By Matt Harrington, BCBA · Behaviorist Book Club · April 2026 · 12 min read

Behavioral Systems Analysis Applied to Systems of Oppression and Violence: A Guide for Behavior Analysts

Overview & Clinical Significance

Behavioral systems analysis (BSA) offers behavior analysts a powerful framework for understanding and addressing large-scale social phenomena, including systems of oppression and violence. As Jackie Noto's presentation argues, those practicing behavior analysis have both the opportunity and the obligation to apply their analytical tools to the most pressing challenges facing society. This perspective, rooted in Skinner's 1953 assertion that behavior analysts should work to improve the human condition, represents an expansion of the field's traditional focus from individual behavior change to systemic transformation.

The clinical significance of this topic for practicing behavior analysts may not be immediately apparent, but the connections are substantial and direct. Every client served by a behavior analyst exists within social systems that shape their behavior, opportunities, and outcomes. Systems of oppression create environmental conditions that disproportionately affect marginalized populations, including many of the individuals who receive behavioral services. Understanding how these systems operate at a behavioral level is essential for practitioners who wish to provide genuinely effective services that address root causes rather than merely treating symptoms.

Behavioral systems analysis provides the conceptual and methodological tools needed to analyze complex social systems. A behavioral system is defined as a set of elements or individuals working together as an interdependent and interconnected entity. This definition encompasses everything from a family unit to a department within an organization to a national government. BSA examines how the interlocking contingencies within these systems produce patterns of behavior that may persist even when they are harmful to some or all of the system's members.

The application of BSA to systems of oppression represents a particularly challenging and important extension of the field's analytical capabilities. Oppressive systems are characterized by interlocking contingencies that distribute power, resources, and opportunities unequally across groups defined by characteristics such as race, gender, disability status, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic position. These contingencies are often maintained by institutional policies, cultural practices, and economic structures that operate at levels far removed from any individual's behavior, making them difficult to identify and even more difficult to change.

For behavior analysts, engaging with this topic requires expanding the unit of analysis beyond the individual to encompass the systems that shape individual behavior. This does not mean abandoning the field's commitment to individual welfare but rather recognizing that individual welfare is inextricably linked to the functioning of the systems within which individuals exist.

Background & Context

The roots of behavioral systems analysis can be traced to multiple developments within behavior analysis and related fields. The organizational behavior management (OBM) literature has long applied behavioral principles to analyze and improve organizational performance, examining how contingencies within workplaces shape employee behavior and organizational outcomes. BSA extends this approach beyond formal organizations to encompass broader social systems.

Skinner's writings on social behavior, cultural practices, and the selection of behavior at the cultural level provide the foundational theoretical framework. In Science and Human Behavior and Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner argued that behavior is selected at three levels: phylogenetic (natural selection), ontogenetic (operant conditioning), and cultural (cultural selection). Cultural practices, including institutions, laws, customs, and social norms, are selected by their consequences for the groups that practice them. This three-level selection framework provides a conceptual basis for analyzing how systems of oppression emerge, persist, and can potentially be changed.

The concept of interlocking contingencies is central to BSA. In any behavioral system, the behavior of each member serves as both a stimulus and a consequence for the behavior of other members. These interlocking contingencies create patterns of interaction that can become self-sustaining, persisting even when they produce outcomes that no individual member would independently choose. In systems of oppression, interlocking contingencies create and maintain unequal distributions of power and resources through mechanisms that may not be visible to any single participant in the system.

The analysis of systems of oppression and violence has been extensively developed in other academic disciplines, including sociology, political science, critical race theory, and intersectionality studies. Behavioral systems analysis can contribute to this interdisciplinary dialogue by providing a mechanism-level account of how oppressive patterns are maintained through contingency arrangements, moving beyond purely descriptive accounts to identify the specific behavioral processes that sustain these systems.

The historical context of behavior analysis's relationship with social justice is relevant. While Skinner advocated for using behavioral science to improve society, the field's primary focus has been on individual-level intervention. Critics have argued that this individual focus can inadvertently support oppressive systems by locating problems within individuals rather than within the systems that shape their behavior. The application of BSA to systems of oppression represents one response to this critique, expanding the field's focus while remaining grounded in behavioral principles.

The connection between systemic oppression and the populations served by behavior analysts is direct. Individuals with disabilities, a primary population served by the field, have historically been and continue to be subjected to systemic discrimination, institutionalization, denial of autonomy, and violence. Understanding these systemic factors is essential for behavior analysts who wish to serve this population effectively and ethically.

Clinical Implications

While the application of BSA to systems of oppression may seem primarily academic, the clinical implications for practicing behavior analysts are significant.

At the most immediate level, understanding systemic factors helps practitioners conduct more comprehensive functional assessments. When a client's behavior is influenced by systemic conditions such as poverty, discrimination, or community violence, assessments that focus exclusively on proximal environmental variables will miss important maintaining variables. A child whose aggressive behavior at school is partly maintained by the stress of food insecurity at home, or a teenager whose school avoidance is partly a response to racial bullying, requires an assessment that considers these systemic factors in addition to the immediate antecedents and consequences operating in the school environment.

Treatment planning is directly affected by systemic analysis. Interventions that address only individual behavior without addressing the systemic conditions that contribute to that behavior may produce limited or temporary change. When practitioners recognize that a client's challenges are partly maintained by systemic factors, they can incorporate systemic interventions into the treatment plan, such as connecting families with resources, advocating for policy changes within schools or other institutions, and working to modify the broader environmental conditions that affect the client's behavior.

Supervision and training benefit from systemic awareness. Supervisees who understand how systems of oppression operate are better prepared to serve diverse populations, to recognize when systemic factors are influencing client behavior, and to advocate for systemic changes that support their clients' welfare. Supervisors who incorporate systemic analysis into their teaching help develop practitioners who see beyond individual behavior to the broader context in which behavior occurs.

Organizational behavior within ABA agencies is itself a system that can be analyzed using BSA tools. How an ABA organization distributes resources, assigns clients, sets compensation, provides supervision, and makes decisions about hiring and promotion all represent contingency arrangements that can either perpetuate or counteract patterns of inequity. Behavior analysts in leadership positions can apply BSA principles to create organizations that model the inclusive, equitable practices they aspire to promote in the broader society.

The concept of interlocking contingencies has direct relevance for understanding the collaboration challenges that practitioners face in multidisciplinary settings. When behavior analysts work alongside educators, speech therapists, occupational therapists, and other professionals, the interlocking contingencies among team members can either support or undermine effective collaboration. BSA provides tools for analyzing and improving these team dynamics.

Advocacy is an area where BSA provides a framework for effective action. Rather than engaging in advocacy based solely on emotional appeals or moral arguments, behavior analysts can use BSA to identify the specific contingency arrangements that maintain inequitable outcomes and to propose targeted changes that are most likely to produce desired results. This analytical approach to advocacy leverages the field's core strengths while addressing issues of social significance.

Ethical Considerations

The application of behavioral systems analysis to systems of oppression raises important ethical considerations that practitioners should navigate thoughtfully.

Code 3.03 of the BACB Ethics Code addresses behavior analysts' responsibility to promote the welfare of clients and the communities they serve. While this code is sometimes interpreted narrowly as applying only to individual client interactions, a broader reading supports behavior analysts' engagement with systemic issues that affect client welfare. When systems of oppression contribute to the challenges clients face, addressing those systemic factors can be understood as an extension of the ethical obligation to promote client welfare.

Code 1.07 on cultural responsiveness requires practitioners to understand how cultural factors, including the effects of systemic oppression on different cultural groups, influence behavior and service delivery. A practitioner who is unaware of how systemic factors affect their clients cannot fully meet this standard. Understanding systems of oppression is part of the cultural competence that ethical practice demands.

Code 1.08 on nondiscrimination prohibits behavior analysts from engaging in discriminatory behavior. Understanding how systems of oppression operate allows practitioners to recognize and address the ways in which their own practices, their organizations' policies, and their profession's norms may inadvertently perpetuate discrimination. This systemic understanding is necessary for meaningful compliance with the nondiscrimination standard.

The ethical obligation to contribute to the development of the profession and to disseminate behavioral science (addressed in the BACB's guidance on professional responsibilities) supports behavior analysts' engagement with societal-level issues. If behavior analysis has analytical tools that can contribute to understanding and addressing systems of oppression, the field has an obligation to make those contributions.

Ethical tensions arise when systemic advocacy conflicts with other professional obligations. Behavior analysts must balance their desire to address systemic issues with their responsibility to maintain professional boundaries, base their contributions on evidence rather than ideology, and avoid taking positions that could be perceived as politically partisan in ways that undermine their professional credibility. Navigating these tensions requires the careful ethical reasoning that is central to advanced professional practice.

The ethical obligation to avoid harm (Code 3.01) extends to ensuring that behavioral systems analysis is applied responsibly. The analysis of complex social systems carries the risk of oversimplification, and applying behavioral concepts to phenomena like racism, sexism, or structural violence requires intellectual humility and awareness of the limitations of any single analytical framework. Behavior analysts should present their analyses as contributions to a broader interdisciplinary dialogue rather than as definitive behavioral explanations of complex social phenomena.

The principle of individual responsibility and societal responsibility must be balanced. While BSA shifts focus from individual behavior to systemic patterns, this should not diminish the ethical emphasis on individual accountability for one's professional actions. Rather, it should expand the analysis to include both individual and systemic levels of responsibility.

Assessment & Decision-Making

Applying behavioral systems analysis to complex social systems requires analytical approaches that extend beyond traditional individual-level assessment methods.

System mapping is a foundational assessment tool in BSA. This involves identifying the key elements (individuals, groups, organizations, institutions) within the system, mapping the relationships and contingencies among these elements, identifying the resources and reinforcers that flow through the system, and analyzing how these contingency arrangements produce the observed patterns of behavior. For systems of oppression, system mapping might involve identifying how institutional policies, economic structures, cultural norms, and individual behaviors interlock to produce and maintain inequitable outcomes.

The analysis of interlocking contingencies requires attention to multiple levels simultaneously. At the individual level, the analysis examines how personal reinforcement histories and current contingencies shape behavior. At the organizational level, it examines how policies, incentives, and cultural norms shape the behavior of organizational members. At the societal level, it examines how laws, economic systems, and cultural practices shape the behavior of populations. Understanding how these levels interact is essential for identifying effective points of intervention.

Decision-making about where to intervene in a complex system requires careful analysis of leverage points. Not all elements of a system are equally amenable to change, and not all changes produce equally significant effects. BSA helps identify leverage points where relatively small changes in contingency arrangements can produce disproportionately large effects on system outcomes. In the context of oppressive systems, leverage points might include policies that affect large numbers of people, economic incentives that shape organizational behavior, or cultural practices that influence public attitudes.

The assessment of one's own position within the systems being analyzed is an important aspect of BSA. Behavior analysts, like all individuals, are embedded within social systems and are influenced by the same contingencies they seek to analyze. Self-awareness about one's own position, privileges, biases, and potential blind spots is essential for producing analyses that are accurate and useful rather than inadvertently reinforcing existing power dynamics.

Decision-making about the scope and nature of one's engagement with systemic issues should be guided by realistic assessment of one's competence, resources, and potential impact. Not every behavior analyst needs to become a social justice activist, but every behavior analyst should understand how systemic factors influence the clients they serve. Practitioners should identify the level of engagement that is appropriate for their role, competence, and circumstances, ranging from incorporating systemic awareness into individual clinical practice to engaging in active advocacy and policy work.

The evaluation of interventions targeting complex systems requires different outcome measures than those used for individual-level interventions. Systems-level change may occur slowly, may involve setbacks, and may be difficult to attribute to any single intervention. Realistic expectations, long time horizons, and multiple measures across different levels of the system are necessary for meaningful evaluation.

What This Means for Your Practice

Even if you do not plan to engage directly in systems-level advocacy, understanding behavioral systems analysis and its application to systems of oppression can strengthen your clinical practice in several concrete ways.

Expand your functional assessment framework to include systemic variables. When conducting assessments, consider how factors such as poverty, discrimination, community violence, educational inequity, and healthcare access affect your clients' behavior. You may not be able to directly change these systemic factors, but recognizing their influence will produce more accurate assessments and more realistic treatment plans.

Incorporate systemic awareness into your supervision and mentoring relationships. Discuss how systemic factors affect the clients your supervisees serve. Encourage supervisees to consider the broader context in which behavior occurs. Help them develop the analytical skills needed to identify systemic influences on individual behavior.

Examine your own organization's practices through a systemic lens. Consider whether your organization's policies, procedures, and culture contribute to or counteract patterns of inequity. If you are in a leadership position, use BSA tools to identify contingency arrangements that may inadvertently perpetuate exclusion or disadvantage.

Engage with the broader interdisciplinary literature on systems of oppression. Behavior analysis has valuable analytical tools to contribute to these discussions, but the field also has much to learn from other disciplines that have studied these phenomena from different perspectives. Reading outside your discipline and engaging in cross-disciplinary dialogue will enrich your understanding and your practice.

Finally, consider how you can contribute to systemic change at whatever level is appropriate for your role and circumstances. This might mean advocating for policy changes within your organization, participating in professional organization initiatives related to social justice, contributing your expertise to community organizations, or simply ensuring that your clinical practice reflects an understanding of the systemic contexts in which your clients live.