Introduction to Corrective Thinking Therapy

• Overview
• Continuum of Irresponsibility
• Thinking Errors
• Tactics To Avoid Responsibility

Corrective Thinking Therapy was developed by Ron Fawcett and Dave Koerner of the Thought Institute in Beloit, Wisconsin. The techniques were initially developed to deal with people whose behavior was so irresponsible as to have resulted in criminal activity. Koerner and Fawcett built on the work of renown criminologists Yochelsnon and Samenow ("A Profile For Change"), reducing their fifty plus thinking errors to ten. These "thinking errors" were easily recognized and addressed by therapists.

Koerner and Fawcett soon discovered that their techniques were applicable to other populations, most notably school students. This was a cause of concern. How does one explain that a therapy developed for use with a "criminal" element be applied to "non-criminal" teenagers? One answer may be that it is not so much that teenagers think like criminals, but rather criminals think like teenagers. What is pathological irresponsibility in an adult is "normal" for teenagers! In a very real way, many criminals have simply never "grown up." The techinques when used with "normal" teenagers can be seen as nothing more than helping the young person to mature into a responsible adult.

The fact of the matter is that Koerner and Fawcett's model will also work with adults who, while not "guilty" of any criminal offense, have areas of irresponsibility in their lives which cause them emotional pain or relationship problems. John Bradshaw (Homecoming: Reclaiming and Championing Your Inner Child) and others have identified the "inner child." Many therapists are busy identifying "dysfunctional" families. Once idenified families are subjected to psychobabel and labels and "treated." Perhaps the common link is the need for responsibility. "Corrective Thinking Therapy" provides a model for every individual to look at him/herself and evaluate their own level of maturity and responsibility. The need for a "sick system" is replaced with an opportunity for each individual to reject labels of "victim" and "victimizer" and take responsibility for their own actions. (This is not to say that people are never "taken advantage of " and that some people do not do "bad things to good people.") The fact is that often times we victimize ourselves by the way we perceive the world around us!

Continuum of Irresponsibility

As outlined above, Corrective Thinking Therapy was developed to habilitate (rehabilitation is for most somewhat of a misnomer) the criminal element. While many definitions may be given for criminality, the one which best fits corrective thinking therapy might be "criminal activity" represents actions which society deems "irresponsible." Responsibility and Irresponsibility are not just diametrically opposed, they may be thought of as existing at the two ends of a continuum. In my working with "criminals" I have yet to find an individual who was 100% irresponsible in every aspect of his/her life 100% of the time. In my working with various persons who would normally be thought of as "upright" "responsible" individuals, I have yet to find an individual who was 100% responsible, 100% of the time. Most of us live our lives between the extremes of responsibility and irresponsibility.

While all would agree that the individual who is a "career criminal" is socially irresponsible, and most would argue for his/her incarceration, there is no such consensus on lesser degrees of irresponsibly. Take for example alcohol. What about the person who has had 5 convictions for "DUI/DWI," has had he license revoked, drinks to a blood alcohol level of 1.5 and kills a child with his car while driving home? This individual would likely find few advocates! Most of our society would likely call him irresponsible and condemn him to prison, if not death. The individual who drinks, drives and abuses his relationships may be thought of as acting irresponsibly, at least as it related to alcohol consumption! Should such people be labeled "Criminal?" Many would likely say "yes!" However some persons are able to surmount such irresponsibility and even be elected to congress! What about the woman who takes an occasional "social drink" while pregnant? Should she be labeled "criminal?" Are her actions "responsible?" You could likely find a random sample of Americans divided on the subject! What about the man who drinks occasionally, to the neglect of his children's social life (i.e. missing the school play)? Is he "irresponsible?" Is he criminal? What about the individual who does not drink at all? S/he may be thought of as acting at an extreme of responsibility as it relates to alcohol consumption! Yet even that individual may have (and likely does have) other areas of irresponsibility.

Koerner and Fawcett have divided the continuum of criminality into four sections:

Responsible --->Non-Arrestable/Irresponsible--->Arrestable/Irresponsible--->Extreme Criminal

Each category has identifying features as follows:

Responsible

1. Has a pattern of accepting responsibility at home, at work, and in society.
2. Has a lifestyle based on hard work and the fulfillment of obligations.
3. Has consideration of others.
4. Derives self-respect and the respect of others through achievement.
5. Desires to violate occur, but disappear without having to make a conscious choice.
6. Does not infringe on the rights of others.
7. Makes choices that are in the best interest of both self and others.
8. Trusts in the judgment of others.

Non-Arrestable Irresponsible

1. Accepts responsibility only to a degree and with excuses.
2. Frequently lies, manipulates, and intimidates.
3. Generally unreliable and chronically late (performs poorly at work).
4. Fails to fulfill promises and obligations at home.
5. Shows irresponsibility in some ways yet is conscientious in others.
6. Expects to fail and makes only half-hearted attempts.
7. Lacks goal direction.

Arrestable Irresponsible

1. Accepts responsibility only after being nailed down, and then fights all the way. Has all the thinking patterns of the extreme criminal, but with less extensive crime patterns.
2. Is a minor violator who rarely gets caught.
3. "I'm a loner." "I'm unique." Is secretive.
4. Feels successful since a great deal of personal involvement in criminal activity has gone undetected.
5. Has strong returning desires to violate, but is discouraged from doing so much of the time.
6. Has always seem responsible and surprises everyone.
7. Without great restraints, will implement violations previously only thought about.
8. Moves away from family or from rural to urban areas for reasons of greater freedom and being unknown (incognito)

Extreme Criminal

1. Accepts no responsibility
2. Has a continuous flow of criminal thoughts from the time s/he wakes up.
3. Has only self-concern.
4. Does not view self as criminal, but as a good person.
5. Seeks to promote self at the expense of others.
6. Criticizes others, claims injustice and blames others when things don't go as planned.
7. Commits hundreds of crimes and is never found out.
8. Sees being nice as a weakness.
9. Is over-confident and grandiose. Won't stop trying to beat the system.

Thinking Errors

Irresponsibility is fostered by ten thinking errors. These errors exist in varying degrees in various individuals. The more extreme the degree of irresponsibility the more thinking errors are involved.

1. Closed Thinking
   • is not receptive
   • is not self critical
   • makes no self disclosures
   • lies by omission
   • is good at pointing out and giving feedback on the faults of others

2. Victimstance
   • views self as a victim (but not as the victimizer)
   • Balmes others (his/her family, childhood, social conditions, the past, etc.)

3. Viewing Self As A Good Person
   • focuses only on own positive attributes
   • fails to acknowledge own destructive behavior
   • builds self up at the expense of others

4. Lack Of Effort
   • is unwilling to do anything found boring or disagreeable
   • Uses "I can't" which really means "I won't"

5. Lack Of Interest In Responsible Performance
   • finds responsible living to be unexciting and unsatisfying
   • responds only if netting an immediate payoff
   • no sense of obligation

6. Lack Of Time Perspective
   • does not use the past as a learning tool
   • expects otheres to act immediately on demand
   • decisions are made on assumptions, not facts

7. Fear Of Fear
   • has irrational fears but refuses to admit them
   • has a fundamental fear of injury or death
   • has a progound fear of put downs
   • experiences "zero state" (feels worthless when held accountable)

8. Power Thrust
   • has a compelling need to be in control of every situation
   • uses manipulation and deceit
   • refuses to be dependent unless someone can be taken advantage of

9. Uniqueness
   • thinks of self as different and better than others
   • expects of others that which s/he fails to do
   • cuts fear of failure with superoptimism
   • quits at the first sign of failure

10. Ownership Attitude
    • Perceives all people, places, and things as objects to possess
    • Has no concept of the ownership rights of others
    • Uses sex for power and control, not intimacy

Tactics To Avoid Responsibility

According to Yochelson and Samenow (op. cit.) people use various tactics to avoid responsibility in their lives. Koerner and Fawcett list 17 prominent tactics

1. Continually points out staff inadequacies
2. Builds self up by putting others down
3. Tells others what they want to hear rather than the truth
4. Lies by omission, by distorting the truth and by disclosing only what benefits self.
5. Is Deliberately vague
6. Diverts attention away from self be introducing irrelevant material and by invoking racial issues
7. Attempts to confuse others
8. Minimizes the situation, "I just got into a little trouble."
9. Agrees or says "yes" without meaning it.
10. Silence.
11. Pays attention only when it is self-satisfying.
12. Makes a big scene about minor points.
13. Puts off any obligation by saying "I forgot."
14. Puts others on the defensive by degrading, quibbling over words, trying to embarrass and using anger as a weapon.
15. Totally inattentive
16. Accuses others of misunderstanding.
17. Claims having changed by doing something right once.

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Adapted from "Certification Institute" ©1995, Koerner and Fawcett, Inc. Used by permission.

This site maintained by L. Albert Mathewson, MSW, LCSW, MSN, RN, PMH-NP, CCTT. Last updated on 12/21/2003.