All individuals are a part of at least one culture. These cultural contingencies shape behavior, behavior that may or may not be acceptable or familiar to behavior analysts from another culture. To better serve individuals, assessments and interventions should be selected with a consideration of cultural factors, including cultural preferences and norms. The purpose of this paper is to provide suggestions to serve as a starting point for developing behavior analysts' cultural awareness skills. We present strategies for understanding behavior analysts' personal cultural values and contingencies and those of their clients, integrating cultural awareness practices into service delivery, supervision, and professional development, and becoming culturally aware in everyday practice.

Despite ongoing efforts to eradicate racism, it persists globally, negatively affecting education, mental health, community relations, and economic development. Every behavior analyst can, and should, contribute to the reduction of racism in some way. Unfortunately, little behavior-analytic research exists to guide us. This article proposes ways that members of our scientific community can learn about racism from a behavioral perspective, extend experimental analyses of prejudice, and intervene to reduce racism in varied settings. It describes both traditional behavior-analytic and functionalcontextualist accounts of racism and summarizes the small amount of related empirical and applied research. The review suggests that combining traditional behavior-analytic methods with acceptance and commitment training techniques may attenuate racism more effectively. The article ends with a call to collaborate around this globally important issue-and to do more to reduce racism.

This study expands the current research on anti-Black racism and student discipline in schools. It examines perception, experiences, and alternatives of zero-tolerance policies in education, in relation to the call for action by Black Lives Matter at Schools. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students are affected at a disproportionate rate when it comes to school discipline, leading to high, inequitable incarceration rates. However, behavior analysis already has powerful tools and interventions that can stop this "school-to-prison pipeline" effect. A survey of school professionals investigated awareness of adverse outcomes from zero-tolerance policies and the use of effective, behavioral alternatives to exclusionary disciplinary practices. Results confirmed zero-tolerance policies still exist in North American schools, but that school professionals, including behavior analysts, support Black Lives Matter at School's call to end such practices. It is important to note that participants report already having the necessary skills to combat zero-tolerance; however, many still feel uncomfortable or ill-prepared to implement interventions specifically intended to decrease anti-Black racism in schools.

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A professional’s response to a client’s disclosure of intimate partner violence (IPV) is shown to significantly impact client outcomes. The quality of a professional’s response is largely influenced by that professional’s beliefs or biases surrounding IPV. This systematic review examined empirical studies conducted in North America and published between 2000 and 2020 evaluating training effects on biases held by professional groups toward victim-survivors of IPV. Search and extraction were conducted in accordance with preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses standards across seven electronic databases. A total of 17 studies met inclusion criteria. Participant groups included professionals from medical, academic, and social/community service disciplines. All included studies reported significant gains on at least one measure of bias. Upon visual inspection, we found no correlations between characteristics of training interventions and reported outcomes on measures of bias. We discuss results in terms of challenges to measuring bias and functional relationships between training interventions, measures of bias, and professional behavior. Variation presented across studies within and between disciplines in regards to training methodology and measurement of bias. Experts in the field of IPV call for a more cohesive approach. We propose the behavior analytic conceptualization of bias as a framework through which interdisciplinary efforts might be unified toward addressing IPV-related biases. Through this lens, we discuss environmental cues within professional settings that might be influencing problematic IPV-related bias. We offer preliminary recommendations for curricular enhancements. We advocate for revision of terms commonly used in IPV-related research and intervention to better reflect and honor diversity across persons experiencing IPV.

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A team of professional educators in a private school for children with disabilities (a Virtual IEP Team) used an online platform to collaborate and produce a behavior intervention plan for a student. The collaboration was effective and efficient; the plan was produced in 9 days, rather than the customary 3-6 weeks. Qualitative data yielded four major themes: beneficial augmentation, reflective practice, barriers to change, and improved interactions. Quantitative results showed that although end user satisfaction was moderate, they produced a successful behavior intervention plan that showed positive changes in both the teacher and student behavior. An increase of in-person staff discussion as a result of online dialogue was a unique finding in this study warranting further investigation. Now that federal (U.S.) education law has changed to allow technologically mediated IEP meetings, the Virtual IEP Team may serve as a model for more efficient use of education professionals’ time.