Behavior Therapy with Adolescents: Contingency Contracting
Abstract
Behavior therapy with children and adolescents has been applied in clinical and counseling agencies, hospitals, schools, and family settings. Behavior therapy has more often addressed the problems of conduct disordered adolescents, but can also be applied the problems of normal adolescents. This paper intends to show that the principles of behavior modification specifically applied through the use of a contingency contract with a normal adolescent can be of use to parents and adolescents alike in solving day to day problems in family living. The first chapter of this paper addresses the foundations of behavior therapy, normal adolescent development, and the application of behavior therapy with a variety of adolescent problems both in schools and family settings. The second chapter describes a case study intervention done in the home setting with an adolescent regarding household chores by a parent who was trained in behavior therapy principles in a graduate level class.