Inside Behavior Analysis
Volume 3 | 2011 | Number 2 | Online ISSN: 2151-4704
Svenska Föreningen för Beteendeanalys
By Ulrika Långh and Ned Carter
Svenska Föreningen för Beteendeanalys (Swedish ABA; SWABA) has nearly 150 members, a drop from 2009. The drop in membership is attributed to the introduction of annual dues, for the first time since being founded in 1996. The interest for behavior analysis in Sweden has grown over the last years, with increasing demands for applied behavior analysis from parents and support groups for autism and developmental disorders. The interest among professionals is also growing, mainly among psychologists, special educational teachers, and speech therapists.
The interest for organizational behavior management (OBM) is attracting Swedish consultants working in several areas (e.g, health care, industry, banking and governmental services). There are now several opportunities to learn OBM in Sweden, such as workshops with visiting behavior analysts and more extended national courses. Several books about OBM, from Swedish authors and consultants, were published in 2010.
During spring 2010, SWABA arranged its annual meeting as a 1-day conference in Stockholm. Empirical studies, reviews, and philosophical issues were presented and discussed. A similar meeting was held in November, with presentations covering a range of topics.
SWABA was represented at the 36th ABAI Annual Convention in San Antonio, Texas, USA. During the convention, SWABA presented a poster at the Expo. Also, bids were accepted for a unique SWABA t-shirt, the proceeds of which were donated to the SABA International Development Fund.
SWABA maintains a web forum for its members, that can be reached from the organization's website (www.swaba.org). Hopefully, the website will go through major changes during 2011.
SWABA would like to encourage anyone who plans to visit Sweden or Scandinavia to contact Ulrika Långh (ulrika.lang@sll.se), the current president, to arrange a meeting. SWABA will arrange its next annual meeting in early spring of 2011, and its annual fall meeting in October 2011.