Ethical and Professional Issues

13% of the BCBA exam · blueprint Test Content Outline 6th ed. (since 2025)

Short answer

Domain E is 22 of 175 scored questions (13%). It covers the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts: practising within your scope of competence, informed consent and client assent, confidentiality and records, avoiding multiple relationships and conflicts of interest, responsibilities to clients, stakeholders and supervisees, accurate documentation and billing, handling requests outside your competence, and reporting obligations.

Why it matters on this exam

Ethics scenarios have one defensible answer under the Code and several that merely feel kind. The Code is the criterion.

Key concepts

Scope of competence: accept only work you are trained and competent in; otherwise obtain training and supervision, or refer.
Consent and assent: informed consent from the legally authorised party, assent from the client where possible; consent is ongoing, not one signature.
Confidentiality: disclose only what is necessary, with defined exceptions (harm, legal mandate); applies to records, email and case discussion.
Multiple relationships and conflicts: avoid entering into or creating them and monitor for them; if one arises, resolve it, and when that is not immediately possible, put safeguards in place, plan its eventual resolution and document every step.
Supervision responsibilities: supervise only within your competence and at a volume you can genuinely oversee; document; evaluate the effects of your supervision.
Documentation and billing: accurate, contemporaneous, and matched to services actually delivered.

Common mistakes

Agreeing to "just consult" on a population you have never worked with because the family is desperate.
Treating an employer's directive as authority for an ethically prohibited action.

Worked example

A school asks you to write a behavior plan for a student you have not assessed, to be run by staff you will not supervise. The Code-consistent response is to decline, explain the assessment and supervision requirements, and offer the service you can competently deliver.

Original practice questions

Ethical and Professional IssuesDifficulty 2/5

A BCBA whose caseload is exclusively early-intervention autism services is asked to treat severe self-injury in an adult with a dual diagnosis. Under the Ethics Code, what is the appropriate response?

AAccept, because board certification covers any behavior in any population
BAccept only after obtaining training, supervision or consultation in that area, or refer to a qualified provider
CAccept and learn from published articles and manuals while treatment is under way
DDecline the case and report the referral source to the certification board

Show answer and rationale

Correct: B. Behavior analysts practise within their scope of competence. Expanding scope requires appropriate study, training, supervision or consultation; otherwise the case should be referred.

A — Certification is not a blanket competence claim.
C — Self-directed reading during active treatment does not establish competence for a high-risk case.
D — Declining may be right, but there is nothing to report and referral is the professional step.

Ethical and Professional IssuesDifficulty 3/5

A client's parent offers a BCBA a part-time paid role managing their family business. What is the primary ethical concern?

AInformed consent, because the family would need to re-consent to services
BConfidentiality, because business discussions would expose client information
CA multiple relationship that could impair objectivity or exploit the client relationship
DBilling accuracy, because the two income streams would be hard to separate

Show answer and rationale

Correct: C. Taking a financial role with a client's family creates a multiple relationship that risks impairing professional judgment and exploiting the existing relationship. The Code directs behavior analysts to avoid such relationships and, where unavoidable, to disclose and mitigate.

B — No client information is being disclosed by the offer itself.
D — Billing for behavior-analytic services is unchanged by the offer.
A — Consent for services is a separate matter.

All 2 Ethical and Professional Issues questions →

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BCBA fieldwork hours planner — Enter the hours you have accrued and your weekly pace to see when you finish 2,000 supervised or 1,500 concentrated fieldwork hours, and how much supervision each pathway requires per month.

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Primary references

BCBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.), in effect since 2025 — Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) · primary · retrieved 2026-09-22, verified 2026-09-22
Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts — Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) · primary · retrieved 2026-09-22, verified 2026-09-22

Last reviewed: 2026-10-18Next review by: 2026-12-17Reviewed by: Openverse editorial team, Authoring and fact verificationHow we verify facts