Dixon and colleagues (2015) asserted that faculty research productivity is a key indicator of the quality of university programs that train future practitioners of behavior analysis. Based on their analysis of publications in select journals, the authors concluded that many faculty in such programs have published little to no research. Some alternative measures of both faculty research productivity and the quality of practitioner training programs are suggested here.
Decades of research in the field of behavior analysis has offered a framework to assess behavior-environment interactions across any population and setting that involves behavior. This foundation makes a behavior-analytic perspective of safety systems a vital area of applied behavior analysis and one that can have a tremendous impact on the tens of thousands of behavior analysts working in frontline and leadership positions in clinical settings. Given the important work being done by clinicians and the growing need for behavioral services worldwide, organizations should create systems that are measured by more than just outcomes. Systems should be built to support the safe and effective practices that lead to those outcomes. This article discusses a behavioral safety model applied to clinical systems and showcases the role of training and coaching in the institutionalization of this model. Keywords Safety. Balance of variables. Coaching. Organizational behavior management. Autism The application of the principles of behavior has benefited numerous populations around the world for decades. Whether working with educational systems (e.g., Cooper, 1982), business and industry (e.g., Bucklin, Alvero, Dickinson, Austin, & Jackson, 2000), or even our animal cousins in zoos and aquariums (e.g., Alligood, Dorey, Mehrkam, & Leighty, 2017), if it involves behavior then the science behind understanding behavior is relevant and necessary for improvements in these areas. One area of particular strength in applied behavior analysis is in the clinical application of behavior analysis, particularly services provided to individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related developmental disabilities. A survey conducted by the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts (APBA, 2014) showed that over 60% of Board Certified
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