Behavioral Monitoring and Reinforcement Program (BMRP)
BPP02
1999 (Updated 08/2006)
PDF Version of Fact Sheet
Contact BMRP
Program Overview:
The Behavioral Monitoring and Reinforcement Program (BMRP), formerly known as Preventive Intervention, is a school-based intervention helps prevent juvenile delinquency, substance use, and school failure for high-risk adolescents. It targets juvenile cynicism about the world and the accompanying lack of self-efficacy to deal with problems. BMRP provides a school environment that allows students to realize that their actions can bring about desired consequences, and it reinforces this belief by eliciting participation from teachers, parents, and individuals.
Program Targets:
The program can be used in both low-income, urban, and racially-mixed and middle-class, suburban junior high schools. Students are eligible for inclusion if they demonstrate low academic motivation, family problems, or frequent or serious school discipline referrals.
Program Content:
The two year intervention begins when participants are in seventh grade and includes monitoring student actions, rewarding appropriate behavior, and increasing communication between teachers, students, and parents. Program staff check school records for participants= daily attendance, tardiness, and official disciplinary actions, and they contact parents by letter, phone, and occasional home visits to inform them of their children=s progress. Teachers submit weekly reports assessing students= punctuality, preparedness, and behavior in the classroom, and students are rewarded for good evaluations. Each week, 3-5 students meet with a staff member to discuss their recent behaviors, learn the relationship between actions and their consequences, and role-play prosocial alternatives to problem behaviors; they are also rewarded for refraining from disruptive behavior during these meetings.
Program Outcomes:
Evaluations of BMRP have demonstrated short- and long-term positive effects.
- At the end of the program, program students showed higher grades and better attendance when compared to control students.
- Results from a one-year follow-up study showed that intervention students, compared to control students, had less self-reported delinquency; drug abuse (including hallucinogens, stimulants, glue, tranquilizers, and barbiturates); school-based problems (suspension, absenteeism, tardiness, academic failure); and unemployment (20% and 45%, respectively).
- A five-year follow-up study found that intervention students had fewer county court records than control students.
References
Bry, B.H. (1982). Reducing the Incidence of Adolescent Problems Through Preventive Intervention: One- and Five-Year Follow-Up. American Journal of Community Psychology, 10, 265-276.
Bry, B.H., & George, F.E. (1980). The Preventive Effects of Early Intervention on the Attendance and Grades of Urban Adolescents. Professional Psychology, 11, 252-260.
Bry, B.H., & George, F.E. (1979). Evaluating and Improving Prevention Programs: A Strategy from Drug Abuse. Evaluation and Program Planning, 2, 127-136.
Contact BRMP
BEHAVIORAL MONITORING AND REINFORCEMENT PROGRAM |
| Formerly Preventive Intervention |
| For general program information, contact: |
| Brenna H. Bry, Ph.D. Graduate School of Applied & Professional Psychology 152 Frelinghuysen Road Rutgers University Piscataway, NJ 08854-8085 Phone: (732) 445-2189 Email: bbry@rci.rutgers.edu Website: gsappweb.rutgers.edu |
