BACB ETHICS

Rian Martinez
10.5.2022 ​
HISTORY
​
• Established Code in 2001
• Professional and Ethical Compliance
Code for Behavior Analysts (BACB,
2016)
• Shift to “enforceable rules” as opposed to
“guidelines”
Presentation title 3

GUIDELINES VERSUS
COMPLIANCE
• In an effort to articulate what ethical practice of ABA should look like in 2001 the BACB published the code
of conduct titled: Guidelines for Responsible Conduct for Behavior Analysts (BACB, 2001)

• 15 years later the revised code was published: Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts, (BACB Code, 2016).
• Again the code was updated to follow in 2020
• Assumption is made that ethical behavior for a behavior analyst can be defined by a set of rules and be
applied to any and ALL circumstances.
Presentation title 4

NOW: THE ETHICS

CODE FOR
.

BEHAVIOR
ANALYSTS (2020)
Presentation title 5

SOME ADDITIONS
• the reorganization of the ethical standards into six different sections rather than 10
• responsibility as a professional, responsibility in practice, responsibility
clients and stakeholders, responsibility to supervisees and trainees,
responsibility in public statements, and responsibility in research

• the reduction of 169 ethical standards to 85 ethical standards.

OPINION: RULES
VERSUS
GUIDELINES
PROS AND CONS

Personal VS Professional
 CASE 22 AVA IS AN REGISTERED BEHAVIOR TECHNICIAN (RBT) WHO
PROVIDES DIRECT INTERVENTION TO AN ADULT, ROD, DIAGNOSED
WITH A DD. WHEN SHE ARRIVED AT ROD’S HOUSE, ROD’S MOTHER
(WHOM HE LIVES WITH) ASKED AVA TO INTEGRATE
SCENTED SPRAYS WITHIN SESSIONS. ONE SPRAY IS MEANT TO BE
USED WHEN ROD IS PARTICULARLY “ROWDY” TO CALM HIM
DOWN, AND THE OTHER IS AN “ALERTING SPRAY” WHEN HE NEEDS
TO “PERK UP A BIT.” THE SPRAYS ARE NONTOXIC, MOSTLY
SMELLING OF LAVENDER FOR THE CALMING SPRAY AND CITRUS FOR
THE ALERTING SPRAY. ROD’S MOTHER TOLD AVA THAT THE
OTHER RBT WHO HAD SESSIONS EARLIER IN THE WEEK HAS
ALREADY STARTED USING THE SPRAYS. ROD’S MOTHER IS
PARTICULARLY EXCITED ABOUT USING THE SPRAYS BECAUSE SHE
HAS HEARD GREAT RESULTS FROM ANOTHER PARENT OF A LEARNER
THAT
ATTENDS ROD’S DAY PROGRAM. AVA IS UNSURE WHETHER THE
BOARD CERTIFIED BEHAVIOR ANALYST (BCBA) SUPERVISING
THE CASE IS AWARE OF THE USE OF THE SCENTED SPRAYS (SUSH,2019)
 LUCA, A BCBA, IS PASSIONATE ABOUT BEHAVIOR
ANALYSIS AND ABOUT SHARING THE CAPABILITIES
OF THE FIELD WITH THE PUBLIC. HE HAS
ESTABLISHED A LARGE SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING
USING THE HANDLE “A-B-A-MAZING.” THROUGH HIS
VARIOUS SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES, LUCA REGULARLY
POSTS SHORT VIDEO CONTENT: (A) DISCUSSING
ASPECTS OF BEHAVIOR ANALYTIC STRATEGIES, (B)
PORTRAYING INTERVIEWS WITH MEMBERS OF THE
FIELD, AND (C) MAKING CREATIVE MEMES AND GIFS
WITH ABA-BASED TOPICS AND HUMOR. LUCA ALSO
ALLOWS OTHERS TO POST TO HIS PAGES AND WILL
PERIODICALLY SHARE THE GRAPHICS CREATED BY
THESE OTHER INDIVIDUALS. ONE MEME SHARED BY
LUCA, CREATED BY ONE OF HIS FOLLOWERS,
DEPICTS A PICTURE OF AN ADULT SPRAYING A CHILD
WITH A WATER BOTTLE WITH A CAPTION THAT SAYS,
“RBT’S BE LIKE: BEHAVIOR REDUCED. I’M OUT.” LUCA
RECEIVED SEVERAL COMMENTS FROM HIS
FOLLOWERS EXPRESSING THEIR CONCERN ABOUT
THE CONTENT OF THE GRAPHIC (SUSH & NAJDOWSKI,
2019).
REFERENCES
Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2016). Professional and ethical compliance
code for behavior analysts. Littleton, CO: Author.

Sush, D. J., & Najdowski, A. C. (2019). A Workbook of Ethical Case Scenarios in

Applied Behavior Analysis. London: Academic Press.

(Zheng, P., Gray, M.J., Zhu, W.Z., & Jiang, G.R. (2014). Influence of culture on ethical decision making in
psychology: Ethics & Behavior, 24(6).