The Ethics Code is often perceived to be a list of rules – dos and don’ts – that BCBAs must adhere to in order to stay in “compliance.” To be expected of one of the three credentialing organizations (BACB, QABA, and IBAO) that certifies and credentials behavior analysts and behavior technicians, the BACB has done an extremely thorough job of task analyzing and developing a very comprehensive ethics code. At 22 pages, the 2022 BCBA Ethics Code provides a very comprehensive framework to govern clinical practice and professional conduct, yet at the end of the day, unless practitioners apply the Ethics Code as it was intended – to push the field to strive for the highest level of quality possible (as quickly as possible), with a humanistic, compassionate perspective – it’s nothing more than a bunch of words.
In this series, we will take a different approach to training by using the BCBA Ethics Code as a guidepost to examine common ethical violations and dilemmas as reported by practitioners, parents, and other stakeholders using a multi-contextual approach. Each scenario selected for discussion will be analyzed by Dr. Jon Bailey, whose knowledge of the BCBA Ethics Code supersedes that of any other person in the world. Additionally, with the help of our panelists, experienced practitioners who actually live and breathe situations covered in the ethics code daily, we will also examine the same scenario from the perspective of identifying practical solutions to guide practitioners in their decision-making process.
During this 2 hour webinar, we will briefly review the history and evolution of the BCBA Ethics Code and review the Summary of Ethics Violations as published by the BACB. The remainder of the time will be spent reviewing Section 1 – Responsibility as a Professional by reviewing situations and scenarios submitted by practitioners through Dr. Bailey’s Ethics Hotline and other mediums.
Competent, well-trained Behavior Analysts have the ability to transform lives, yet we consistently see examples of behavior analysts engaging in deceitful, sometimes illegal behavior, implementing poor programming, engaging in unprofessional conduct, practicing outside their scope of practice competence, engaging in dual relationships, etc., etc., etc.
With this new format, we hope to be able to establish a new standard of excellence that all ethical behavior analysts can live up to so that we can begin to reverse the tide of poor ABA and business practices demonstrated in the field today.
Learning Objectives:
List all 16 parts of Section 1 – Responsibility as a Professional
List the top 5 categories of ethics violations reported to the BACB (2019-2021)
List 2 examples of 1.05 Practicing Within Scope of Competence and steps to take to expand and maintain the scope of competence
Explain how to implement 1.07 Cultural Responsiveness and Diversity in practice
List antecedent strategies to minimize potential conflict of interest that may arise from 1.12 Giving and Receiving Gifts
Explain how personal biases and challenges may impact decision-making and list 3 strategies to minimize their impact
