I'm not sure that any two people agree.
Operationally, it's somewhere between "control that I don't approve
of" and "any control".
If there's any common element, it would be 'control effected by
another human being acting according to some plan.
I'm not sure that it's really a helpful concept; something like
'sanity' that means more in a legal sense than a scientific one.
I think that Skinner was on the right track when he talked about
obvious contingencies.
We tend to label behavior as being controlled when we are aware of
the contingencies involved; particularly when they involve other people.
Another useful question for talking about coercion is the question of
who benefits?
We are more likely to talk about coercion when, in the long run, the
person being controlled benefits less than the person doing the
controlling.
Just some thoughts....
And, extinction takes place all the time on this (and other) list --
some posts are just not responded to;
not according to a plan, but because no one is interested.
This takes us back to 'conspiracy'....
It might be inappropriate if a number of individuals on the list get
together and set up some sort of action plan.
Again, the control itself would be no different than that resulting
from lack of interest -- just the motivation of the individuals doing
the controlling.
On Jan 7, 2009, at 5:31 PM, William Scott wrote:
Paul Brandon <[email protected]> 01/07/09 1:34 PM >>>
The question of whether one can control (produce a change in
behavior) without controlling is more a philosophical one.
------------------
I am a reader of the works of Sidman, Kantor, and Powers. I'm still
not sure what coercion is. Coercion certainly seems to be an
ethical no-no (obsolete phrase meaning impropriety) these days, but
where does effective behavioral control become coercion? Or maybe
the question is, where does effective behavioral control stop
becoming coercion? Is it simply a matter of informed consent? Would
extinction of a TIPS member's "inappropriate" comments without his
(or her) consent be considered coercion? Should a group such as
this be coercive like that?
Bill Scott
Paul Brandon
Emeritus Professor of Psychology
Minnesota State University, Mankato
[email protected]
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