Acceptability of behavioral staff management techniques

Abstract

This study describes an extension of Kazdin's work on acceptability of behavior therapy methods to the assessment of acceptability in the developing field of behavioral staff management. An instrument for assessing acceptability of behavioral staff management techniques was developed and then used to assess staff evaluations of four techniques that have been researched in the staff management literature (instruction, reinforcement, punishment, self-management). The effects on acceptability of problem difficulty and duration of supervisor-staff interaction were also investigated. Staff identified the techniques as having differing degrees of acceptability, with instruction rated most acceptable, followed in order by self-management, reinforcement, and punishment. Ancillary studies supported the reliability and validity of the scale. Results are placed within the context of a recent behavioral supervision model, and discussed in terms of social validity and consumer satisfaction issues. Implications for delivering behavioral staff management interventions are presented.

Behavioral staff management: An analogue study of acceptability and its behavioral correlates

“…The results of this study replicate and extend previous investigations of acceptability and behavioral staff management (Davis et al, 1989). In particular, positive approaches, especially instruction, modeling, self-management, and reinforcement were rated more acceptable than the negative punishment approach.…”

“…Reliability was calculated with a product-moment correlation and resulted in r = 0.75. Subjects were given a 26-item acceptability rating scale that had been developed in previous research (Davis et al, 1989) after the second period. The number of problems attempted by the confederate was counted from the work sheets used during the simulations.…”

“…In recent work Davis, Rawana, Chapman, & Capponi (1987) and Davis et al (1989) have developed a rating scale specifically addressing acceptability of behavioral staff management methods. The major findings of these studies have been that both staff and supervisors view techniques as having differing degrees of acceptability, with instruction most acceptable, followed in order by self-management, reinforcement, and punishment.…”

A Review of Procedural Acceptability in Organizational Behavior Management

“…Organization of the revicw by methodology was due to recent calls for a more careful examination of the methodology for assessing consumer satisfaction with behavioral interventions in general (Schwartz & Baer, 1991) and OBM procedures in particular (Davis, Rawana, & Capponi, 1989;Reid & Parsons, 1995a). When methodological limitations are present, resulting evaluations of consumer acceptability can yield inaccurate and invalid results (Schwartz & Baer, 1991).…”

The effects of interactive staff training on staff programing and patient aggression in a psychiatric inpatient ward

“…Inpatient staff are more likely to participate in and subsequently implement intervention programs that reflect their perceptions of patient and ward need (Burgio, Whitman, & Reid, 1983;Davis, Rawana, & Capponi, 1989;Miltenberger, Lurron, Doerner, & Overdal, 1992). Therefore, all line-level staff on wards targeted for IST are surveyed about their perceptions of treatment-related needs ; e.g., "What programs must be developed on your ward to improve staff control over the milieu and to improve the quality of patient care?"…”