Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to and highlight some particularly enlightening arguments described by Rosenberg and Schwartz (2019). First, I emphasize the importance of the role of culture in ethical analysis and describe how the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts (2014; hereafter referred to as the BACB Code) unintentionally underplays the importance of culture. Second, I express support for the model of ethical analysis proposed by Rosenberg and Schwartz and explain how their model provides an excellent and much-needed framework for the observation (and subsequent study) of ethical decision-making in behavior-analytic practice. Finally, I go all in and join Rosenberg and Schwartz in their call for scholars to critically analyze and discuss the BACB Code and to challenge the status quo (or call into question those who do). Such a discussion is healthy for our science and understanding of ethics and behavior analysis.
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Notes
My informal observations also suggest that BACB Code 1.06d has resulted in a surge of “Should you take a glass of water from a client?” presentations at the Association for Behavior Analysis International’s and other conferences, likely detracting from more important and meaningful discussions related to ethics and behavior analysis.
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Brodhead, M.T. Culture Always Matters: Some Thoughts on Rosenberg and Schwartz. Behav Analysis Practice 12, 826–830 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-019-00351-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-019-00351-8