Culture Always Matters

The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to and highlight some particularly enlightening arguments described by Rosenbergand Schwartz (2019). First, I emphasize the importance of the role of culture in ethical analysis and describe how the BehaviorAnalyst Certification Board (BACB)Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts(2014; hereafter referredto as the BACB Code) unintentionally underplays the importance of culture. Second, I express support for the model of ethicalanalysis proposed by Rosenberg and Schwartz and explain how their model provides an excellent and much-needed frameworkfor the observation (and subsequent study) of ethical decision-making in behavior-analytic practice. Finally, I go all in and joinRosenberg and Schwartz in their call for scholars to critically analyze and discuss the BACB Code and to challenge the status quo(or call into question those who do). Such a discussion is healthy for our science and understanding of ethics and behavioranalysis.

Brodhead M. T. (2019). Culture Always Matters: Some Thoughts on Rosenberg and Schwartz. Behavior analysis in practice, 12(4), 826–830. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-019-00351-8