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| Focus on Ethics |
January,
2007 Page 9 |
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In addition to routine correspondence with certificants, we sometimes receive calls or emails from people with ethical questions. This is one of the most difficult parts of our job because we are often unable to provide the definitive answers that these individuals seek. We are not in a position to render opinions on specific matters because is impossible for us to know all of the facts about a situation; especially when an email or phone call from a single person is our only source of information. As much as we know you’d appreciate a direct quote from us telling you “yes” or “no” in a particular case, we simply are unable to provide such specific guidance. Our legal counsel would be quite unhappy with us if we did! As with any high stakes profession, answers often do not lie clearly within one section of the BACB’s Guidelines for Responsible Conduct. In fact, in most cases, the parties involved will need to research and weigh together several sections of the Guidelines, along with other factors (e.g., applicable laws in the region, current research on a particular technique) to determine what is ethically best. It is important to keep in mind that the BACB’s Guidelines for Responsible conduct are, ultimately, only guidelines. They contain general information to assist certificants and consumers in making responsible decisions about the provision of behavior analytic services. They are not enforced by the BACB. Whenever an ethical question arises, it is also important to consider the BACB’s Professional Disciplinary Standards. Unlike the Guidelines, the Disciplinary Standards are enforced. The Professional Disciplinary Standards define the types of activities that may be grounds for the BACB to issue sanctions against an individual’s BACB certification. If a violation of the Disciplinary Standards occurs, the BACB relies heavily on individuals close to the situation to document the violation and submit a complaint to the BACB. When viewing the Disciplinary Standards |
on www.BACB.com, there is a link to the Consumer Complaint Format, which describes the types of information required in order for a possible violation to be reviewed. The same format applies to complaints filed by non-consumers (e.g., certificants or other involved parties). We encourage certificants to contact us with their ethical concerns. We can often identify the sections of the Guidelines that may be helpful in discussing the situation with others involved and, if appropriate, help identify whether the issue appears to fall within one of the activities identified in the Professional Disciplinary Standards. In addition, we’d like to use this section of our newsletter to bring you discussions about ethical issues. We hope to make “Focus on Ethics” a regular section of the newsletter that will be thought-provoking and promote discussion among certificants. For our first installation, we would like to present a Q&A from Dr. Jon Bailey and Dr. Mary Burch. In recent years, Dr. Bailey & Dr. Burch have been writing and presenting around the country about ethical issues in the practice of behavior analysis. They have generously agreed to share with us some of their writing that expresses their opinions on common ethical questions and their interpretation of the BACB Guidelines for Responsible Conduct. We hope to bring you additional writings from Dr. Bailey & Dr. Burch in the future, as well as contributions from other authors. While we are happy to be able to bring you this column on ethical issues, please remember that the answers provided are the authors’ personal-professional opinions, and are not held, agreed to, supported or endorsed by the BACB. The BACB does not consult on specific ethical cases. The answers provided are for general educational purposes. The facts and circumstances of each client/certificant relationship may vary and this article is not intended to be factually specific consultation on a particular matter. |
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| The BACB: The Best Stimulant for Behavior Analysis Training Programs Page 1 |
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| Did
you know? Page 2 |
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| News
and Notes Page 4 |
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Focus on Ethics |
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| The Ethical Behavior Analyst Page 10 |
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| Where Do We Get Those Exam Questions, Anyway? Page 11 |
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| Many Thanks Page 13 |
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