Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Functional Assessment of Drug Trafficking Terms: A Substantive and Methodological Expansion of a Verbal Behavior Research Program

Functional Assessment of Drug Trafficking Terms: A Substantive and Methodological Expansion of a... Narcotics trafficking is often described in ambiguous and inaccurate terms. This is problematic because imprecise verbal behavior in relation to some state of affairs inhibits effective action with regard to those events. An innovative methodology was used to explore verbal behavior in diverse media reports following the 2001 prison escape of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, reputed prominent agent of the “Sinaloa Cartel.” Results demonstrated that the terms “cartel,” “mafia,” gang,” and “organization” were controlled in part by the same stimulus conditions, but which was emitted on a particular occasion was predictably related to other variables, including the speaker’s affiliation, immediate verbal context, and country of publication. We conclude that more precise terminology could improve efforts to understand and curtail narcotics trafficking. We also believe this methodology should continue to be developed as it may prove useful in analyzing other terms related to important social issues. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Behavior and Social Issues Springer Journals

Functional Assessment of Drug Trafficking Terms: A Substantive and Methodological Expansion of a Verbal Behavior Research Program

Download PDF
16 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/functional-assessment-of-drug-trafficking-terms-a-substantive-and-pqJBAxg9XN
Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 by Angela Sanguinetti & Wendy Reyes
Subject
Psychology; Clinical Psychology; Personality and Social Psychology
ISSN
1064-9506
eISSN
2376-6786
DOI
10.5210/bsi.v20i0.3739
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Narcotics trafficking is often described in ambiguous and inaccurate terms. This is problematic because imprecise verbal behavior in relation to some state of affairs inhibits effective action with regard to those events. An innovative methodology was used to explore verbal behavior in diverse media reports following the 2001 prison escape of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, reputed prominent agent of the “Sinaloa Cartel.” Results demonstrated that the terms “cartel,” “mafia,” gang,” and “organization” were controlled in part by the same stimulus conditions, but which was emitted on a particular occasion was predictably related to other variables, including the speaker’s affiliation, immediate verbal context, and country of publication. We conclude that more precise terminology could improve efforts to understand and curtail narcotics trafficking. We also believe this methodology should continue to be developed as it may prove useful in analyzing other terms related to important social issues.

Journal

Behavior and Social Issues – Springer Journals

Published: May 1, 2011

References

  • El siglo de las drogas: El narcotrafico, del porfiriato al nuevo milenio
    Astorga, L
  • Drug war zone: Frontline dispatches from the streets of El Paso and Juarez
    Campbell, H
  • The crime that pays: Drug trafficking and organized crime in Canada
    Desroches, F J
  • A functional analysis of a behavior analyst’s functional analysis
    Dougher, M J
  • The architecture of drug trafficking: Network forms of organization in the Columbian cocaine trade
    Kenney, M
  • The functional analysis of psychological terms: In defense of a research program
    Leigland, S
  • The operational analysis of psychological terms
    Skinner, B F
  • Verbal behavior
    Skinner, B F
  • Beyond freedom and dignity
    Skinner, B F