Newsletter
Volume 29 | 2006 | Number 2
Behaviorists for Social Responsibility
By Dr. Mark Mattaini
Behaviorists for Social Responsibility (BFSR) has as its central mission to advance the contributions of behavior and cultural analytic sciences to understanding social issues and actions related to social issues, social justice, and human rights. The science of cultural analysis, although broader than these concerns, is the basic science on which applied and conceptual work in these areas relies, and is therefore a central interest of the SIG. The past year has been a very rich one for the SIG, with our journal (Behavior and Social Issues) serving as a central nexis. Our activities in the past year and for the immediate future have involved (1) the journal itself, and (2) advancing the science of cultural analysis.
The Journal: Behavior and Social Issues
Behavior and Social Issues (BSI) is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal that serves as a primary scholarly outlet for articles that advance the analysis of human social behavior, particularly with regard to understanding and influencing important social problems. The journal is particularly interested in publishing work related to issues with social justice and human rights implications, but all significant social issues are of interest. The journal has a modest print subscription base, but perhaps more importantly has achieved increasingly broad on-line access. Instances of access to articles on line averaged over 5,000 per month over the past year, which may make BSI one of the most widely read journals in behavior analysis, with readers from all over the world. Behavior and Social Issues is an open-access journal, available without cost to readers throughout the world. We believe open access itself is an important social justice issue (see editorials in our recent issues). All journal content for the last several years, with the exception of a small amount of reprinted material for which we do not own the copyright, is available on line without cost at www.behaviorandsocialissues.org. We also publish a hard-copy version for archival purposes, at prices that are below our costs. A hoped-for modest increase in subscriptions would resolve this deficit, which is currently covered by contributions from members of the editorial board. In addition, consistent with recommendations developed by the Create Change coalition (www.createchange.org), Behavior and Social Issues is using a non-exclusive license for publication rather than requiring transfer of copyright for articles published. By allowing our authors to maintain copyright, they can distribute their material in any other format that they may wish. In the beginning months of 2006, BSI, in collaboration with the library of the University of Illinois at Chicago, moved its editorial functions entirely to the on-line Open Journal Systems, a software system established to support open access for scholarly publication.
The primary intellectual framework for Behavior and Social Issues is the natural science of behavior, including behavior analysis and cultural analysis; however, contributions from contrasting viewpoints are also valued. Appropriate contributions include theoretical and conceptual analyses, research articles and brief reports, dialogues, research reviews, and book reviews. Behavior and Social Issues is an appropriate forum for the work of senior scholars in the field, many of whom serve on the editorial board, as well as for the work of emerging scholars, including students, who have an interest in the contributions of a natural science of behavior to constructing cultures consistent with social justice.
Advancing the Science of Cultural Analysis
In Volume 13, Number 2 of Behavior and Social Issues, Maria Malott and Sigrid Glenn published an important article designed to advance the analysis of cultural systems and metacontingencies. A number of noted behavior analysts wrote commentaries which Malott and Glenn responded to in the same issue. The discussion moved first to the annual ABA convention in May 2005 with a panel discussion, and then to the think tank in Campinas Brazil in August of 2005. The think tank was sponsored by the Associação Brasileira de Psicoterapia e Medicina Comportamental (ABPMC, ABA-Brazil) and Instituto Brasilense de Análise do Comportamento (IBAC), with the collaboration of the Universidade Católica de Goiás and the Association for Behavior Analysis International ( ABA). Participants in the think tank have prepared commentaries based on discussions there, which will be published in the Spring/Summer 2006 issue of the journal (V. 15, No. 1). In addition, a number of the participants in the think tank and others presented their current thinking and work at ABA 2006. Recognizing that an adequate science of cultural analysis (including expanding empirical work) is critical to scientific contribution and pragmatic solidarity with the most vulnerable in areas of social justice and human rights, the SIG intends to continue efforts to expand this subdiscipline.
Opportunities
BFSR does not currently charge dues or sponsor a conference, although both are open to future discussion. We do, however, sponsor a networking meeting at the annual ABA convention, encouraging members to form collaborations, contribute to the journal, and produce scholarship in related areas for presentation at subsequent conventions. In addition, the journal, these annual meetings, and our relatively modest listserv provide establishing operations, mutual reinforcement, and the challenge to advancing related scholarship and action. Interested members of ABA should contact us at bfsr@bfsr.org to join the listserv or become involved in other ways. Members join the SIG by indicating interest on their annual ABA membership applications.