Ethics for Behavior Analysts: A Practical Guide to the Behavior Analyst Certification Board Guidelines for Responsible Conduct

Behavior analysis, a rapidly growing profession, began with the use and application of conditioning and learning techniques to modify the behavior of children or adults presenting severe management problems, often because of developmental disabilities. Now behavior analysts work in a variety of settings, from clinics and schools to workplaces. Especially since their practice often involves aversive stimuli or punishment, they confront many special ethical challenges. Recently, the Behavior Analysis Certification Board codified a set of ten fundamental ethical guidelines to be followed by all behavior analysts and understood by all students and trainees seeking certification.

This book shows readers how to follow the BACB guidelines in action. The authors first describe core ethical principles and then explain each guideline in detail, in easily comprehensible, everyday language. The text is richly illuminated by more than a hundred vivid case scenarios about which the authors pose, and later answer questions for readers. Useful appendices include the BACB Guidelines, an index to them, practice scenarios, and suggested further reading.

Practitioners, instructors, supervisors, students, and trainees alike will welcome this invaluable new aid to professional development.

I found this book extremely well written and practically useful. I have especially benefited from the real life case examples in the book that illustrate ethical rules and guidelines. I would like to thank the authors for writing an invaluable book on ethics.
—Weihe Huang
Behavior Analyst Regional Center of the East Bay, California

Bailey and Burch have done the field a valuable service with their comprehensive, in-depth coverage of the Behavior Analyst Certification Guidelines using real world examples and scenarios. I especially liked chapter 14, which provides a dozen tips for ethical conduct on one's first job. Assomeone who teaches an ABA class on ethics and gives workshops on clinical/ethical issues, I am delighted that I now have the perfect book to use for my class and recommend to workshop participants.

—Richard M. Foxx
Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg