CHAPTER 19
A DOZEN PRACTICAL TIPS
FOR ETHICAL CONDUCT
ON YOUR FIRST JOB
Brittany English
Caldwell College
Outline
12 PRACTICAL TIPS!
Choosing a setting or company
2.
Working with your supervisor
3.
Learn job expectations up front
4.
Don’t get in over your head
5.
Use data for decision making
6.
Training and supervising others
7.
Time keeping for billing and supervision
8.
Conflicts of interest
9.
Finding a “trusted colleague”
10.
Touching people
11.
Dealing with nonbehavioral colleagues
12.
Sexual harassment
SUMMARY
QUESTIONS
REFERENCES
1.
Bailey & Burch, 2011
“As a student, thoughts about
ethical problems in your
chosen profession probably
seem far, far away and much
more theoretical than practical
at this point.”
1. Choosing a Setting or Company

Primary considerations??
 Salary
$$
 Location
 Potential for advancement
 Matching professional interests and behavioral skills
BUT…
WHAT ABOUT THE ETHICS AND VALUES OF THE
COMPANY OR ORGANIZATION?
1. Choosing a Setting or Company


Behavior analysts are a
commodity!
Ask questions! - the way the interviewer handles the questions may help you
determine whether there might be some ethical problems with the way the company is run 

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History of the agency – who founded it?
What is the overall purpose or mission?
Are there any political issues connected with the organization?
Are there any citations from recent state or federal surveys?
How many other behavior analysts are currently employed here?
What is the funding stream?
Who are the clients?
Who will you be supervising?
Will you be expected to attract and hire BCBAs?
2. Working With Your Supervisor


Ask to meet with your potential supervisor during
your interview!
Things you want to learn about your potential
supervisor:
Are they the reinforcing kind of person or negative?
 Are they interested in working with you, or do they want
you to do their work?
 Is there any chance they are somewhat jealous of you?
 Are they a “just get it done” person or a “Be thorough, get
it right, we want what is best for the clients” supervisor?
 What is their philosophy of management?

2. Working With Your Supervisor

You should make sure that you will not be asked to do
anything unethical



Will you be able to do your work responsibly?
Will you have the time and resources to do a great, ethical job?
Will your supervisor will be there to guide you through troubles
should the occasion arise?
3. Learn Job Expectations Up Front

Find out what your day-today responsibilities will be


Many companies have
their own way to doing
things!


3 month grace periods
Ask for examples
Will you be working within
your level of competence or
whether you will be asked
to take on cases for which
you are not fully qualified?

MOST IMPORTANT!
4. Don’t Get In Over Your Head

Be careful when taking on more than
you can handle or taking on cases
without some recognition of their
difficulty!


DOING MORE IS NOT ALWAYS
ASSOCIATED WITH DOING BETTER!
What do you do if a case is presented
to you and you have no expertise in the
area of predicted treatment?

Always work in your range of expertise.

Find a professional to mentor you

Consider taking additional graduate
course-work.
5. Using Data For Decision Making
Data collection & Data analysis!
 It is unethical to start an intervention
without baseline data & it’s unethical to
continue a treatment without taking more
data to see if it was effective.
(BACB guideline, 4.04.)

The Florida Association for Behavior Analysis

So…as long as you’re taking data and using them to
evaluate the procedure you are ethically in the clear,
right?...
NOT EXACTLY!
5. Using Data For Decision Making

There are data, and then there are data!


Data = reliable & valid
As an ethical behavior analyst you are OBLIGATED
to be…
1. Data based in your decisions
2. Develop a high quality data collection system
that allows you to address issues to reliability,
validity, and demonstrates experimental control!
6. Training and Supervising Others


You are ultimately responsible for the programs
effectiveness! – NO pressure –
True or False

It is ethical to give parents a written program and then ask
“are there any questions?”

It is unethical to explain the program and then leave a written
copy.
6. Training and Supervising Others

When training staff…

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



Don’t lecture, DEMONSTRATE!
Have staff demonstrate what they’ve learned
Provide immediate positive feedback!
Provide samples
Provide positive reinforcement on a daily basis
When giving negative feedback, remember, the purpose of the
correction is to change the behavior, not punish it!
“you know that I value what you do and that your work here has been
excellent; now let me just point out something that is not quite right in this
behavior program”
7. Time Keeping for Billing & Supervision
ETHICAL



keep precise records of
each and every billable unit
Contracted for 20 hours =
working 20 hours
Completed 20 supervision
hours
UNETHICAL



Rely on memory…it can’t
be that hard!
Contracted for 20 hours =
working 16 hours … who
will know?!?
Completed 20 hours but
lets say 30!
An essential part of professional ethics is ACCOUNTABILITY!
Keep track of how you spend your time!
8. Watch For Conflicts of Interest


Would it be a good idea for a behavior analyst to take on a
client they know??
Home therapy environments

Participation in events such as outings, birthday parties,
and other family events could impair the behavior analyst’s
objectivity when it was time to give an objective account for
the child’s progress
CONFLICT OF INTERST!
8. Watch For Conflicts of Interest

Serving on a peer-review
committee

where the individual who
developed the case being
presented is a friend or
former student.

Owner of a consulting
firm

the potential income
from the case may cloud
the judgment of the
owner to refer the client
to a colleague with more
expertise in the area.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST!
BACB Guideline 2.0: “The behavior analyst has a responsibility to operate in
the best interest of clients”
9. Find a “Trusted Colleague” Right Away


It is difficult to make ethical decisions in
isolation!
Who is a “trusted colleague”?


Another behavior analyst who is easily
accessible and who is not your supervisor or
your employer.
Someone you can trust with deep thoughts



Am I really prepared to take this case?
My supervisor is telling me to do X, but it seems
unethical to me. What should I do?
I think I’ve made a big mistake; what do I do now?
9. Find a “Trusted Colleague” Right Away

When getting to know your
colleagues you should:

How do we do this??
Suggestions….
Size up the persons approach to
ethics and make sure that his/her
approach to dealing with complex
issues appears to be sound,
thoughtful, and deliberate, not glib
or cavalier.
9. Find a “Trusted Colleague” Right Away

A good “trusted colleague”
candidate is:
A BCBA with 5 or more years of
experience
 Someone who is careful in what she
does
 Has a good reputation
 Someone who seems friendly and
approachable

10. Touching People


Behavior analysis often involves getting up close and
personal with your clients.
Common interactions between teachers & learners include:


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Physical prompting procedures
 Toilet training, tooth brushing, dressing etc.
Hugs or shoulder massages as reinforcement
Manual or mechanical restraints
You may think
but
an unfamiliar person
may take your affection
as inappropriate
10. Touching People

In order to avoid accusation of physically inappropriate
behavior toward a client behavior analysts are encouraged
to engage in the following recommendations:




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Always make sure to have another person (often called a
“witness”) present.
Make sure the witness knows what you are doing and why you
are doing it.
If you are involved in any sort of physical restraint use, make
sure that you have been properly trained and certified to do
so.
If you know of a client who has a history of false reports of
inappropriate touching, be wary of close contact with that
person unless you have done (1) and (2).
Avoid cross-sex therapeutic interactions unless there is
absolutely no alternative (you will want to follow rules (1) and
(2), however).
10. Touching People
“The purpose of these recommendations is not to encourage you to become cold
and impersonal in your interactions with clients but rather to promote some
thinking about how your warm and affectionate behavior might backfire on
you.”
11. Dealing With Nonbehavioral
Colleagues


Most of your professional time will be spent with
colleagues who are not behavior analysts.
As a part of a group, you should try to:





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Be patient
Give them an opportunity to educate you about their field and
vise versa
Be a good listener
Be a positive support person
Be honest about your shortcomings
Be open to other points of view
11. Dealing With Nonbehavioral
Colleagues
Scenario: if as a part
of a habilitation team
the consensus of the
group is that your
client should receive
counseling. As a
behavior analyst you
have an ethical
obligation to….




Propose a behavioral alternative
(BACB Guideline 10.01).
Raise questions about whether there
is any data on treatment efficacy for
counseling (BACB Guideline 2.09a).
If the treatment is implemented you
have an obligation to request that
data be taken to evaluate it (BACB
Guideline 2.09c).
In extreme cases where you and
your supervisor feel that you have
done everything possible to have
some impact but have been
unsuccessful, it may be necessary
to terminate your involvement
(BACB Guidelines 2.14).
12. Sexual Harassment

Signs of a relationship with a client going TOO FAR!






Person acting very interested in your work
Sitting too close
Making exceptionally good eye contact and/or smiling a lot
An extra-warm greeting
A hug that lasts a little longer than it should
A touch to the arm or shoulder
Step 1: Monitor your own behavior closely to make sure that you are not sending
out any improper signals that advances might be welcome.
Step 2: Implement what you know!
 DRO, punish behaviors, put them on extinction, or bring them under
stimulus control to reduce their rate of occurrence.
sexual harassment - the office
12. Sexual Harassment
Signs of a relationship going too
far!

Person acting very interested in
your work

Sitting too close

Making exceptionally good eye
contact and/or smiling a lot

An extra-warm greeting

A hug that lasts a little longer
than it should

A touch to the arm or shoulder
Behavior analysts are
specifically trained to be
effective interpersonally

Using head nodding

Smiling

Warm handshakes

Strong, effective verbal
reinforcers
12. Sexual Harassment

The best advice to new behavior analysts is to be …
Courteous
 Polite
 Charming
 BUT IN ALL CASES BE PROFESSIONAL!
 Think to yourself: if channel six eyewitness news was
here taping this, would I still engage in this behavior?

Summary!
1.
When choosing a setting or company, ask questions & consider the ethics &
values of the company!
2. Learn about your potential supervisor & ask to meet with them!
3. In a new position, find out what your day-to-day responsibilities will be!
4. Don’t get in over your head. Doing more is not always associated with doing
better!
5. Base your decisions on reliable & valid data!
6. When training and supervising others, don’t lecture, provide positive,
encouraging feedback daily!
7. Keep precise records for billing & supervision
8. Watch for conflicts of interest
9. Find a “trusted colleague” immediately. It is hard to make ethical decisions
in isolation!
10. When interacting with clients, be aware of how your warm & affectionate
behavior may backfire on you.
11. When working with nonbehavioral colleagues, stay true to the BACB code of
ethics & remain open minded.
12. Be conscious of and proactive when it comes to keeping professional
relationships, professional.
Questions?
References

Bailey, J. S., & Burch, M. R. (2011). Ethics for
behavior analysts (2nd Expanded Edition).
Routledge.
Guideline 4.04- Approving
Interventions
The behavior analyst must obtain the client’s or
client-surrogate’s approval in writing of the
behavior intervention procedures before
implementing them.
Guideline 10.01 – Scholarship and
Research.

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(a) The behavior analyst engaged in study and research is guided by the conventions of
the science of behavior including the emphasis on the analysis of individual behavior and
strives to model appropriate applications in professional life.
(b) Behavior analysts take reasonable steps to avoid haring their clients, research
participants, students, and others with whom they work, and to minimize harm where it
is foreseeable and avoidable. Harm is defined here as negative effects or side effects of
behavior analysis that outweigh positive effects in the particular instance, and that are
behavioral or physical and directly observable.
(c) Because behavior analysts’ scientific and professional judgements and actions affect
the lives of others, they are alert to and guard against personal, financial, social,
organizational, or political factors that might lead to misuse of their influence.
(d) Behavior analysts do not participate in activities in which it appears likely that others
will misuse their skills or data, unless corrective mechanisms, e.g., peer or external
professional or independent review, are available.
(e) Behavior analysts do not exaggerate claims for effectiveness of particular procedures
or of behavior analysis in general.
(f) If behavioral analysts learn of misuse or misrepresentation of their individual work
products, they take reasonable and feasible steps to correct or minimize the misuse or
misrepresentation.
Guideline 2.09a – Disclosures

(a) Behavior analysts disclose confidential
information without the consent of the
individual only as mandated by law, or where
permitted by law for a valid purpose, such as (1)
to provide needed professional services to the
individual or organizational client, (2) to obtain
appropriate professional consultations, (3) to
protect the client or others from harm, or (4) to
obtain payment for services, in which instance
disclosure is limited to the minimum that is
necessary to achieve the purpose.
Guideline 2.14 – Accuracy in Reports
to Those Who Pay for Services

In their reports to those who pay for services
or sources of research, project, or program
funding, behavior analysts accurately state the
nature of the research or service provided, the
fees or charges, and where applicable, the
identity of the provider, the findings, and other
required descriptive data.