Abstract
Currently, certified behavior analysts are required to adhere to the ethical rules established by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board® (BACB®) known as the Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts (BACB, 2014; hereafter referred to as the BACB Code). Applying these rules without context, however, can result in an overly simplified and mechanistic approach to ethical problem solving. Ethical rules that lack guiding principles may also pose dissemination challenges for behavior analysts tasked with communicating the field’s ethical ideals to nonbehavioral colleagues and stakeholders. This article describes the process that our applied behavior analysis organization used to develop a set of guiding ethical principles to supplement the BACB Code. These principles guide our members’ ethical decision making and assist them in disseminating our organization’s ideals. Following a description of the principle development process, we present our organization’s ethical principles and discuss how behavior analysts can use them to make clinical and ethical decisions, and address dissemination challenges.
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Notes
Client is broadly defined as an individual, group of individuals, organization, or community receiving ABA services by a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. These services may include the instruction, supervision, research, or professional practice of ABA.
The document containing the preamble and ethical principles can be found on our ABA program website at https://education.uw.edu/programs/graduate/special-education/aba
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Kelly, E.M., Greeny, K., Rosenberg, N. et al. When Rules Are Not Enough: Developing Principles to Guide Ethical Conduct. Behav Analysis Practice 14, 491–498 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00515-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00515-x