Welcome to Behaviorbabe

When approached with a questionable situation or ethical concerns, behavior analysts should rely on three (3) specific questions (Cooper, Heron, Heward, 2007)

1- What's the right thing to do?

2- What's worth doing?

3- What does it mean to be a good BCBA?

- Ethics in behavior analysis can be tricky especially because behavior analysts are called in when behaviors are quite severe and complex (Bailey and Burch, 2011)

- Community standards, laws, prevailing philosophies and individual freedoms determine ethical procedures in behavior analysis (Bailey and Burch, 2011)

via Autism Training Solutions

When Professionals Disagree Over Treatment Decisions

Ethical dilemmas are commonplace in our field.  I’m sure you can think of several ethical issues that cropped up within the last week alone. While the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB) has created guidelines for such matters, real world scenarios do not often fit into the examples provided. In day to day practice, we are faced with complex challenges that require both an accurate interpretation of the guidelines, and also, a fair amount of independent judgment for the situations that aren’t black and white (which, lets face it, a ton of them are not so cut and dry).  We need help and collaboration to make the right decisions. 

ABSTRACT: We propose that individuals who are recipients or potential recipients of treatment designed to change their behavior have the right to a therapeutic environment, services whose overriding goal is personal welfare, treatment by a competent behavior analyst, programs that teach functional skills, behavioral assessment and ongoing evaluation, and the most effective treatment procedures available.