Experimental study of the social interaction of prison inmates from an inter-behavioral approach

Abstract

This research presents an analysis of the social interaction of prison inmates, where they were registered with a previously validated observational code, the behavior of eight prison inmates participating in three experimental tasks, each corresponding to one of the functional dimensions of social behavior proposed theoretically by the model of the theory of behavior (Ríbes and López, 1985) and called exchange, sanction and power (Ribes, Rangel and López-Valadez, 2008). In the study, inmates diagnosed by the penal institution participated as medium, high and low functioning. The results show that moderately functional inmates are more easily socialized because they score high in behaviors linked to taking initiatives and negotiation, while highly functional interns emit less disruptive behaviors and low functionality interns emit more disruptive behaviors, resorting less to the taking of initiatives.