Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T08:18:33.607Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

“Setting Events” as Determinants of Staff Behaviour: An Exploratory Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2009

Charles Burdett  and
Derek Milne
Charles Burdett
Affiliation:
St. David's Hospital, Carmarthen
Derek Milne
Affiliation:
Stanley Royd Hospital, Wakefield
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

One of the major problems facing behaviour therapy has been the relative lack of success in bringing about lasting change in complex environments. The difficulty in assessing and understanding these failures may well be due to an unnecessarily narrow view of change in terms of small units of behaviour and short time-scales. In contrast, if one takes a “setting events” perspective, this might generate more explanatory hypotheses by focusing on larger behavioural units and longer time-scales. This exploratory study adopted such a perspective in order to consider staff opinions about the maintenance and generalization of an innovative behavioural programme in psychiatric rehabilitation. The results of a structured interview with a small group (n = 11) of multidisciplinary staff indicated the potential value of this perspective: factors traditionally regarded as obstructing innovation (such as not enough time, staff or facilities) were not in fact seen as problematic. On the contrary, factors which were more readily manipulable (such as feedback, nursing officer support and in-service training) were regarded as facilitating planned change. The implications of these findings and this perspective for sustained organizational development are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , October 1985 , pp. 300 - 308
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agras, W. S. and Berkowitz, R. (1980). Clinical research in behaviour therapy: halfway there? Behaviour Therapy 11, 472–487.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, B. L. (1980). Training parents as teachers of their developmentally disabled children. In The Ecosystem of the “Sick” Child, Salzinger, S., Antrobus, J. and Glick, J. (Eds), New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Berger, M. (1975). Commentary. In Behaviour Modification with the Severely Retarded, Kiernan, C. L. and Woodford, F. P. (Eds), London: Associated Scientific Publishers.Google Scholar
Eyberg, S. M. and Johnston, S. M. (1974). Multiple assessment of behaviour modifications with families: effects of contingency contracting and order of treated problems. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 594–606.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greene, B. F., Willis, B. S., Levy, R. and Bailey, J. S. (1978). Measuring client gains from staff implemented programmes. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 10, 75–84.Google Scholar
Hall, J. N. and Baker, R. (1973). Token economy systems: breakdown and control Behaviour Research and Therapy 11, 253–263.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loeber, R. and Weisman, R. A. (1975). Contingencies of therapist and trainer performance: a review Psychological Bulletin 82, 660–688.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Milne, D. L. (1984). The development and evaluation of a structured learning format introduction to behaviour therapy for psychiatric nurses. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 23, 175–185.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Milne, D. L., Burdett, C. and Beckett, J. (1985a). Assessing and reducing the stress and strain of psychiatric nursing by ward re-organisation and in-service training. Nursing Times (in press).Google Scholar
Milne, D. L., Burdett, C. and Conway, P. (1985b). Review and replications of a “core course” in behaviour therapy for psychiatric nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing 10, 137–148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paul, G. L. and Lentz, R. J. (1977). Psychosocial Treatment of Chronic Mental Patients. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Raynes, N. V., Pratt, M. W. and Roses, S. (1979). Organisational Structure and the Care of the Mentally Retarded. London: Croom-Helm.Google Scholar
Reid, D. H. and Whitman, T. L. (1983). Behavioral staff management in institutions: a critical review of effectiveness and acceptability. Analysis and Intervention in Developmental Disabilities 3, 131–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schinke, S. P. and Wong, S. E. (1978). Teaching child care workers: a behavioral approach. Child Care Quarterly 7, 45–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stokes, T. F. and Baer, D. N. (1977). An implicit technology of generalisation. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 10, 349–367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stolz, S. B. (1981). Adoption of innovations from applied behavioural research: “does anybody care?” Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 14, 491–505.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, M., Burton, M. and Cullen, C. (1982). Take a new look at your ward. Nursing Times, 06, 1068–1070.Google Scholar
Wahler, R. G. (1980). The insular mother: her problems in parent-child treatment. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 13, 207–220.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wahler, R. G. and Fox, J. J. (1981). Setting events in applied behaviour analysis: Toward a conceptual and methodological expansion. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 14, 327–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warren, S. F. (1977). A useful ecobehavioural perspective for applied behaviour analysis. In Ecological Perspectives in Behavior Analysis. Rogers-Warren, A. and Warren, S. F. (Eds), Baltimore: University Park Press.Google Scholar
Watson, L. S., Gardner, J. M. and Sanders, C. (1971). Shaping and maintaining behaviour modification skills in staff members in a mental retardation institution. Mental Retardation 9, 39–42.Google Scholar
Wilson, G. T. (1982). Psychotherapy process and procedure: the behavioural mandate. Behavior Therapy 13, 291–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.