beyond a reasonable doubt. Occasional false accusations will not undermine the program. Should it later turn out that the child was falsely accused and assigned consequences, a sincere apology should be sufcient. In no case should that mean backing down in the face of the next suspected ____________. (continued)

Parent Management Training SESSION 8: Low-Rate Behaviors

Copyright 2005 Oxford University Press

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SESSION 8 Chart III Low-Rate Behavior Worksheet

(continued) 3. Set two levels of consequences for ____________: Depending on the childs age, half an hours worth of useful but boring chores for suspected or less serious ____________; 1 hour for founded or serious ____________. Recommended chores, depending on the age of the child, are scrubbing oors, raking leaves, pulling weeds, cleaning, and straightening up the garage. Estimate how much time it would take to perform the chore if the child worked consistently and assign a task or tasks that equal the time earned. This avoids having to stand over the child urging him to do a 30-minute chore; that is the childs problem, not the parents. No other consequence, such as lectures, humiliation, or spankings, should be used. The only exception is when some person or facility outside the family is the victim. In those cases, the child should be required to meet with that person and apologize. Restitution, when applicable (such as for stealing or property destruction), should be made, though the extent of it may be limited by the fact that a child is usually unable to repay extensive damages. In that case, partial restitution may be the only possibility. 4. When ____________ occurs (or is suspected), the parents are to simply say: According to the rules, you have ____________ and now you must do your chore. Should the child argue, the parent should remind the child that they cannot start the time until the child is working on the chore. If the child refuses to do the chore, then a choice should be given between doing the chore and losing a privilege. 5. All occurrences of ____________, even trivial ones, are to have consequences. Each ____________ and consequence is part of the teaching process that ____________ will be punished. To allow even small incidents of ____________ to pass will slow down the learning process. 6. Positive reinforcement for periods of non____________ is difcult to use. Try to reinforce the positive opposite whenever possible. For example, if you are using this program for stealing, you want to reinforce your child every time he asks for something, waits to save for something, or tells you that he really wants something. If you are using this program for lying, reinforce your child every time he tells you the truth. 7. The program should remain in effect for at least 6 months after the last ____________. At that point, the parents and child may renegotiate if applicable.

Parent Management Training SESSION 8: Low-Rate Behaviors

Copyright 2005 Oxford University Press

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SESSION 8 Chart IV Program Presentation Guidelines

1. Present to the child specically and carefully discuss exactly what is meant by ____________. 2. Use lots of examples until the child fully understands how tight a denition will be in effect. 3. Practice discussing an incident of ____________ and the assignment of a chore consequence. It is not necessary for the child to practice if he doesnt want to. 4. Here is an example of presenting the low-rate program for stealing. I know that there are times when you see things that you really want and you might just want to take it. There are times when I really want something, too, but instead of taking it, there are many other things you can do. When this happens, you can always ask for what you want or ask to borrow what you see and want, you can ask me to put it on your point chart, or you can save for it. Now you are already doing many of these things. However, when I nd that you did take something that is not yours, or suspect you of that, even if you borrow something but forget to ask, I will give you a chore. If it is something small like taking a quarter off my dresser or borrowing your brothers shirt without asking, you will have a small chore to do. If it something bigger, such as taking money out of my wallet or bringing home a friends toy, you will have a bigger chore. But you know what? I know you dont want to do any chores, and I dont want to give you any chores, so lets stay as far away from stealing as possible. or I know that there are times when you want to ____________. There are times I really [feeling or desire], but instead of [low-rate behavior], there are many things you can do instead. When this happens, you can always ____________, ____________, or ____________. Now you are already doing many of these things. However, when I nd that you did [low-rate behavior] or suspect you of that, even if you [trivial occurrence of low-rate behavior], I will give you a chore. If it is something small like ____________, you will have a small chore. If it something bigger like ____________, you will have a bigger chore. But you know what? I know you dont want to do any chores, and I dont want to give you any chores, so lets stay as far away from ____________ as possible.

Parent Management Training SESSION 8: Low-Rate Behaviors

Copyright 2005 Oxford University Press

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SESSION 8 Chart V Commonly Asked Questions

1. What if my child likes to do chores? Young children commonly like to do chores along with their parents because it makes them feel like their big helpers. In the case of a low-rate punishment, the child does the chore alone, without the help of the parent. Also, your child will be doing a chore he normally wouldnt do. 2. What if I dont think my childs behavior should be punished? Because these behaviors are serious in nature, you want to ensure that they decrease. The most effective way to do this is to give each incident consequences. This prevents the parent from becoming angry, lecturing and discussing at length, or issuing harsh or overly punitive punishment. 3. I dont want to accuse my child falsely. You wont be accusing your child of a problem behavior out of the blue. You suspect him of such behavior because of the circumstances, the childs explanation, and perhaps his facial expression. Also, chances are your child has engaged in this behavior before, which gives you little reason to trust his explanation. 4. Will my child really learn from such a mild chore? Your child wont learn to do appropriate behavior from a punishment. Your child will learn to do positive behavior through positive reinforcement for ____________. However, it is important to provide consequences for serious incidents with appropriate punishment techniques. When consequences are harsh, physical, or prolonged, many side effects will occur, such as increased occurrence of behavior, increased aggression inside or outside the home, avoidance, and fear of the parent. 5. For behaviors that occur in clusters, does it make sense to just punish one of the behaviors and not the others? While you want to be clear about which behaviors are acceptable and which are not, you run the risk of using too much punishment. Excessive punishment always risks serious side effects. Using the lowrate program for an incident (which may include one or more problems) is much more effective than having them do a chore for breaking curfew, another chore for lying, another chore for stealing, and so on.

Parent Management Training SESSION 8: Low-Rate Behaviors

Copyright 2005 Oxford University Press

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SESSION 8 Point Chart

Behavior/Task Description Pts

Earned Previous Balance Total Spent Current Balance Rewards: 1. ________________________________________________________ 2. ________________________________________________________ 3. ________________________________________________________ Time Out Behavior Description

_______ _______ _______ _______ _______

_______ _______ _______ _______ _______

_______ _______ _______ _______ _______

_______ _______ _______ _______ _______

_______ _______ _______ _______ _______

_______ _______ _______ _______ _______

_______ _______ _______ _______ _______

_______ _______ _______ _______ _______

4. ________________________________________________________

5. ________________________________________________________

6. ________________________________________________________

Praise Behavior Description

Attending Behavior Description

Parent Management Training SESSION 8: Low-Rate Behaviors

Copyright 2005 Oxford University Press

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SESSION 8 School Program

Childs Name: ____________________________________ Date: _________________ Day: __________________ Teacher Instructions: Please rate the childs degree of compliance with the following behavior in the classes listed here. Place your initials in one of the three spaces that best describes the childs behavior, and send the sheets home to the parents daily. Thank you. Behavior: _________________________________________________________________________________ Denition: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ Class: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Teachers Initials: ( ( ( ) Most of the time ) Some of the time ) Very little of the time

Childs Name: ____________________________________ Date: _________________ Day: __________________ Teacher Instructions: Please rate the childs degree of compliance with the following behavior in the classes listed here. Place your initials in one of the three spaces that best describes the childs behavior, and send the sheets home to the parents daily. Thank you. Behavior: _________________________________________________________________________________ Denition: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ Class: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Teachers Initials: ( ( ( ) Most of the time ) Some of the time ) Very little of the time

Parent Management Training SESSION 8: Low-Rate Behaviors

Copyright 2005 Oxford University Press

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