9 COMPASSION
The Role of Compassion in Social Justice Efforts
Abstract
This chapter examines the role of compassion in social justice efforts from a behavior analytic perspective. Social justice efforts rely on perspective-taking skills and empathy as motivating operations for compassionate action on behalf of those who are suffering injustice. As a community of behavior analysts, our championing of social justice efforts are fully in line with the words of Coretta Scott King who said, “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate action of its members.”
Keywords
compassion
perspective taking
empathy
humility
self control
social operants
compassionate activism
Black Panther Party
Malcolm X
Matthew Johnson
Survival Programs
10-Point Program
Young Lords Organization
13-Point Program
Young Patriot Organization
11-Point Plan
Rainbow Coalition
compassion fatigue
Layla Saad
apathy
About
Linda LeBlanc
PH.D., BCBA-D
Linda A. LeBlanc, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Licensed Psychologist is the President of LeBlanc Behavioral Consulting. She previously served as a professor at Claremont MeKenna College, Western Michigan University and Auburn University and as the Executive Director of Trumpet Behavioral Health. She has published over 100 articles and book chapters on topics such as behavioral treatment of autism, technology-based behavioral interventions, behavioral gerontology, and systems development in human services. Dr. LeBlanc is the edit-in-chief of Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. She previously served as an Associate Editor for The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, Behavior Analysis in Practice, Education and Treatment of Children, and Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. She is the 2016 recipient of the American Psychological Association Nathan H. Azrin Award for Distinguished Contribution in Applied Behavior Analysis.
Erika Byers
Erika began her career working with adults with intellectual disabilities when she was enrolled in undergraduate studies at Hampton University in Hampton Virginia. She worked as a direct care worker and worked 1:1 with adults in a residential placement. During the two years in this role, Erika knew there had to be more she could do to serve these individuals. She met with a behavior analyst who guided Erika to pursue a career in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). In the fall of 2010, she enrolled in the master’s degree program in ABA at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City.
During her matriculation, she worked in Early Intervention and Preschool classrooms as both teacher assistant and head classroom teacher. She worked with children ranging from pre-listener/pre-speaker to reader/writer levels of verbal behavior. She implemented various tactics from the science to induce the first instances of speech, as well as improve the existing communication repertoires of her students. After a successful two years in the master’s program, Erika enrolled in the doctoral program, with the goal to add to the existing research on ABA, learning, communication and verbal behavior development.
While working on her doctoral degree, Erika mentored master’s students at Columbia University, taught in the classroom, supervised special education and general education classrooms and worked in home program settings as both a 1:1 ABA provider, as well as a supervisor. In her tenure, Erika has worked with toddlers, pre-school and school-aged children, adolescents, and adults across all levels of verbal behavior and functionality. She brings expertise, rigor, and a client-centered research focus to Teamwork’s clinical model. Erika is a Licensed Behavior Analyst in New York State and also holds four NYS teacher certifications (Birth-Grade 2, Grade 1-6 for General Education and Students with Disabilities).
Denisha Gingles
Denisha Gingles is a passionate behavior scientist and master-level trained mental health therapist. Denisha is the Clinical Director and CEO of a group therapy practice in Baltimore that provides behavioral services to families, children, teens, and young adults. Ms. Gingles is a futuristic thought leader and liberation-centered clinician dedicated to collective social change and the creation of sacred spaces that promote wellness and awareness of self. She is a pioneer, integrating behavior analysis and social justice by unapologetically shining a light on inequities of the world, while simultaneously making it infinitely better, exuding integrity and authenticity. With the ability to be adaptable and flexible, Denisha stays true to her values and works to encourage all humans to bring attention to their own private self-defeating and community-hindering thoughts and overt behaviors, in the service of evoking committed action oftentimes outside of their immediate comfort zone.
Denisha Gingles is a leading researcher and practitioner synthesizing social justice work with contemporary behavioral science. Ms. Gingles brings a rich experience in community organizing and activism to bear on evidence-based approaches to behavior change in the science of behavior analysis, incorporating innovative approaches to complex human behavior, such as relational frame theory and acceptance and commitment training. Ms. Gingles’ work takes a radically compassionate approach to igniting the behavior change needed to produce systemic social change in support of justice and equity. Ms. Gingles works tirelessly for social justice on multiple fronts, including community organizing, co-founding and producing the Beautiful Humans platform, providing professional workshops and trainings, scholarly writing, professional conference presentations at both the national and international level, and leadership in scholarly journals, including serving as Guest Editor for the Emergency Series on Police Brutality and Systemic Racism at the peer-reviewed journal Behavior Analysis in Practice.