Beyond Cultural Responsivity: Applied Behavior Analysis Through a Lens of Cultural Humility

Applied behavior analysts possess knowledge and skills in teaching desired behavior and addressing interfering behavior of individuals with a variety of needs. Inevitably, practitioners also bring their own beliefs, values, and attitudes to their practice. Sometimes these beliefs are inconsistent with their clients, making it challenging to effectively share knowledge and enact skillsfor affecting behavior change. Behavior analysts (BAs) need to be proactive in gathering information from their clients, identifyin relevant cultural variables, and engaging in self-reflection and ongoing learning to build truly collaborative partnerships. This process is consistent with cultural humility, an approach that recognizes the importance of cultural variables and addressing power imbalances. Cultural humility allows BAs to adjust their approach, individualize practices, and pursue additional education with each client as necessary. This chapter will describe the concept of cultural humility and how BAs can adopt it and presents a case example to illustrate.