Ep 09: A Behaviorist’s Role in the Social Justice Movement w/ Megan Sullivan Kirby of UncomfortableX

Beautiful Humans: The Social ChangeCast

In this conversation, we are joined by social justice behaviorist/ rockstar Megan Kirby. Megan gets candid about the history of behaviorism and its role in seeing equity in the world. She also discusses discomfort and pain associated with speaking up and out against injustice. We hope that you enjoy the conversation, as much as we enjoyed recording it. Megan Sullivan Kirby, co-founder of UncomfortableX, has over a decade of experience as a professional working in the fields of special education and outpatient ABA therapy services. She is presently a PhD student at the University of South Florida, studying narrative language interventions and the application of behavior analysis to issues related to social justice, education and human rights, part. Please follow us on FB @BeautifulHumansCast or IG @BeautifulHumansChange Follow Megan on FB and IG @UncomfortableBCBA and visit the website. Resources shared during this conversation: https://www.apa.org/monitor/features/king-challenge Goldiamond, I. (2002). Toward a constructional approach to social problems: ethical and constitutional issues raised by applied behavior analysis. Behavior and Social Issues, 11(2), 108–197. Mattaini, M. A. (1996). Envisioning cultural practices. The Behavior Analyst, 19(2), 257-272. Mattaini, M., & Aspholm, R. (2016). Contributions of a behavioral systems science to leadership for a new progressive movement. The Behavior Analyst, 39, 109-121. Metzl, J. M., Petty, J., & Olowojoba, O. V. (2018). Using a structural competency framework to teach structural racism in pre-health education. Social Science & Medicine, 199, 189-201. National Association of Social Workers. (2001). NASW standards for cultural competency in social work practice. Washington, DC: Author. Nevin, J. A. (2005). The inertia of affluence. Behavior and Social Issues, 14, 7–20. Rakos, R. (1983). Behavior analysis as a framework for a multidisciplinary approach to social change. Behaviorists for Social Action, 4(1), 8-16. Slocum, T. A., Detrich, R., Wilczynski, S. M., Spencer, T. D., Lewis, T., & Wolfe, K. (2014). The evidence-based practice of applied behavior analysis. The Behavior Analyst, 37(1), 41-56. Tanaka-Matsumi, J., Seiden, D. Y., & Lam, K. N. (1996). The Culturally Informed Functional Assessment (CIFA) interview: A strategy for cross- cultural behavioral practice. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 3, 215-233. Wyatt, W. J. (2000). Behavioral science in the crosshairs: The FBI File on B.F. Skinner. Behavior and Social Issues, 10, 101-109. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/beautiful-humans/support