Public Policy Advocacy in Culturo-Behavior Science

B. F. Skinner noted in 1971 that “there are many reasons why people should now be concerned for the good of all mankind” (p. 137). There is good reason to do so, and given that the most critical contemporary social and environmental issues—and the primary potential steps to address them—are grounded in human behavior, good reason for behavior science to be active in doing so. Even given the limitations of current knowledge, behavior science carries a substantial obligation to work toward rigorous contributions, but also toward their broad applications. As effective interventive directions are identified, it is often challenging to convincingly move toward implementation of those advances through public policy. The authors here explore directions to facilitate applications of behavior science to advance policy decisions that support social and environmental justice, sustainability, and further scientific advances more broadly. Research and practice related to this task requires (a) a firm grounding in essential values and ethics that have not been commonly discussed in behavior analysis, (b) a behaviorally formulated understanding of the public policy process, and (c) behaviorally framed strategic analysis and tools for active participation in that process.