O que a análise do comportamento diz sobre o racismo: um mapeamento a partir da revisão integrativa da literatura

Abstract

From the conception of behavior analysis as a science that systematically investigates the interactions between organism and environment, several authors such as Guerin (1992/2009), Holland (1978), Moore (2003) and Skinner (1978) discuss the possible relationship between behavior analysis and social issues, and highlight the potential of behavior analysis, as a science, in overcoming various social ills, such as poor income distribution, hunger, illiteracy, sexism and racism, etc. With these considerations and conceiving racism as a socially relevant issue to be overcome, the present research aimed to map the national behavioral-analytic production of the last decade about racism. Therefore, an integrative review of the literature on the subject was carried out, which followed a six-step path, based on the one proposed by Souza, Silva and Carvalho (2010), which are characterized by: 1. Elaboration of the guiding question; 2. Search or sampling in the literature; 3. Data collection; 4. Critical analysis of included studies; 5. Discussion of results; 6. Presentation of the integrative review. SciELO, PePSIC, the subscribers' version of the CAPES Periodicals Portal and the main periodicals in the area of behavior analysis were used as databases. Eleven search words were listed, divided into two categories: Theoretical Basis of Interest and Thematic of Interest. The Theoretical Foundation of Interest (FTI) category was composed of four search terms: “Behavior Analysis”, “Behaviorism”, “IRAP” and “Stimuli Equivalence”. The Thematic of Interest (TDI) category was composed of seven search terms: “racism”, “black”, “blackness”, “black”, “racial prejudice”, “race” and “racial bias”. The search was performed by ssociating search terms between the two categories, in a total of 28 possible combinations. Seven articles were found for analysis, confirming the incipient character of analytical-behavioral productions on the subject, but it was still possible to assess a predominant interpretation of racial prejudice as a verbal behavior. In this sense, the stimulus equivalence paradigm and the Relational Frame Theory (RFT) were identified as the main theoretical-methodological tools in the area. The greatest limitation of the area is still related to the creation of effective interventions to reduce racial prejudice, and to the equally incipient nature of the particularities of Brazilian racism. It is suggested for future research, the exploration of more databases, and the diversification of search engines, considering the addition of relational frames theory as a field to be explored.