ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN TEACHING COMPLIANCE TO INDIVIDUALS WITH MENTAL-RETARDATION

This paper reviews the role of ethics in behavioral interventions and the rationale and interventions commonly used for teaching compliance to individuals with mental retardation. The ethical screens designed to monitor the selection and use of aversive interventions are described as a framework for examining ethical issues related to selecting and teaching compliance as a behavioral or instructional goal. Tables are used to summarize some of the major issues in deciding whether compliance is an appropriate objective for an individual, and for monitoring whether any interventions designed to achieve compliance are being appropriately implemented.