Sober Court Behavior Contract printable pdf download

Behavior Contracts

Guidelines: Definition/Purpose

A behavior contract is an agreement between two or more persons that lists specific behaviors

that the parties will perform and the consequences that will result. The consequences include

what sanction will be imposed if the individual does not perform the target behavior, as well as

what reinforcer the individual will receive for performing the target behavior within the

designated timeframe.

Behavior contracts should be used when an individual engages in a repeated problem behavior.

Typically, the resident will have been given a sanction, according to the sanctioning grid, but

s/he continues to engage in the problem behavior. The contract is designed to target a specific

behavior for change.

Negotiating a Behavioral Contract

A behavioral contract should be negotiated between the staff and individual receiving the

contract. Once a meeting is scheduled with the resident, concerns regarding his/her behavior

should be discussed. The concept of the behavioral contract should be explained, i.e.:

“This contract serves as an agreement between you and me that you will perform the [list

behavior] within the [list time frame]. If you do, you’ll receive a reward [list reinforcer]

that you and I agreed on; if you don’t perform the behavior, you’ll receive the following

sanction [list sanction]”.

Staff and the resident can together decide what would be an appropriate reinforcer for

performing the targeted behavior. Staff, however, should designate the appropriate sanction for

not performing the behavior.

Be sure that the focus of the contract is on helping the offender to make better decisions, versus

staff’s attempt to control the resident. Discuss how continuing the identified behavior can be

problematic in the short and long term.

Constructing the Behavior Contract

The target behavior listed on the contract is the behavior you want the resident to perform, rather

than the behavior you don’t want them to engage in. This helps the resident to learn what to

replace the problem behavior with. For example, if a resident continues to get written up for not

following staff instructions, the target behavior would be to follow staff instructions for a

designated timeframe; or if a resident has repeated write-ups for cursing, the target behavior

would be to use appropriate/non-offensive language or to avoid using said cussword for a

designated timeframe.

Be sure to avoid very general behaviors (i.e. respect staff) as this is too broad and difficult to

measure. Instead, decide how the resident is being disrespectful (tone of voice, words used,

Sober Court Behavior Contract