In 2020 the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis posted an Expression of Concern regarding Rekers & Lovaas (1973) as a step in acknowledging behavior analysis’s complicity in the pseudoscience of conversion therapy. This week we’re joined by special guests, Drs. Sarah Campau and Matthew Capriotti, as well as Book Club Guy, Alan Haberman, to talk about what comes next. We review the controversy over the original paper, discuss public policy around supporting the LGBTQ+ community, and start planning how behavior analysis can kickstart new research that benefits sexual and gender minorities.

For more on the history of conversion therapy, Dr. Campau suggests the UnErased podcast.

This episode is available for 1.0 LEARNING CEU.

Articles discussed this episode:

Conine, D.E., Campau, S.C., & Petronelli, A.K. (2022). LGBTQ+ conversion therapy and applied behavior analysis: A call to action. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 55, 6-18. doi: 10.1002/jaba.876.

Capriotti, M.R. & Donaldson, J.M. (2022). “Why don’t behavior analysts do something?” Behavior analysts’ historical, present, and potential future actions on sexual and gender minority issues. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 55, 19-39. doi: 10.1002/jaba.884

The Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior & LeBlanc, L.A. (2020). Editor’s note: Societal changes and expression of concern about Rekers and Lovaas’ (1974) behavioral treatment of deviant sex-role behaviors in a male child. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis Behavior, 53, 1830-1836. doi: 10.1002/jaba.768

Rekers, G.A. & Lovaas, O.I. (1974). Behavioral treatment of deviant sex-role behaviors in a male child. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 7, 173-190. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1974.7-173

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