Att förändra och förändras med tecken
En kvalitativ studie om uppleveser av teckenekonomi
The token economy program, which is a method for behaviour modification, has been used worldwide for different groups within different settings in order to vhange behaviour.Research has found the token economy program to be effective. However, research is limited to quantitative and experimental studies, and Swedish research in this field is brief. Nevertheless, the program is used in several institutions n Sweden. A qualitative study in Swedish settings could therefore be useful. The purpose of this paper is to examine the experiences of a token economy program using qualitative interviews. The interviews were conducted with both children and staff in a Swedish institution for children with behavioural problems. Our main results show that the token economy program can be used as an effective tool to motivate individuals to behave in a specific way. The child participants seem to appreciate the access to activities that are proposed as an award for certain beheaviour. Some parts of the program that are perceived as quite problematic are the administration of the program, levels of difficulty and how to identify target behaviour.