Whats the Difference Between Bribery and Reinforcement?
Experts talk in terms of “reinforcement,” but what does that mean? The problem here is not with the parent, but with miscommunication on the part of parenting experts. We need to clarify what is meant by reinforcement and the difference between that and bribery. Bribery is paying before behavior is delivered. With bribery, parents pay in advance for the “promise” of delivery. However, with payment already in hand, many kids fail to deliver despite parents’ discipline. The child, having already received payment, falls short on delivery while still enjoying the payment. The parent feels deceived or taken advantage of, which in turn leaves parents even more frustrated than when they started. Rather than buying behavior, reinforcement is based upon paying after delivery. So rather than buying behavior, we are rewarding behavior that has already been delivered. Big difference. There is a very good reason most companies have policies against pay advances. Even in adult behavior, the likeliho
