Abstract
The cause of various behaviors, such as severely challenging behavior, that are observed in persons with mental disabilities can often be traced to the interaction between the individuals and the environment, rather than to some impairment of the individuals. For these cases, pro-active treatments (Foxx, 1996), which use positive reinforcement to enhance alternatives to the individual's present behavior, are to be adopted, rather than reactive interventions, that is, ones in which the only focus is on eliminating the challenging behavior.
The present article presents the concept of “Behavioral QOL”, in which the quality of life of individuals is measured by the kinds of choices available to them and the number of opportunities they have for making choices among various positively reinforcing behavioral options. Behavioral QOL involves two aspects of individuals' quality of life simultaneously; environmental aspects and subjective satisfaction. In other QOL measures, the former have been measured by the improvement in environmental equipment and facilities, and the latter, usually by questionnaires given to individuals. In those QOL measures, each of the two dimensions has been considered separately. In contrast, Behavioral QOL is measured by individuals' behavior, where the individuals can choose aspects of their environment by themselves and express their degree of satisfaction with their choice by their ongoing interaction with the environment (=behavior).
Behavioral QOL can be classified into three levels. In the first level, only one behavior is possible, and that behavior is positively reinforced; in the second, alternatives are prepared, and the individuals can choose from among them; and in the third, the individuals can reject all the given alternatives and request something else.(View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)
