I also don't believe that reward systems are ideal long-term, because the reward always needs to get bigger to have the same impact.
I agree that reward systems aren't ideal long-term. We used one from TTDC for a while, which helped calm down the household. We then transitioned to a more informal system, whereby when the child misbehaves, I bellow at him that his privileges are revoked, then give them back soon after if he toes the line. :|
I don't think the rewards in TTDC need to be increased in order to have the same effect, though. The way it works is that harmful stimuli are removed from the system, and the child is essentially empowered to make choices about how his day will go. If the child doesn't want privileges, the child can choose to misbehave. It's based on very gentle but sustained pressure and the idea that over time this will trigger a change, like using dripping water torture to convince a prisoner to conform. But in a nice way.
It also means that you are creating false consequences for actions, as opposed to your child learning to make their own choices and accept the natural consequences that life offers for this.
I don't know that the consequences are so false. Many rules under which parent punish children may not be natural or directly logical consequences, in terms of directly taking away the abused privilege or object etc., but sometimes there are no truly natural consequences to impose, just as raping a rapist is not a good or natural punishment.
What TTDC does, in part, is to create a behavioral currency that, when implemented correctly, can completely take the animus out of parental corrections. A child can learn from his mistakes in a thousand small ways without a huge deal being made about it, since the system when correctly implemented prevents overreactions by parents. For families engaged in daily battles this can be a huge emergency improvement, and allow breathing room for further tweaks.
