Association for Behavior Analysis International

The Company We Keep It is said that we are known by the company we keep. It is a way of acknowledging that we act like those with whom we surround ourselves, particularly as pertains to our core beliefs and values. The core beliefs and values of behavior analysts -- in being decidedly unusual in the history of reflections on the human condition – made for a particularly small group of companions in the early days. It was a group of radical naturalists with high hopes of saving the world by way of a profoundly different understanding of human behavior. That understanding enabled the development of highly efficacious applications, making a place for increasing numbers of practitioners. Ours is, as such, no longer a small group and as the core beliefs and values of large groups tend to have less cohesion than those of their smaller counterparts, it is worth considering whether we can still be known by the company we keep.

Operant Conditioning to Address Poverty-Related Health Disparities Poverty is a pervasive risk factor underlying poor health. Our research shows that operant conditioning can address poverty-related health disparities. This presentation will describe two key findings of this research. 1) Financial reinforcement for HIV viral suppression can maintain long-term HIV viral suppression in low-income adults living with HIV. 2) A reinforcement-based therapeutic workplace can maintain drug abstinence, promote employment, and reduce poverty. Under the therapeutic workplace, unemployed adults are hired and paid to work, and required to provide drug-free urine samples to maintain access to the workplace and/or maximum pay. The therapeutic workplace could serve as a model anti-poverty program, particularly for people with histories of drug addiction or other health problems.

Since 2007, APOPO’s Mine Action Program has released nearly 86 million square meters of land to local communities, freeing over 5.8 million people from the threat of land mines and avoiding an estimated 58,000 injuries and deaths. In 2017, APOPO completed all work in Mozambique after the country was declared to be mine free (a year ahead of schedule). It has now shifted its de-mining efforts to other countries, such as Cambodia, where it is partnering with the Cambodian Mine Action Centre. APOPO is collaborating closely with partners like Humanity Inclusion and Mines Advisory Group to develop iterations of its existing rat and dog mine-detection technology, in order to speed up the process of detecting cluster munition remnants and urban area IEDs‚ which are increasingly becoming important parts of humanitarian mine action. Since 2007, APOPO’s Tuberculosis Program has evaluated hundreds of thousands of samples, identified over 13,000 tuberculosis patients, and prevented an estimated 32,000 additional infections. In Maputo, Mozambique, APOPO’s detection method has led to a 40 percent increase in the tuberculosis detection rate.

All convention registrants are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Domestic violence is a public health problem affecting millions of families each year. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, psychological, or technological actions or other patterns of coercive behavior within an intimate relationship. Domestic violence not only affects those who are abused, but also family members, friends, co-workers, other witnesses, and communities. Children who have witnessed domestic violence are among those most seriously affected. This presentation highlights current approaches and traditional treatments for domestic violence. These approaches often take place in the context of the criminal justice system and punitive methods. Unfortunately, these methods rarely produce the desired effect and often lead to further harm for the individual, family, and wider community, and disproportionately impacting non-white people. One novel treatment approach we have implemented and studied is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which relies on principles and techniques of behavior analysis. I will discuss the application of ACT to individuals who cause harm, and outline the barriers and opportunities that have emerged from this work. Developing programs that are effective for these individuals has evolved to also include the professionals, communities, and contexts in which violence prevention and treatment occurs