Inconsistent Protest
Sir / It seems to be inconsistent and hypocritical to imprison persons for the avowed purpose of changing their behavior, and yet when someone seriously attempts to use scientific knowledge to change the inmate, we hear a howl of protest [March 11]. Maybe we aren't' as serious about rehabilitating prisoners as we claim.
C.S. STANLEY Whitfield, Miss.
Sir / The heart of behavior mod lies in correct use of positive reinforcement, simply because this most closely approximates normal human behavior. Hundreds of parents of retarded and/or behavior-problem children have learned to use behavior mod to teach their children; many are grateful because it affords them a highly successful humanistic alternative to the degrading kinds of punishing methods they had earlier felt themselves reduced to.
HENRY L. COVERT Boone, N.C.
Sir / Your discussion of behavior modification in prisons gives me too much credit, if that is the word, for current practices. I have never recommended the use of electric shock, drugs which produce nausea or vomiting, or psychotherapy. I am concerned only with the prison environment, and even there only with its rewarding aspects. Prisoners have been subject to behavior modification as long as there have been prisons, and the results are only too well known. Something better can be done and is being done, as your article shows.
B.F. SKINNER Cambridge, Mass.
Sir / In general, the prison system is still centered on the idea of punishment, and I see terrible abuses possible with the new behavior-modification programs. Rehabilitation-through-work programs and similar methods have never been given a proper chance because of the lack of funds, facilities, knowledgeable personnel and good programs. It would be better to concentrate on these areas first.
ELLEN FORD Bloomington, Ind.
Nixon, Pro and Con
Sir / If the presidential press conference of March 6 is an example of democracy in action, the world must laugh contemptuously at it. The newsmen faced the leader of the greatest country on earth, who has achieved amazing success in handling insurmountable world problems. Yet it seemed that most of the press was concerned only with Watergate. What a pity to have so many insignificant minds in the news media.
AGNES C. RYAN Spring Lake Heights, N.J.
Sir / It is a sad legacy that President Nixon will leave the nation. It is a legacy of legal manipulation to avoid personal responsibility. If this example were followed by each citizen, the result would be catastrophic.
CHARLES R. TUHACEK Parma, Ohio
Galley's Freedom
Sir / Far be it from me to begrudge mercy to any Viet Nam veteran. Whatever has been his individual conduct, he has already suffered more than we. Nevertheless, it seems a bit inconsistent that Lieut. Galley [March 11] should be freed before those of his age group whose disobedience was prompted, at least in part, by distaste for shedding human blood.
SHIRLEY L. HOUDE
Shirley, Mass.