Values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide our actions. Our values help us to identify what is important to us ? who we want to be, how we want to be treated and how we want to interact with the rest of the world. Our values inform our view of what is good, desirable and worthwhile.
Professional ethics are principles that help to govern the behaviour of a people who are part of a particular profession. Like values, professional ethical principles provide rules on how a professional should act towards other people and institutions within their professional environment. Unlike values, professional ethics are often codified as a set of rules. This means that all those in a particular group will use the same professional ethics, even though their personal values may differ in some respects.
Next, we will look at 9 ethical principles that apply to many professional groups.
Nine Ethical Principles for RBT?s (Koocher & Keith-Spiegel, 1998)
1. Do No Harm
Earlier in this course, we talked about social validity and the principle of doing no harm. In your work, you need to ensure that any service you provide to a client will maintain their safety. One implication of this value for RBTs is that you should not knowingly practice outside of your area of expertise.
To avoid doing harm, an RBT needs to ask questions, seek training and identify any training needs they have in order to support a learner and keep them safe.
2. Respecting Autonomy
Autonomy is a key component of a person?s quality of life. ABA professionals promote independence and self-sufficiency for their clients. We put in place interventions to help people communicate their needs and desires and we enable them to carry out everyday tasks as independently as possible.
As RBTs are often responsible for the safety of their clients, there can be a tendency to focus on keeping a client ?under control?. However, this is not a socially valid goal for an ABA intervention. We cannot teach somebody to assert themselves in the real world if we only ever teach them to be compliant within the intervention environment. Teaching cooperation is a socially valid goal, but teaching cooperation without teaching a learner how to assert themselves, negotiate and defend their rights can leave the learner in a vulnerable position.
3. Benefitting Others
As an RBT, your primary professional goal should be to benefit others. It is not about you or your company. It is about the learner. At times, it may also be about other stakeholders ? a parent, a sibling or a classmate. However, we always prioritise those who are most vulnerable in a given situation.
4. Being Just
This means that actions should be fair and equitable. You may have heard about the ?Golden Rule?. It is a useful rule of thumb ? ?Do unto others as you would have done unto you?. A similar rule of thumb is the ?Silver Rule?. It states: “Do not do unto others as you would not have them do unto you?. When intervening, it is often useful to put yourself in the shoes of a client and ask yourself ?If I was in this situation, how would I feel if I was being treating this way??
5. Being Truthful
When speaking with clients, other stakeholders and colleagues, an RBT should be candid, sincere and straightforward. There should be no attempt to deceive or mislead any of these parties.
6. According Dignity
As an RBT, you should treat your clients with dignity and respect. We?ve already discussed the Silver and Gold Rules. To these we might add the Platinum Rule: “Do unto others as they would want to be done to them.” Every client that you work with is deserving of respect and valued as a unique person.
7. Treating Others with Care and Compassion
If an RBT is already treating somebody in a way that respects their autonomy, benefits them, implements interventions in a way that affords their client dignity, then you should already be treating your client and other stakeholders are being treated with care and compassion.
8. Pursuit of Excellence
As an RBT, you should commit yourself to a continual process of self-improvement. You should be a lifelong learner. Seek out additional training opportunities and stay current with the latest developments in ABA and related fields. Completing this course is only the first step in your journey towards excellence.
9. Accepting Responsibility
As an RBT, you are responsible for implementing an intervention correctly and ethically. If you have concerns about an intervention, you have a duty to communicate those concerns. If you require additional training, you have a duty to request that training. When there is a failure, you have an obligation to accept responsibility for your role in that failure, to make corrections and ensure that the client and other stakeholders are satisfied.
As an RBT, you may find yourself working in situations where it appears these principles come into conflict with each other. For example, a learner may want to engage in an activity that puts their safety at risk. In such a situation, you may need to balance the principle of doing no harm with the right to autonomy. Many ABA professionals work with people with disabilities ? in particular people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Many RBTs find it challenging to live up to these ethical principles when working with such clients.
In the coming modules, we?ll provide an overview of the concept of disability and the characteristics of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This will help to provide you with the background knowledge required to look at some of the practical ethical issues you might face as an RBT.