Cultivating the Ethical Repertoires of Behavior Analysts: Prevention of Common Violations
Print the supervision checklist and run the cultural and ableism audits to seal the top three ethical leaks.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Britton et al. (2021) wrote a how-to paper. They listed the three slips that land BCBAs in ethics trouble most often.
The team made checklists for supervisors and rubrics for new hires. No kids or clients were tested; the paper is a toolkit.
What they found
The big three leaks are: weak supervision, late BACB reports, and small daily integrity slips.
Plugging these holes cuts complaints and keeps your license safe.
How this fits with other research
Mathur et al. (2022) extends this work. They add a cultural lens. Their CRT-rooted lessons help you spot bias while you use Britton’s checklists.
McComas et al. (2025) also extends the toolkit. They say ableism is a hidden ethical breach. Pair Britton’s supervision rubric with their language audit to catch both overt and covert violations.
Jackson-Perry et al. (2025) push further. They want full college courses in critical and neurodiversity studies. Think of Britton as the daily firewall and Jackson-Perry as the long-term upgrade.
Why it matters
You can print the paper’s one-page supervision checklist today. Use it before every session to verify hours, feedback, and data integrity. Add the cultural and ableism audits from the 2022 and 2025 papers to cover blind spots. Three tools, five minutes, safer practice.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Violations of the Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts occur despite coursework, supervision, and training. In this discussion, we highlight the most common violation categories identified: (a) improper or inadequate supervision/delegation, (b) failure to report/respond to the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) as required, and (c) professionalism/integrity. The specific areas addressed under supervision/delegation involve behavior analysts’ standards and performance as supervisors, as well as compliance with coursework. For failure to report, the focus is on responding, reporting, and providing updated information to the BACB in a timely manner. Finally, the section on professionalism and integrity addresses multiple code elements, including integrity, professionalism, and scientific relationships, as well as methods for promoting an ethical culture and decisions involving ethical violations by others. Importantly, we provide guidance on the structure and organization of supervision, methods and guidelines regarding reporting, and rubrics to shape and evaluate professionalism and integrity. We provide recommendations for the supervision process and for practitioners from the organizational perspective so that the organization supports and promotes an ethical culture.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2021 · doi:10.1007/s40617-020-00540-w