Contributions of Behavioral Systems Science to Leadership for a New Progressive Movement.
Behavioral systems science gives BCBAs a ready leadership toolkit for large-scale social change.
01Research in Context
What this study did
van Timmeren et al. (2016) wrote a theory paper. They asked how behavior analysts could lead big social change.
They pulled ideas from behavioral systems science. The goal was a roadmap for a new progressive movement.
What they found
The paper says our science already has the tools. Concepts like feedback loops and contingency chains can guide leaders.
These tools can shape policy, economics, and culture. The field just has to choose to use them.
How this fits with other research
Hobson (1987) made a similar plea decades earlier. That paper urged behavior analysts to tackle social problems, but it lacked the systems-science map.
Leigland (2011) voiced Skinner’s worry that human behavior itself blocks global fixes. A et al. answer that worry with a ready-made leadership toolkit.
McGee et al. (2019) later showed the idea in action. They used behavioral systems analysis to plan change inside autism agencies, proving the framework works at agency scale.
Watson-Thompson et al. (2022) extended the same logic to dismantling systemic racism. They added step-by-step tools, turning the 2016 call into an anti-racist playbook.
Why it matters
You don’t have to wait for a new grant. Start viewing your organization as a living system. Map the contingencies, measure the loops, and adjust the levers you control. Whether you run a clinic, school team, or state committee, these same concepts scale. Use them to steer policy, improve equity, and show the world what behavior analysis can do.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
We argue in this paper that we are in the midst of a period in which fundamental global change will be required if societies and many species, perhaps even our own, are to survive. The realities are inescapable, and the potential implications are likely to affect nearly every dimension of human life in the USA and globally. Current trends are discouraging and will be extraordinarily difficult to shift, given global structural realities. It is hard to imagine a time when effective leadership is more necessary or will be more challenging. Our thesis here is that behavioral systems science can contribute in meaningful ways to shaping and sustaining such leadership, leadership required to advance a new progressive movement.
The Behavior analyst, 2016 · doi:10.1001/jama.1995.03520300051036