July 9, 2014
Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Behaviorist
Dear Reader,
In his current job as a case manager for those who have returned from jail and
prison back to society, this writer is expected not to say anything about
himself. He is teaching skills-based classes to help parolees make the
transition and adjust and live a ‘normal’ life again. One challenging goal is
to stimulate them to find employment, because this is significantly related to
reducing their rate of recidivism. Many of these clients have been incarcerated
for serious crimes and have spend many years in prison. Because of their histories they
can be very manipulative.
By working with this new population, this writer practices a skill, which is very beneficial to him. By not revealing anything personal, he
discovers a way of talking and thinking which was not possible when he was
speaking the way he was used to. In other words, the establishing operation of
his speech makes him say, think, feel and, above all, notice, different things.
Since he just started in this position, he experiences the novel effects of his
new environment on his behavior. Moreover, as he was hired because of his
skills and his emphasis on behaviorism, he is considered to already possess the
necessary components to be successful in this job. The support he receives for
working with this difficult population, while being cautious not to say anything that can be
turned against him, is especially rewarding to him.
It is a great relief for this writer not to talk about anything personal
anymore. It is fascinating to notice,
how what was for many years his biggest weakness has now transformed and is still transforming, into his strength. In his new job there is an
orderliness and a structure which this writer appreciates. The predictability of
his current situation is the total opposite from his previous job as a mental
health worker in a group home for the mentally ill. There, a rather chaotic work environment existed
because of a lack of structure and leadership.
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