Ethical and Professional Conduct Flashcards

A BCBA supervisee is working with a client who engages in severe self-injurious behavior. The supervisee disagrees with the BCBA's recommended intervention and believes a different approach would be more effective. According to the BACB Ethics Code, what is the most appropriate initial course of action for the supervisee?

Answer: Implement the BCBA's recommended intervention while raising the concern through appropriate channels within the supervisory relationship

Supervisees must implement the plans developed by their supervising BCBA while simultaneously advocating for client welfare through proper channels. Refusing to implement, unilaterally modifying, or immediately escalating to the BACB without first attempting resolution within the supervisory relationship would all violate professional conduct standards. The ethical obligation is to raise concerns constructively within the supervisory hierarchy while continuing to serve the client.

A behavior analyst is approached by a documentary filmmaker who wants to film sessions with a client who has autism to raise public awareness. The client's guardian provides enthusiastic written consent. The behavior analyst should:

Answer: Decline or require significant safeguards because the client cannot provide assent and may not understand the implications of being filmed

Guardian consent is necessary but not sufficient when the client lacks the capacity to provide assent. The Ethics Code requires behavior analysts to consider the client's dignity and best interests independently of what guardians authorize. A client who cannot meaningfully understand being filmed for public distribution cannot provide assent, which creates an ethical obligation to apply heightened scrutiny — not simply defer to guardian permission. The analyst must weigh risks to dignity, privacy, and potential exploitation even when consent paperwork is in order.

A BCBA discovers that a colleague has been billing insurance for behavior-analytic services that were actually delivered by an uncredentialed staff member working beyond their competence level. The colleague argues that the staff member was 'basically supervised' and the outcomes were good. Under the BACB Ethics Code, the discovering BCBA's primary obligation is to:

Answer: Address the issue with the colleague first and, if unresolved, report to the appropriate authority including the BACB or relevant regulatory body

The BACB Ethics Code requires behavior analysts to address ethics violations by colleagues. The appropriate sequence is to attempt resolution directly with the colleague first (unless the situation involves harm that requires immediate reporting), and then escalate to the BACB or relevant regulatory authorities if the issue is not resolved. Fraudulent billing and practicing beyond competence both represent serious ethics violations. Staying silent, limiting reporting only to the insurer, or passively monitoring without action all fail to meet the proactive professional responsibility required by the Code.

A behavior analyst has been working with a child for 18 months and has developed a warm therapeutic relationship. The parents ask the analyst to attend their child's birthday party as a 'family friend' and bring a gift. The most ethically sound response is to:

Answer: Decline attendance and explain that maintaining role boundaries protects the therapeutic relationship and the client's long-term outcomes

Multiple-relationship boundaries exist to protect the objectivity of clinical decision-making and the power differential inherent in therapeutic relationships. Attending a private family celebration as a 'friend' blurs the professional role in ways that could compromise future clinical judgment, create expectations of reciprocity, or make it harder to recommend treatment changes the family finds unwelcome. Gift value thresholds from compliance policies do not override ethics code obligations. The warm relationship itself is not justification — warm relationships make boundary erosion more likely, not less problematic.

A BCBA is asked by a school district to design a token economy for an entire classroom of students with varying diagnoses. She has only conducted functional assessments on two of the eight students. The intervention will affect all students. Ethically, the BCBA should:

Answer: Decline to implement a classwide intervention until adequate assessment data exists for all students, or at minimum clarify the scope of her responsibility and ensure individualized components are addressed

The BACB Ethics Code requires behavior analysts to base interventions on sufficient assessment data and to work within their scope of competence. A token economy affects each student's reinforcement contingencies individually, and without functional assessments for six of the eight students, the BCBA cannot ensure the intervention is appropriate, effective, or not contraindicated for those individuals. Using intervention as a substitute for assessment, or delegating professional assessment responsibility to unqualified personnel, both violate core ethical standards. The ethical path is to either gather necessary data first or clearly delineate which students fall within her professional scope.

A behavior analyst is transitioning a long-term client to a new provider due to the analyst relocating. During the transition, the new provider asks for raw session videos to accelerate onboarding. The client's guardian provides verbal authorization. The behavior analyst's most ethically complete response is to:

Answer: Obtain written authorization specifying what records will be transferred, to whom, and for what purpose before releasing any video data, given the sensitive nature of video records

The Ethics Code and HIPAA-aligned best practices require written authorization for release of protected health information, particularly records as sensitive as behavioral session videos showing a client in clinical context. Verbal authorization is insufficient for this level of disclosure. A blanket refusal to transfer videos is not ethically required — transition planning that serves the client's welfare may well include video — but the transfer must follow proper written authorization specifying scope and purpose. Treating video and notes as categorically different without basis in the authorization itself is an arbitrary distinction not supported by the Code.