Against the use of rewards in residential child care

Rewards given to children and young people for meeting behavioural targets appear to be pervasive across children's homes, although there is little research on their effectiveness and their possible limitations. In this short article, arguments against the use of rewards in residential child care will be explored, including those related to children’s cause and effect thinking, power imbalances between staff and young people, the communication underneath the behaviour, and the undermining of a young person's intrinsic motivation. The possibility of residential child care without rewards and reward systems will be discussed.