Why Bootcamps Don't Provide Optimal Help For Troubled Teens By Brad Yomen

Bootcamps operate from a fairly traditional model of behavior modification. The programs are structured on a reward/punishment system. They hope to mold teen's behaviors by creating consequences-good and bad-for various forms of behavior.

These programs are very rules-oriented participants are expected to abide by those rules and a failure to do so usually results in a swift and clearly visible result. There are two reasons why these approaches aren't the optimal method of providing help for troubled teens.

First, participants will often change their behaviors and actions within the program for the sake of "getting by" without really making any meaningful alteration in their perspective. Bootcamps become systems for troubled teens to "game". They know the programs are temporary and they can make superficial changes in behavior in order to get through the program.

When the kids return home, however, they frequently revert to previous patterns. The "changes" experienced in the program environment weren't really changes at all. They were merely temporary adjustments.

Second, the artificial structure of rewards and punishments doesn't help to address the underlying causes of the behavior problems that led to bootcamp enrollment in the first place. Behavior modification programs emphasize the outward behavioral changes but often fail to deal with core issues.

Once the artificial construct of rewards and punishments within the controlled environment of the program "game" is removed, the teen no longer feels a reason to continue playing. Those apparent shifts in behavior are revealed to be nothing more than temporary adjustments that were more about convenience and system manipulation than genuine change.

Real change, of course, comes from successfully tackling those root causes. When they're ignored, you can feel relatively confident that problems will resurface again and again. Bootcamps look like a serious, quick solution. That's one reason why they get a great deal of media attention. However, they are not the best way to provide meaningful help for troubled teens.

Interested in hope for troubled teens? Visit Hope4Teens.org to learn more about a Christ-based method to help troubled teens make real, lasting, and remarkably positive life changes:

http://hope4teens.org/

Struggling Teens Need More Than Behavior Modification By Brad Yomen

We have a tendency to look for the simplest solutions when we confront problems. Nowhere is this proclivity more pronounced than in the area of providing support and assistance to troubled teenagers. We frequently reach out to struggling teens with behavior modification programs, hoping for a quick behavioral fix. Unfortunately, that may not be the best solution.

Behavior modifications operate from an attractively simple premise. If you construct a set of rules that allows for punishments and/or rewards based on the behavior of the participant, that person will adjust to maximize his or her level of comfort. In other words, the participant will change his or her behavior in order to get more rewards and to avoid uncomfortable punishment.

This is the root thinking behind many troubled teen bootcamps and other programs targeting at-risk youth. The Pavlovian thinking at the base of these behavior modification programs hopes that simple retraining based on rewards and punishment will result in a transformative experience that will put the child on the "right track".

These methods do inspire changes. However, they're usually less than genuine and they tend to lack staying power. The artificial punishment/reward construct encourages the teenager to learn the rules of the game and to act accordingly. He or she may alter outward behavior to comport with program expectations. Underneath those superficial alterations, however, nothing significant is happening.

Even the most troubled kids can learn a game and how to play it. When that short game (the program) ends, however, they are likely to quickly revert to old habits and ways of thinking. That's because the the simple behavior modification approach often fails to address the significant root causes of inappropriate behavior. There's no focus on the person, attention is only temporarily directed toward how that person is acting.

Struggling teens can get some benefit from behavior modification-based programs. However, the only way to truly encourage meaningful change is to break away from simplistic outlooks and to pay attention to deeper core issues.

It would be nice if there was a simple solution to "fixing" troubled teenagers. Unfortunately, the most simple perspectives don't accomplish their goals. It's important to address both superficial behaviors and the human being on a deeper level.

Interested in struggling teens and how to get them moving in the right direction? Visit Hope4Teens.org to learn more about a Christ-based method to help troubled teens make real, lasting, and remarkably positive life changes:

http://hope4teens.org/