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| Solving Ethical Dilemmas in the Practice of Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Friday, May 25, 2018 |
| 12:00 PM–3:00 PM |
| Manchester Grand Hyatt, Balboa A-C |
| Area: PRA/PCH; Domain: Service Delivery |
| CE Instructor: Weihe Huang, Ph.D. |
| WEIHE HUANG (Creating Behavioral + Educational Momentum), KARRE WILLIAMS (Creating Behavioral + Educational Momentum ) |
| Description: This workshop is designed to increase participants' ability to ethically practice applied behavior analysis (ABA) by describing the characteristics of ethical dilemmas, discussing Guidelines for Responsible Conduct, and introducing an ethical decision making model. This approach incorporates codes of ethics for behavior analysts and ethical reasoning strategies. When making ethical decisions, many behavior analysts tend to believe that these decisions are solely based on the analysis of objective data and relevant evidences. However, in reality the decision-making process is also influenced by behavior analysts' values, as well as societal values including those of services recipients. Behavior analysts often encounter ethical dilemmas when these values conflict. In facing ethical dilemmas, behavior analysts need codes of professional conduct and ethically sound strategies to reach reasonable and practical resolutions. The Guidelines for Responsible Conduct for Behavior Analysts is helpful in many situations. In some cases, however, ethical dilemmas cannot be resolved by appealing to the existing guidelines or regulations. Part of this workshop is aimed at providing applied behavior analysts with ethical reasoning strategies in the event that the Guidelines for Responsible Conduct alone are insufficient. These strategies are based on the relevant experience of the presenters and the available literature in the field of behavior analysis and related areas. The emphasis of the discussion will be on the application of Guidelines for Responsible Conduct for Behavior Analysts and the Ethical Decision Making Model to various clinical settings, including natural homes, residential facilities, day programs, and educational programs. |
| Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the workshop, participants will be able to: (1) list and describe at least five core ethical principles in the field of applied behavior analysis; (2) select and define a core ethical principle from a group of 4 mixed rues/principles; (3) identify and describe some most common ethical dilemmas faced by behavior analysts; (4) discriminate among ethical dilemmas, clinical problems, and administrative issues by selecting the correct one from a group of four different challenging situations; (5) demonstrate a working knowledge in the Guidelines for Responsible Conduct for Behavior Analysts by being able to identify appropriate guideline(s) that could address a particular ethical issue; (6) identify, define, and explain problem-solving strategies in a variety of ethical situations; (7) perform the Six-Step Ethical Decision Making Model and generalize the learned skill in different scenarios by completing the required steps described in the ethical decision making model for different ethical dilemmas. |
| Activities: This workshop will use cases both provided by the presenters and generated by participants to illustrate the implementation of Guidelines for Responsible Conduct for Behavior Analysts and the steps in the Ethical Decision Making Model. Participants of this workshop will be encouraged to (1) identify their values and to associate these values with primary ethical principles; (2) recognize the characteristics of ethical dilemmas in the field of ABA; and (3) apply codes in Guidelines for Responsible Conduct and six steps specified in the Ethical Decision Making Model to cases that involve ethical dilemmas. |
| Audience: Board certified behavior analysts at all levels are the primary audience of this workshop. In addition, licensed psychologists, licensed therapists, and social workers could benefit from the content of this educational event as well. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Intermediate |
| Keyword(s): Ethical Dilemmas |