The Problem with Reward and Punishment: Pain As Gain?

I read in the news today about a teenager’s choice to go to jail for assaulting someone instead of going for reformation. It was not really a shock to me, but rather a reflection of some of the issues regarding reward and punishment.

It wasn’t too long ago when I trained at a Secondary School and worked with their normal technical stream students. These supposedly “lost” teens were in their worst times, many who were happy-go-lucky to fight the depth of the feelings of loneliness and sadness in their hearts. I was aggravated to see that the system of reward and punishment had, once again, failed.

My good friend, Sid Jacobson, once warned me about the loathing effects of reward and punishment. I realize that it’s true – some people will not logically choose the one which is apparently less painful for us. In the news, the 17 year old Yong decided to choose jail and six strokes of the cane.

What is this – bravery? Or stupidity? Perhaps the courts don’t realize that the choice made is always the best choice for the individual. To some people, going to jail is like a track record.

“Don’t fool around with him – he’s gone to jail before…”

I don’t suppose people will be too worried in ‘certifying’ our criminals this way? The reward and punishment system is in our schools, in our homes and sadly, in our society. Not everyone will realize the error of such a system.

I think Richard Bandler put it right – criminals should be ridiculed in the manner that prevents them from using their jail term as a track record. Richard even suggested that to stop criminals from getting together, they should be made to wear a tutu and dance ballet in pink tights in front of a recording camera. Then, you can blackmail them…

“If you get into trouble again, I’ll send this to your secret society members…”

And that will be the end of that…