IV. Antecedents, Behaviors, & Consequences

Antecedents

Antecedents are events that precede an act. Think of a common everyday occurrence like eating. What are some of the things that precede the act of eating--hunger, desire, nerves, or time awareness? Or you might simply see something that looks delicious. Each explains why people eat.

Substance abuse is a common problem among offenders, yet individual offenders take drugs for a wide variety of reasons. For some offenders, drug use occurs after fighting with a loved one, losing a job, being bored, feeling stress, or hanging out with a certain group of friends. Identifying the people, places, or situation(s) that leads to the use of drugs (or the committing of crimes) helps an offender become aware of the factors that influence these behaviors.