Punishment and penalties never solve a problem; they only help stop undesirable behaviour. It does not replace the unproductive behaviour with the productive one. If, with punishment, it is not communicated what the desirable behaviour is, then it’s quite possible that one undesirable behaviour gets replaced by another undesired behaviour.

After punishment, the chances of repeating the same behaviour are very high when the punishment ends. That is the reason some people go to jail multiple times in their lives, as after punishment ends, they recover from it and then continue on the same pattern. The same is the case with people getting speeding tickets.

Instead of punishing, ignore the undesirable behaviour and introduce positive reinforcement for the positive alternative behaviour. When trying to exterminate a behaviour by ignoring it, there are high chances that initially we will face more of the same behaviour with emotional outburst.

If you notice that after some time the undesirable behaviour has popped up again, it is nothing to be concerned about. It is an indication that the accompanying positive reinforcement needs to be very strong.

Reference: Bringing out the best in people by Aubrey C. Daniels