ABA632 Ethics Compliance Code

Wright P. I. (2019). Cultural humility in the practice of applied behavior analysis. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 12(4), 805–809. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-019-00343-8

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) has the intent to improve the human condition in a broad range of categories of practice and for diverse groups of individuals across cultures. The data on the diversity of the professionals practicing in ABA are sparse.
Access to ABA intervention is inequitable, and many current established behavioral interventions do not adequately address cultural differences. Cultural humility is a framework used by other professional disciplines to address both institutional and individual behavior that contributes to the power imbalance, the marginalization of communities, and disparities in health access and outcomes. This article discusses the adoption of culturally humble practices, specifically through the use of self-reflection, by the field of ABA to address disparities and improve outcomes. A specific framework from the field of social work is shared, and an adaptation to the behavior-analytic practice of self-management is provided.

Leland, W., & Stockwell, A. (2019). A self-assessment tool for cultivating affirming practices with transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) clients, supervisees, students, and colleagues. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 12(4), 816–825. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-019-00375-0

In the field of applied behavior analysis, professionals are likely to interact with transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) people, either as clients, in a supervision context, in the university classroom, or in the workplace. This paper presents a self-assessment checklist tool that can be used to assess one’s current behaviors of TGNC-affirming practices, along with guidance for using the tool to achieve growth in this area.

Beene N. (2019). Letter to the Editor: One perspective on diversity in ABA. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 12(4), 899–901. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-019-00378-x

Our profession of applied behavior analysis is lacking in the area of diversity. We cannot overestimate the importance of perspective when dealing with the issue of diversity. What tools does one use to evaluate another person after meeting the person for the first time? How much of what you “know” about a person is based on the labels you have assigned to him or her? Can your response to meeting someone for the first time be better conceptualized as rule-governed behavior (in other words, verbal generalizations, as opposed to tacts based on previous experience with that person individually)? If your answers to these questions involve behavior that is both contingency shaped and rule governed, then as behavior analysts, we would seem to have an opportunity to affect this behavior in a positive way. If our applied science is to be useful and truly comprehensive, this must be equally true of our behavior surrounding diversity. This letter to the editor includes personal experiences and recommends practical actions we can take to move the needle on diversity (in our field) in the right direction.