Ethics For Behavior Analysts
Ethics For Behavior Analysts
“Te 4th edition of Ethics for Behavior Analysts is a must read for all behavior
analysts. Professors, students, and practitioners have relied on Drs. Bailey
and Burch as well-established experts in the areas of ethics and professional
behavior in the feld of ABA for years and will be well-served continuing to do
so with the latest edition to this textbook.”
Stephanie Kuhn, PhD, LP, LBA, BCBA-D, Associate Professor;
Program Coordinator, Applied Behavior Analysis Program,
Western Connecticut State University
“Tis book is the ‘go-to’ ethics book for our feld of applied behavior analysis.
Bailey and Burch handle the universe of ethics with a perfect touch. Ranging
from formal presentation of ethical requirements, to real-life examples that all
readers will relate to, this book will raise the awareness of ethics and ethical
conduct, which in turn will increase the chances that the clients who we serve
will be treated humanely and safely.”
Tomas Zane, PhD, BCBA-D, Institute
for Behavioral Studies, Endicott College
“Bailey and Burch bring clarity to the BACB Professional and Ethical
Compliance Code through cogent discussion of each element and thought-
ful consideration of the myriad issues facing practicing behavior analysts.
Practitioners of all levels will fnd valuable insight from numerous examples
of real-life ethical dilemmas.”
Dorothea C. Lerman, PhD, BCBA-D,
University of Houston, Clear Lake
Ethics for Behavior Analysts
Fourth Edition
Typeset in MinionPro
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
vii
viii • Contents
ix
x • Preface to the Tird Edition
of the day, and I don’t see any consistent pattern,” I ofered. Dr.
Meyerson let me go on for about 10 minutes, nodding and occa-
sionally taking a puf on his pipe (smoking was allowed every-
where in those days). Ten he stopped me abruptly and, gesturing
with his pipe, began to ask me questions that I had never thought
about. Did I know my “subject’s” name? Did I have permission to
observe and report on this individual? Who gave me permission
to look at this medical record? Had I discussed this case with any
of my graduate student colleagues or shown the data in class? I
had no good answers to any of Dr. Meyerson’s questions. I wasn’t
thinking of my “subject” as a person, only as a source of data for
my thesis. It never dawned on me that “Billy” had rights to privacy
and confdentiality and that he needed to be treated with dignity
and respect, not as just another “subject” to help me complete a
degree requirement. As it turns out, Dr. Meyerson was ahead of
his time in grilling me with ethical questions that would not be
addressed in legal circles for another ten years (see Chapter 1).
Dr. Meyerson’s questions helped sensitize me to looking at what
I was doing from an extra-experimental perspective. How would
I like to be treated if I was a subject in someone’s experiment? Or
how would I want my mother or sister to be treated? “With kind-
ness, compassion and respect” is no doubt the quick response that
most of us would ofer. And so it is that ethics in psychology, and
particularly in behavior analysis, can be easily personalized and
made tangible if we will just stop and think about what we are doing.
Students today have a great advantage over my generation. We
had no code of ethics to guide us; we had one foot in the animal
lab and one in the world of academia, and we were trying to fg-
ure out how to transform powerful operant conditioning prin-
ciples into efective treatments. It didn’t dawn on us at the time
that ethics was involved at all, until, of course, we encountered
Dr. Meyerson. Today, graduate students in behavior analysis
have nearly 50 years of applied research and practice to fall back
on (and to learn from and be held accountable for knowing). In
addition, they have a wealth of resources on ethics, including
Preface to the Tird Edition • xi
method over the past several years is that it brings the topic to life
and generates excellent discussions of very relevant issues.
One troubling problem I encountered in teaching the “Ethics
for Behavior Analysis” course was that specifc code items were
ofen very much out of context or written in such stilted legal-
ese that students did not understand why they were necessary or
how they were relevant. I found myself ofen “translating” spe-
cifc items into plain English. Tis process, along with providing
some historic context and background about how and why certain
items were important in our feld, seemed to increase the level of
understanding for the students.
Tis book, then, is the culmination of this attempt to present a
practical, student-centered approach to teaching ethics in behav-
ior analysis. All of the cases are based on real examples but edited
so as to avoid embarrassment or legal hassles, and the authors of
the cases gave permission for their use (those in quotation marks
are direct quotes from submitted cases). In addition, for each case,
there is a commentary at the end of each chapter.
A fnal word about using this volume: this text is intended to
be a practical handbook, and we specifcally attempted to avoid
making this an academic or theoretical work. Many people
teaching ethics courses will routinely have students read the US
Constitution, view One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and research
their state laws on limits of treatment, requirements for keep-
ing documents, maintaining confdentiality, and other relevant
issues. My experience is that it takes some creative digging to
fnd relevant readings. Exposing students to a variety of sources,
from Skinner and Sidman to Association for Behavior Analysis
International (ABAI) position statements, is useful in preparing
them to tackle the world of ethical issues they will confront. We
have tried to summarize what we consider the most important
and pressing issues for new Board Certifed Behavior Analysts
(BCBAs) in Chapter 15, “A Dozen Practical Tips for Ethical
Conduct on Your First Job.” We hope you enjoy using this book
and welcome input and dialogue on efective ways of teaching this
most important topic.
Preface to the
Fourth Edition
xiii
xiv • Preface to the Fourth Edition
not prepared to deal with diversity issues with their clients and
colleagues. Tis new code deals extensively with these concerns
plus additional questions of exploitative relationships, and a long-
standing and pervasive problem of dual relationships. All these
topics and more are presented in preview format in Chapter 2. As
in the previous edition, we rely heavily on case examples based
on questions submitted to the ABA Ethics Hotline to illustrate
the ethical problems that behavior analysts can expect to encoun-
ter on a weekly basis. It is hoped by studying actual practice and
ethical dilemmas that new Board Certifed Behavior Analysts
(BCBAs) will be better prepared to take on a complex world of
behavior analysis service delivery.
—Jon S. Bailey
Acknowledgments
xv
xvi • Acknowledgments
xvii
xviii • Disclaimer
One
Background for Ethics
in Behavior Analysis
1
How We Got Here
3 DOI: 10.4324/9781003198550-2
4 • Background for Ethics in Behavior Analysis
You don’t have to know why a behavior occurs (it was assumed
to be learned—an “operant behavior”); you need to know only
how to manipulate consequences. Food is a primary reinforcer
for almost everybody; just make it contingent on the behavior
you want. For inappropriate or dangerous behavior, use con-
sequences (punishers) to “decelerate” the behavior.
Custodial care was the norm until “behavior mod” came along
and ofered dramatic treatment for severe behavior problems.
With no code of ethics and essentially no restrictions, this “treat-
ment” quickly drifed into fat-out abuse.
two behavior analysts (Dr. Jack May Jr. and Dr. Todd Risley).
Interviews were set up with more than 70 individuals, including
current staf members, former employees, residents, and relatives
of residents (including one whose son died at Sunland Miami),
with some interviews lasting 10 hours. Te committee also exam-
ined original logs, internal memoranda, a personal diary, and per-
sonnel records.
It seems that Dr. E., a psychologist who had joined the staf
in 1971 and who had presented himself as an expert in behavior
modifcation, had set up a truly ironically named program called
the “Achievement Division” in three cottages, allegedly to study
“some rather esoteric questions of statistical models for economic
analysis” (McAllister, 1972, p. 15). Dr. E., over the next year,
established a “treatment” program that consisted of, or evolved
into, abusive incidents including the following: forced public
masturbation (for residents caught masturbating); forced public
homosexual acts (again for those caught in the act); forced wash-
ing of the mouth with soap (as punishment for lying, abusive lan-
guage, or simply speaking at all); beatings with a wooden paddle
(ten “licks” for running away); and excessive use of restraints,
including one resident who was restrained for more than 24
hours and another who was forced to sit in a bathtub for 2 days.
Restraints were routinely
used as punishment rather
than an emergency method Dr. E. established a
of preventing self-injury. As “treatment” program that
if this were not enough, the consisted of forced public
list of horrifc, systematic masturbation, forced public
abuses goes on: a male client
required to wear women’s
homosexual acts, forced
underpants; excessive use washing of the mouth
of lengthy (e.g., four-hour) with soap, beatings with
seclusions in barren and a wooden paddle, and
unpadded rooms with no excessive use of restraints.
permission to leave to use
How We Got Here • 7
FOLLOWUP
In most cases, a report such as that produced by the blue-ribbon
committee would simply fnd its way to the shelves of state bureau-
crats and languish with no lasting efect. Such was not the case
in Florida. Te Florida Association for Retarded Children (now
the Arc of Florida) took up the cause of humane treatment and
ultimately endorsed the notion of supporting data-based behav-
ioral treatment, using strict guidelines, under close supervision by
properly trained professionals.
Te Division of Retardation,
under the guidance of Charles
Charles Cox instituted
Cox, instituted reforms includ- reforms including setting
ing setting up both statewide up both statewide and local
and local peer review com- peer review committees
mittees for behavior modifca- for behavior modification
tion programming in facilities
throughout Florida.
programming in facilities
Te Statewide Peer Review throughout Florida.
Committee for Behavior Modi-
fcation (PRC) then established a set of guidelines for the use of
behavioral procedures, which were subsequently adopted by the
National Association for Retarded Citizens and by the Florida
Division of Retardation in the Health and Rehabilitative Services
Manual (HRSM) 160–4 (May et al., 1976). Te state-funded PRC
proceeded to make visits to institutions around the state over the
next several years, educating staf members about the guidelines
and making recommendations for more ethical treatment. By
1980, the PRC reached a consensus that it was time to encourage
How We Got Here • 11
REFERENCES
Krasner, L., & Ullmann, L. P. (Eds.). (1965). Research in behavior modi-
fcation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.
May, J. G., Risley, T. R., Twardosz, S., Friedman, P., Bijou, S. W., &
Wexler, D. (1976). Guidelines for the use of behavioral procedures
in state programs for retarded persons. M.R. Research, NARC
Research & Demonstration Institute, 1(1), 1–73.
McAllister, J. W. (1972). Report of resident abuse investigating com-
mittee. Tallahassee, FL: Division of Retardation, Department of
Health and Rehabilitative Services.
Neuringer, C., & Michael, J. L. (Eds.). (1970). Behavior modifcation in
clinical psychology. New York: Apple-Century-Crofs.
Ullmann, L. P., & Krasner, L. (1965). Case studies in behavior modifca-
tion. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.
2
Changes to the 2022 Ethics Code
15 DOI: 10.4324/9781003198550-3
16 • Background for Ethics in Behavior Analysis
In the 2022 code, there is one clarifcation about romantic and sexual
relationships that is much needed but is still lef vague. We have pro-
vided some discussion about this topic at the end of this chapter.
In this chapter, the additions to the 2022 code as written by the
BACB are listed frst. Immediately afer each addition is a sum-
mary statement by the authors. Te section on additions to the
code is followed by the deletions or “moved” items, and fnally,
one clarifcation concludes the chapter.
We intend the term supervisees to include trainees, students
and RBTs. When we say clients, this includes stakeholders of all
sorts including parents, and when we refer to a company, we mean
for this to include agencies, clinics, businesses, and organizations
both for proft and non-proft.
2.02 Timeliness
Behavior analysts deliver services and carry out necessary service-
related administrative responsibilities in a timely manner.
Changes to the 2022 Ethics Code • 19
goals, (2) the client is not benefting from the service, (3) the
behavior analyst and/or their supervisees or trainees are
exposed to potentially harmful conditions that cannot be rea-
sonably resolved, (4) the client and/or relevant stakeholder
requests discontinuation, (5) the relevant stakeholders are
not complying with the behavior-change intervention despite
appropriate eforts to address barriers, or (6) services are no
longer funded. Behavior analysts provide the client and/or
relevant stakeholders with a written plan for discontinuing
services, document acknowledgment of the plan, review the
plan throughout the discharge process, and document all
steps taken.