Immediate effects of group therapy upon response to social reinforcement among juvenile delinquents

Using a paper-and-pencil measure of the degree of effective assimilation or recognition of interpersonal approval and disapproval statements as reward and punishment events, a group of 89 institutionalized delinquent male adolescents tested immediately following a 1-hour group-therapy session were compared with an identical group tested immediately prior to their weekly group-therapy session. Analysis of variance and Cochran-Cox tests revealed that the posttherapy group scored significantly (p < .05) higher than the pretherapy group for assimilative interpretation of approval from both adults and peers. While the specific nature of variables which may operate during group therapy to produce this transitory increase in effective recognition of social reinforcers is not determined, these findings suggest that controlled social interaction under optimal conditions may provide beneficial experience in learning to recognize the reward value of social reinforcers.