Haven’t read the whole article you cite, but a quick sampling indicates some glaring misstatements of Skinner’s positions, both scientific and philosophical. And note that Skinner wrote About Behaviorism to clear up some misconceptions of his pints in Beyond Freedom and Dignity. Both books, of course, were written as popularizations for a lay audience.
An ancilliary point: I wonder how much a perceived problem homelessness was in the ’50’s and ’60’s when Skinner was doing his main writing on social issues. It certainly existed, but might have been regarded as a transitory phenomena that would fade away as society matured. I suspect we’re less sanguine in these days of falling wages. On Jan 10, 2015, at 11:19 AM, Mike Palij <[email protected]> wrote: > On Sat, 10 Jan 2015 05:53:12 -0800, Michael Britt wrote: >> The Daily Show did an interesting piece on a program in Salt Lake City >> Utah in which they are giving homes to the homeless in order to reduce >> the homelessness problem. As you can imagine, the idea of giving >> homes to the homeless raises the ire of many people ("You're not >> incentivizing the homeless to make their lives better", to "hit bottom" >> and then "raise themselves up by their own bootstraps", etc.). The >> short video be good fodder for class discussion when it comes to >> talking about either learning/behaviorism/motivation. I was, in effect, >> left wondering what Skinner would do. >> >> http://youtu.be/jlZKeKQ8yX0 > > A few points: > > (1) I see that Britt is asking the question based on the popular Christian > question "What Would Jesus Do?" And, as Paul Brandon has pointed > out subsequently in this thread, the more appropriate question to ask > if "What Would Jesus Say" but that doesn't play as well with the "kids". > Personally, I eschew the use of the question "What would X say/do" > especially if it is not in some limiting context that contains a clear > presentation of what a particular asserts or maintains as a position, > in contrast to relying upon incomplete and often inaccurate knowledge > of a person. For example, one might ask "Given Skinner's description > of human nature in his 'Beyond Freedom and Dignity' (BFD), what argument > might one make about why giving housing to the homeless or, more > generally, guaranteeing housing to all members of a society?" > > However, I would also ask the audience/students to read the following > review of Skinners BFD which has little to do with homelessness > but a lot to do with one possible explanation of Skinner's position -- > and what factors he might or might not consider relevant -- in > explaining homelessness: > http://nazihomelessholocaust.blogspot.com/2012/06/beyond-freedom-and-dignity-bf-skinner.html > > Given this interpretation, what might Fred say/do? But remember, > are you asking "Skinner the Humanist" or "Skinner the Grand > Conditioner". > > > (2) It is amazing how two people in the same discipline can look at the > same video and have such completely different reactions and interpretations > of what was presented. I saw the video when it originally aired on the > "Daily Show" and my first reaction to Hasan Minhaj's line of questioning > was "Oh, he's playing the 'Blame the Victim' game and humor will come > from the failure of that explanation to account for the positive results > for the program -- Yeah, I thought that. ;-) > > The point is that I took a social psychological/community psychological > view of the situation: social psychology in Minhaj's use of the "fundamental > attribution error" (FAE) in explaining human nature and it's role in > homelessness and community psychology in interpreting how a novel > plan to eliminate homelessness (i.e., "Give them homes!") is better > than pushing the homeless off the street or out of public spaces. > > It did not occur to me that Skinner might be relevant because, let's face it, > the problem being highlighted in the "Daily Show" bit is not homelessness > but people's explanations of why homelessness occurs. Minhaj's > FAE driven explanation based on ignorance about the nature of homelessness > and which may potentially blind him to seeing why his interpretation is > wrong is what is funny in this situation. Homelessness is less of the focus > than the incorrect views that people have of them. > > Why, having an FAE driven explanation is almost as dumb as killing > people for the statements they make or cartoons they draw. > > (3) Below I quote the "Case in Point 1.3" from the following textbook: > > Moritsugu, J. G., Vera, E., Wong, F. Y., & Duffy, K. G. (2013). Community > psychology. Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Higher Ed. > > It highlights what a community psychology explanation of homelessness > would entail and how it may be superior to other explanations (i.e., > FAE driven ones). > NOTE: A Google search of "Skinner" and "homeless" and "explanation" > provides almost no relevant hits. It appears that "Skinner did not have > much to say about homelessness". ;-) > > -Mike Palij > New York University > [email protected] > > P.S. Beth Shinn whose research is cited below was a long time member of > the NYU psychology faculty and I became aware of some of her research > during that time. Since 2008, she has been at Peabody college of > Vanderbilt University. > > > CAS E I N P O I N T 1. 3 > Social Psychology, Community Psychology, and Homelessness > > You have learned in this chapter that community psychologists > have issued a call for collaboration with other disciplines both > within and outside of psychology. In response to that, we agree > that community psychologists and social psychologists have > much to learn from each other ( Serrano-Garcia, Lopez, > & Rivera-Medena, 1987 ). In some countries, community psychology > evolved from social psychological roots. This was the case in > New Zealand and Australia ( Fisher, Gridley, Thomas, &Bishop, 2008 ). > > Social psychologists study social phenomena as they > affect an individual. They may have the answer > as to why the media, the public, and other psychologists > blame a person's homelessness on the person. Social > psychologists have developed an explanation using attribution > theory, which explains how people infer causes of or > make attributions about others' behaviors ( Kelly, 1973 ). > Research on attribution has demonstrated that people are > likely to place explanatory emphasis on the characteristics > of the individual or use trait explanations for another's > shortcomings ( Jones & Nisbett, 1971 ).That is, when > explaining the behavior of others - especially others' > problems - people are less likely to attend to the > situation and more likely to blame the person for what is > happening. > > Does this theory apply to homelessness? > Can this theory explain why the media and the public > often blame the victim, the homeless person, for his > or her problem? Victim blaming ( Ryan, 1971 ) is a > phrase that describes the tendency to attribute the > cause of an individual's problems to that individual > rather than to the situation the person is in. In other > words, the victim is blamed for what happened to him > or her. Social psychologists believe that blaming the > victim is a means of self-defense (e.g., if a bad thing > can happen to her by chance, then it can happen to me; > on the other hand, if the person was to blame for > what happened, then it won't happen to me because > I am not that way). In the case of the homeless, did > their personalities create their homeless situations? > Did something in their environment contribute to it? The > average person who blames the victim would blame > homeless people for contributing to their homelessness. > > Shinn, a prominent community psychologist, reviewed > research on homelessness and conducted a monumental > and well-designed study on the issue (Shinn & Gillespie, > 1993). She concluded that person-centered explanations > of homelessness, although popular, are not as valid as > situational and structural explanations of homelessness. > Specifically, Shinn suggested that the researched explanations > for homelessness are twofold - that is, personcentered > and environmental. She reviewed the literature on each > and concluded that person-centered or deficit explanations > for homelessness were less appropriate than environmental > or situational explanations. > > Shinn found studies suggesting that structural problems > offer some of the most plausible explanations of homelessness. > For example, Rossi (1989) found that between 1969 and 1987, > the number of single adults (some with children) with incomes > under $4,000 a year increased from 3.1 to 7.2 million. Similarly, > Leonard, Dolbeare, and Lazere (1989) found that for the 5.4 million > low-income renters, there were only 2.1 million units of affordable > housing, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and > Urban Development standards. Poverty and lack of affordable > housing seem to be far better explanations for today's phenomenon > of homelessness than personcentered explanations. Solarz and > Bogat (1990) would add to these environmental explanations > of homelessness the lack of social support by friends and family > of the homeless. > > What is important about Shinn's review is not so much that it > illustrates that the public and the media may indeed suffer from > fundamental attribution error - the tendency to blame the person > and not the situation - but rather that Shinn offers these data so > community psychologists can act on them. Public policy makers > need to understand that situations and structural problems produce > homelessness. Psychologists and community leaders need to be > convinced that temporary solutions, such as soup kitchens, are > merely bandages on the gaping wound of the homeless. Furthermore, > shelter managers and others have to understand that moving the > homeless from one shelter to another does little for them. Families > and children, not just the stereotypical old alcoholic men, are part > of today's homeless (Rossi, 1990). Being in different shelters and > therefore different school systems has negative effects on children's > academic performance and self-esteem ( Rafferty & Shinn, 1991 ); > homeless children lose their childhoods to homelessness ( Landers, > 1989 ). > > Something must be done about the permanent housing situation in > this country. On this point, both community and social psychologists > would agree. > > ***************************************************** > > Remember the old saying: "If you give a failed banker money to > save his bank, he will only be able to operate it until he does > something stupid/greedy and causes it to fail again. However, > if you guarantee that any bank failure will be covered, you > will never have to worry about bank failures again!" ;-) Paul Brandon Emeritus Professor of Psychology Minnesota State University, Mankato [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=41484 or send a blank email to leave-41484-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
