Newsletter
Volume 31 | 2008 | Number 2
Swedish ABA
By Kenneth Nilsson
The membership of the Swedish ABA (SWABA) is approaching 200, the largest number since the organization was founded in 1996. The interest for behavior analysis in Sweden is increasing at a fairly steady rate in several areas, from clinical work with the developmentally disabled to organizational behavior management.
We are pleased to see a growing interest in behavior analysis among students of psychology at several universities around the country. Best developed so far are the courses given at the Stockholm School of Education, where Dr. Lise Roll-Pettersson has for some years now managed courses in applied behavior analysis for professionals within special education and clinical psychology.
On the clinical side, Sweden now has a fairly large group of professionals interested in the so-called third wave of behavior therapies; many of these, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), have clear connections to behavior analysis.
Consultants working in several areas (e.g., health care, safety, finance, governmental services) have over the past few years shown a greater interest in organizational behavior management (OBM). There have been several opportunities to learn OBM in Sweden. In particular, workshops have been offered with behavior analysts visiting from the U.S. and the UK.
SWABA was represented by 20 members at the 2008 ABAI annual convention in Chicago. During the convention, SWABA presented a poster at the International Expo. As part of the poster presentation we arranged a lottery with a SWABA T-shirt as first prize, with the winner being drawn from attendees who registered as “virtual members” (i.e., members not residing or working in Sweden, but who want to support the organization). Also, bids were accepted for a unique SWABA T-shirt, with the money received from the high bidder being donated to the ABA International Development Fund.
SWABA maintains a Web forum for its members that can be reached from the organization’s Web site (www.swaba.org). The Web site will go through major changes during the year. So far, it has served as a bulletin board, a meeting point for its members, and a convenient way to keep track of members.
During coming years, we will promote behavior analysis and focus on increasing member interest in achieving competence as certified behavior analysts. SWABA would like to encourage anyone who plans to visit Sweden or Scandinavia to contact Kenneth Nilsson (kenneth.nilsson@beteendeanalys.com), the current president, to discuss a possible visit. SWABA will arrange its annual meeting in Stockholm in the late fall of 2008.