Association for Behavior Analysis International

There have been some notable gains in recent years, but violence at the interpersonal, economic, structural, and political levels remains a central socio-cultural challenge of the modern era. Human rights violations and conflicts at the individual, local, national, or international level cause deep damage to persons, communities and cultures. Applications of the natural science of behavior and behavioral systems analysis to attempts to challenge injustice, construct peace, and heal people and communities are in their infancy. Still, there are compelling reasons to believe that contributions from that science are possible. In this symposium, the presenters will explore the issues from selectionist and contextualist perspectives, and sketch out what is presently known about strategies for constructing peace, resisting oppression nonviolently, and healing trauma.

This talk will present an evolutionary analysis of the generic features of conflict at several levels: the conflict we, as individuals experience within ourselves, the conflicts that occur between people, and the conflicts between groups—from small groups to international conflicts. Like other organisms, humans have an evolved bias toward detecting and avoiding danger. However our symbolic abilities—while useful for solving problems—mean that humans can perceive and seek to avoid threat that is only symbolically present. Reducing conflict both within and between individuals and groups depends on our reducing the power of symbolic relations to influence behavior that contributes to conflict. I will describe interventions that contribute to this change at all levels and will discuss the implications of current knowledge for reducing what appears to be the biggest threat to human wellbeing, namely our evolved tendencies to symbolically experience threat.

Mohandas Gandhi often indicated that nonviolent resistance was "a science," but very little scientific work (almost none from a natural science perspective) has been pursued in this area. In this paper, the author will outline applications of behavioral systems science to the practice of effective nonviolent struggle. Given the enormous human costs of violent strategies of resistance, insurgency and rebellion, their poor record of sustainable success, and the emerging evidence for the potential power of nonviolent alternatives, the rigorous exploration of alternatives is a critically important direction for applied cultural analysis. Effective strategic analysis can only emerge from an understanding of the underlying dynamics of strategic options. This presentation elaborates four major clusters of strategic options, identified using a functional, natural science perspective; the basic behavioral and behavioral systems dynamics involved with each will be explored here through historical and contemporary cases. The four clusters explored in this paper are: Constructive noncooperation; Protest and persuasion; Disruptive noncooperation; and Active disruption. These clusters overlap with, but also depart in significant ways from, the widely accepted classification developed by Gene Sharp. The conceptual analyses presented here suggest directions for practical experimentation, clearly an essential although challenging next step.

This paper will present an overview of the need for a behavioral therapy that goes beyond the treatment of PTSD symptomatology. Our treatment model uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to address a diverse group of problems that can often be considered under the umbrella of experiential avoidance. Experiential avoidance is the unwillingness or inability of an individual to remain in contact with distressing private events. Often, individuals take deliberate steps to avoid these unpleasant emotions and these increased attempts to avoid them serve to increase the frequency and intensity of the distressing feelings. Experiential avoidance is a process that some survivors of sexual abuse or assault engage in to reduce their distress, but it is thought that this increases their risk of subsequent additional victimization (Rosenthal, Rasmussen-Hall, Palm, Batten, S. & Follette, 2006). Treatment that focuses on reducing avoidance and increasing behaviors consistent with valued life goals is an essential alternative to traditional exposure therapy for trauma. While exposure therapy has clearly documented positive outcomes, additional treatment for unresolved trauma related issues is often not available. Treatment goals focused on prevention of re-victimization and behavioral activation in accordance with client-identified values will be discussed.