The history of behavior analysis in the Czech Republic offers a striking case study in how political ideology can determine the trajectory of scientific disciplines and, ultimately, the quality of care available to vulnerable populations. While behavior analysis was developing rapidly in Western countries during the mid-twentieth century, the Czech Republic, then part of Czechoslovakia under Marxist governance, actively rejected behavioral science as a product of capitalist ideology.
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Join Free →The Centre for Behaviour Analysis at Queen's University Belfast celebrating Autism Awareness month with Prof Karel Pancocha. When behaviour analysis was beginning to gain popularity in the West, the Czech Republic was strongly influenced by Marxist ideology, resulting in its rejection of knowledge coming from there. In one example from a Czech journal at that time, Vláčil (1975) argued that the emergence of behaviourism was conditioned not only by the development of psychological theory, but more importantly by the broader social context and the historical situation in capitalist countries. As a result, theories developed in the region which diminished the importance of a man as a subject of history and, therefore, the importance of his consciousness. Even today, in the Czech professional circles, one can still encounter misunderstandings of the basic principles of behaviour or notions that behaviourists equate human beings with lower animals or automatic machines. After the fall of the Iron Curtain in the early 1990s, Czech social sciences regained their independence and started to catch up with the rest of the developed world. The Czech Society of CBT was founded in 1991 and CBT is currently one of the mainstream approaches in the treatment of a wide range of psychological problems from anxiety and depression to eating disorders. In contrast, behavioural interventions based on the principles of ABA, which focus on skill acquisition and development of adaptive behaviours in individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities (ADHD, ASD) and intellectual disabilities, have remained unnoticed by the Czech professional communities until recently. Only in the last 30 years, have a range of approaches and intervention programs for children with behavioural needs, such as those with autism, emerged in the Czech Republic. Zuzana Žampachová (2014), one of the leading Czech specialists in ASD education, touted applied behaviour analysis and structured teaching to be the most effective strategies for teaching children with ASD. However, currently the most widely used approach in the Czech educational system is structured teaching, which is said to be based on the child's current skill level and builds on structuring space and time and providing visual support in addition to individual approach. Čadilová and Žampachová (2012) pointed out that the Czech structured approach of teaching children with ASD is based on Ivar Lovaas' behaviour intervention program and Eric Schopler's structured teaching. However, in practice, until 2015, the use of services termed as "ABA" was extremely rare and mostly used only in home-based programs. One reason for this may be that ABA-based interventions should be delivered and supervised by well trained professionals - certified behaviour analysts, who were not available in the country until recently. While in 2015 there were no certified behaviour analysts working in the country (Roll-Pettersson et al., 2020) and rare home-based programs were supervised from abroad, by 2020 there were already 40 self-identified behavioural practitioners (Kingsdorf & Pančocha, 2020). Along with the rising number of professionals, the country has seen an increase in the number of children receiving ABA based interventions at home or at early intervention centers. Several schools also started to incorporate principles of behaviour in their educational programs.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 1.5 | Ethics |
prof. PhDr. Karel Pančocha, Ph.D., M.Sc., BCBAvedoucí institutu výzkumu inkluzivního vzdělávání head of the institute for research in inclusive educationMasarykova univerzita | Pedagogická fakulta / Masaryk University | Faculty of Education Institut výzkumu inkluzivního vzdělávání / Institute for Research in Inclusive EducationA: Poříčí 31a | 603 00 Brno, Czech Republic T: +420 549 49 5099E: pancocha@ped.muni.cz | W: www.ped.muni.cz/iviv | W: www.ped.muni.cz/caba | FB: http://facebook.com/iviv.pdf.muThe Institute for Research in Inclusive Education (IRIE) is a dynamic department which was derived from and closely cooperates with the Department of Special and Inclusive Education, Faculty of Education at Masaryk University. IRIE guarantees and delivers the study programme Special Andragogy focusing on adults with special educational needs/disability (SEN). IRIE emphasizes a close connection of education and practice. Therefore, IRIE actively cooperates with a number of institutions and NGOs. Apart from lecturing, it also carries its practically oriented research aiming at improvement of education and employment opportunities of persons with SEN, enhancing their independent life and social inclusion.
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All behavior-analytic intervention is individualized. The information on this page is for educational purposes and does not constitute clinical advice. Treatment decisions should be informed by the best available published research, individualized assessment, and obtained with the informed consent of the client or their legal guardian. Behavior analysts are responsible for practicing within the boundaries of their competence and adhering to the BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts.