THE BEHAVIORAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT UNIT

       BLEU

      A Handbook and Training Manual

      Prepared for the Staff

      at

      Connecticut Valley Hospital

      Children’s Unit

      J. Randolph Burnham, Ph.D.

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      There are many people who helped in the development of BLEU. My heartfelt thanks:

      To Dr. Richard Wiseman for his backing and guidance.

      To Mr. George Dunham, for without his invaluable conceptual input and ongoing consultation this project would never have come this far.

      To Linda Unkelbach, Diane St. Jean, Gary Larkins, Don Lippincott, Nancy Winship, Frank Winiski, Al Stewart, Uta Graichen, Nancy Milardo, Paula Howe, Wes Moorhead, Kurt Tauer, and other future staff who have waited patiently and have the job of implementing BLEU.

      To Marcia Pease, who proof read the many pages of my chicken scrawl.

      To Steve Hodge and Gloria Chandler, who will be BLEU’s teacher and social worker, and who helped in constructing much of BLEU’s content.

      To Mrs. Jacquelyn Reardon, who typed BLEU with cheer and aplomb.

      To my wife, Pri, who had to listen to my rantings and ravings, and who gave me much support to carry on.

      Finally, to the Children for whom the program was conceived. It is my hope that BLEU will help them to learn and live more productive lives.

      JRB

      AN OVERVIEW TO THE BEHAVIORAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT UNIT (BLEU)

      Here at the Children’s Unit during the past year it has become clearer and clearer that the traditional methods of treating acting out, hostile-aggressive youngsters have not been working. The program presented below is designed to help very disturbed acting out, hostile, aggressive youngsters learn new, more socially-adaptive modes of functioning. With this goal in mind, we have attempted to set up the ecology of the ward such that it will not only incorporate the best traditional methods as well as learning principles, but also mirror as closely as possible and feasible, the real world.

      Society at large is set up such that certain behaviors such as jobs, work and learning are valued and reinforced. Society is also set up such that other behaviors have negative consequences. BLEU is an attempt to spell out clearly and consistently both positive and negative consequences to our children’s behavior. In all cases our focus will be on new learning for the child. We will attempt to teach youngsters that they and they alone are responsible for their actions and the consequences of those actions.

      BLEU is set up with an eye toward teaching children how to manage their lives. We must keep clearly in mind that it is only through making choices and utilising the feedback from these choices that people learn. In this light BLEU is set up so that the choices are free and the feedback clear.

      In an attempt to mirror the environment into which these children will eventually go, BLEU has adopted a number of economic contingencies. Children will receive payment for accomplishing certain tasks. As in society these payments can be used to purchase those things that the children need and want. Similarly, the rich children will be able to buy more and better things than will the non-rich. Unlike society at large, however, each child will have the opportunity to become rich solely by his own behavior. Still another aspect of BLEU which directly mirrors society is our welfare system. BLEU is conceived in such a way that each child will receive the basic necessities simply for being alive. Thus, in its positive aspects BLEU is a fairly good mirror of society.

      Another aspect of BLEU’s economic system is its fines. Just like in the real world where people are fined and put in jail for breaking laws, so too with BLEU. Children will be fined and even temporarily removed from the socio-economic system if they transgress the laws of the BLEU. Unlike the real world where people can accumulate debts, BLEU because of its learning focus, will not allow this to happen. Yet, all other aspects of society will be reflected by our fine system.

      BLEU’s economic system will also mirror present day society in a number of other aspects. We will use “BLEU Dollars” as our medium of exchange. We will also utilize many of the concepts of banking. Each child will have a bank account where in conjunction with his economic advisor he or she will make decisions about purchases. BLEU will also utilize the banking concept of frozen and liquid currency. As in the real world liquid currency will be used by the children to make immediate every day purchases while frozen currency will buy long-term items. It is