Behaviorists for Social Responsibility Annual Report

The Behaviorists for Social Responsibility (BFSR) SIG is composed of dedicated volunteers and a board of Planners (drawing on Skinner’s Walden Two). The Planners, who meet monthly, currently consist of Jose Ardila, Kendra Combs, Traci Cihon, Sarah Richling, Richard Rakos, Kathryn Roose, Jovonnie Esquierdo-Leal, Brett Gelino, and Holly Seniuk. The Planner structure, active volunteers, easy availability of digital communications, and the resulting mutual accountability continues to produce a high level of activity by the SIG. The following report summarizes only some of the SIG’s activities for 2022.

The Matrix Project

BFSR has continued to focus on the Matrix Project (see BFSR’s website at bfsr.abainternational.org/ for more information) which was first introduced in the 2014 Behavior and Social Issues editorial (Mattaini & Luke, 2014). The Matrix Project is focused on increasing the number of behavior analysts working on social issues (e.g., social justice, poverty, sustainability, public health) using behavioral systems analysis to identify interrelations and practical steps that may be taken across more than two dozen sectors/players (e.g., behavior-analytic education programs, faculty, journals, students) who might have an impact on this goal. A significant amount of activity has continued to occur in the last year, so we will highlight a few of the recent activities.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Education Group (DEIE)

The goal for this group is to develop materials to increase the inclusion of cultural/behavioral systems level content, particularly with emphasis on social issues, in university coursework. In 2020 the group created a survey that generated approximately 470 responses from behavior analysts. The purpose of the survey was to better understand how individuals are currently contacting behavior analytic content on social issues and what resources would be most beneficial. The group is currently working on analyzing the results of the survey for dissemination. The DEIE working group is currently recruiting new members to support strategic planning and pragmatic action based on the results of the survey. Persons who are interested should contact us at bfsr@abainternational.org.

Regional BFSR Groups

The goal for the regional groups is to create a network of BFSR SIGs in affiliated chapters of ABAI. To date, two affiliated state chapters of the BFSR SIG (TxABA in 2016 and KansABA in 2017) and one regional chapter (O-BFSR in 2022) have been formed. The ABAI BFSR Planners are continually working with state/regional/international affiliated chapters interested in developing BFSR SIGs that extend the reach of the Matrix Project to local action.

In 2022, the TxABA BFSR SIG Planners (Traci Cihon & Lee Mason) have focused on efforts to build interest in the TxABA BFSR SIG and provide a fantastic set of presentations on the Social Issues and Education tracks at the annual TxABA convention. Individuals who are interested in getting more involved with fulfilling the BFSR mission locally, in Texas, should contact Lee Mason
(Lee.Mason@cookchildrens.org).

In 2022, the KansABA BFSR SIG continued developing and refining a system for monitoring progress on BFSR-related initiatives, including the Matrix Project, and furthering efforts towards those initiatives.

The KansABA BFSR SIG Board of Planners also drafted and published a position statement unequivocally opposing the use of contingent electric skin shock that was adopted by the KansABA Board of Planners and efforts are underway to continue work towards (a) encouraging widespread BFSR adoption of a position statement opposing the use of contingent electric skin shock with humans, and (b) ensuring all ABAI members have a voice when voting on membership matters. Other initiatives undertaken in 2022 include the introduction of monthly challenges, aimed at encouraging others to take targeted collective action toward increasing their social responsibility, and continued development of the Zotero repository, created to help disseminate behavior analysis applications to issues of social importance.Established in 2022, the O-BFSR has been active in connecting the Ontario-based group with the ABAI BFSR SIG regarding collaboration efforts and social media. The O-BFSR has also set up important infrastructure including an email address (bfsr.sig@gmail.com), a Twitter account (@OntarioBFSR), and website (www.obfsr.org/). In addition, the O-BFSR developed and disseminated a presentation on the topic of climate change and behavior analysis hosted by Brock University and developed and disseminated a presentation on the topic of improving the world with behavior analysis which was part of the Brock University Speaker Series on June 17th, 2022. In the coming year, the O-BFSR plans to identify strategies for regular contact with O-BFSR members, opportunities for members to participate in O-BFSR activities and events, and recruitment opportunities and methods as well as to develop member roles and responsibilities within the O-BFSR task forces. The O-BFSR also has plans to host a reading group on culturo-behavioral science, participate and be present at the annual ONTABA conference (hosting poster contest, exhibit table, sustainability support), develop Task Forces covering diverse topics within social responsibility, publish newsletter updates via ONTABA quarterly newsletter, and host an O-BFSR
speaking event.

Sustainability Group

The group continues to apply the matrix analysis to identify feasible practices that ABAI affiliate chapters could engage in to increase behavior analytic activity in the area of sustainability. In 2021, the group disseminated a survey in order to gain information on what activities affiliate chapters have previously engaged in or are actively engaging in related to environmental sustainability. Based on the results of that survey the group identified several feasible practices that affiliate chapters can engage in. In order to support those chapters, the group is working on developing a structure to facilitate community meetings of affiliate chapter sustainability liaisons. In addition, the group has developed a questionnaire that conference planners can use to evaluate areas in which they may be able to reduce the environmental impact of their conferences. This questionnaire has been piloted with several affiliate chapters and the group is working on wider dissemination and adoption efforts.

Community Resilience Group This working group was recently created in late 2020 and focuses on understanding how individuals as cultural collectivities respond and recover from systemic issues related to climate change such as hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, among others. The goal of this group is to develop measurement tools with a behavior systems orientation for assessing the practices involved in community resilience seen as adaptive outcomes. The group is currently recruiting volunteers to help collect relevant literature from within and outside behavior analysis that discusses resilience as a concept. Following the completion of literature review, a measurement tool that identifies the multiple contingencies constituting a community’s recovery efforts will be offered. Persons who are interested should contact us at bfsr@abainternational.org.

Public Health Group

This working group was established in 2020 and has been actively working toward increasing connections between behavior science and public health. In 2022, members of this working group have developed a fact sheet that briefly summarizes ways in which behavior analysis and public health can benefit from interdisciplinary interactions. Potential opportunities for interdisciplinary work in these areas was presented at the 2022 ABAI convention and further examples will be highlighted in a poster presentation and panel discussion at the 2023 ABAI convention. Currently, members of this group are working with the senior editorial team of Behavior and Social Issues and Springer to develop a call for papers for a cross-journal collection focused on human behavior and public health. Members of this working group are also working on manuscripts for submission to both behavior analytic and public health journals to further foster interdisciplinary collaboration between the disciplines.

BFSR will continue to work on the Matrix Project over the coming year with a particular focus on developing measures to track progress, changes in behaviors/practices, and outcomes. In addition, the BFSR will continue to update the activities and outcomes of active sectors and coordinate the activities of the less developed sectors. Those who want to get involved can contact BFSR at
bfsr@abainternational.org.

Membership Options and Benefits

The BFSR membership structure includes student members ($5), full members ($20), supporting members ($50), and sustaining members ($100). The SIG has also developed a process for getting volunteers involved with SIG activities (email bfsr@abainternational.org if you are interested in volunteering). The SIG has been actively working on developing our website to house resources, disseminate information, and provide members with a way to connect with the SIG.

Volunteer Opportunities

BFSR has steadily received the help of hundreds of volunteers throughout the years. In fact, much of what has been and can be achieved through the Matrix Project is through the support of BFSR members and volunteers. Currently, aspiring volunteers can reach the group via our webpage, and based on their interests and skills, we can suggest one or more working groups within the Matrix with which they may participate. If you are interested in volunteering, please reach out at bfsr@abainternational.org.

Social Media

BFSR remains active on various social media platforms but like many other people and groups, the changing landscape of the social media platforms themselves has presented new challenges. BFSR is committed to finding the most effective way to communicate with its members and others on social media in a way that fits with our values. Creating and disseminating our own content is another aspect of our social media goal that we hope to focus more on in the coming months. Any interested people can volunteer at bfsr@abainternational.org and mention that they are hoping to get involved with
social media.

Behavior and Social Issues Journal

The BFSR Planners are heavily involved in supporting Behavior and Social Issues (BSI). The most recent volume of BSI (2022, volume 31) featured 26 articles. These articles included articles contributing to a second special section on Revitalizing Behavioral Community Psychology, Part I of a two-part special section on Behavior and Cultural Systems Analysis for Climate Change, and our ongoing special sections on Activism, Advocacy, and Accompaniment; and the Forum on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; in addition to our regular submissions. In 2022, BSI was also fortunate enough to recruit two new Associate Editors, Denise Ross-Page and Laercia Vasconcelos to support the increase in publication volume. In 2023, BSI will begin to publish two issues per year!

The spring 2023 issue of BSI will come out around the ABAI annual convention and will feature a special section on Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (Guest Editors: Lenwood Gibson, Lefki Kourea, and Temple Lovelace). BSI is currently recruiting papers for its ongoing special sections in the Forum on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Activism, Advocacy, and Accompaniment. BSI also welcomes submissions for two special sections to be featured in the fall 2023 issue: Part II of the special section on Behavior and Cultural Systems Analysis for Climate Change (Guest Editors: Mark Alavosius, Brett Gelino, and Cynthia Pietras) and a special section on Literacy and Social Justice (Guest Editors: Denise Ross-Page, Shannon Hammond, Gwendolyn Cartledge, Jane Howard).

More details about the journal, including the calls for papers regarding these special sections can be found here: www.springer.com/journal/42822/. Stay tuned for additional calls for papers on two forthcoming special sections:
the cross-journal collection on Human Behavior and Public Health
(Guest Editors: Elizabeth Schieber, Jonathan Schulz, Crystal Slanzi, and Sarah Weinsztok), and a special section on Interprofessional Collaboration
(Guest Editors TBA).

Mark Mattaini Student Engagement Award

In 2021 the BFSR Planners created an annual award to recognize the significant contributions that Dr. Mark Mattaini has made to BFSR, and culturo-behavior science. Dr. Mattaini was passionate about motivating students of behavior science to be actively engaged in work pertaining to social issues. More information on the award and how to apply can be found on the BFSR website: bfsr.abainternational.org/student-award/. The award was launched following the ABAI Annual Convention in 2022; however, no submissions were received. The Planners have been discussing more effective ways to promote the opportunity and reach out to students who may be interested in participating and will re-launch the award at the ABAI Annual Convention in 2023.

ABAI Annual Convention

BFSR held our annual business meeting at the ABAI Annual Convention. BFSR was also represented at the convention through presentations, panel discussions, and posters. Please join us at our next annual business meeting, held in conjunction with the BSI annual business meeting, at the 2023 Annual Convention where we will also be showcasing our activities through posters, panel discussions, and more.