Essentials of Human Behavior Social Work

1. Chapter 1

Setting the Stage
A Multidimensional Approach

2. SW Steps
(The Planned Change Process)
• Engagement
• Assessment
• Planning
• Intervention
• Evaluation
• Termination
 involves basic
knowledge and
assumptions about
human behavior

3. SW is a multifaceted profession
Swers need a
multidimensional,
multi-theoretical
understanding of
human behavior
Hutchison - Essentials of Human Behavior
Integrating Person, Environment, and the
Life Course © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.
3

4. Dimensions
• Interrelated
• What do we focus on? Why?
– Historically? Currently?
Hutchison - Essentials of Human Behavior
Integrating Person, Environment, and the
Life Course © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.
4
Personal Environmental Time
Biological
Psychological
Spiritual
Physical
Cultural
Social
etc.
Clock
Event
Linear

5. Dimensional Interactions
• Bio/psycho/social developmental dimensions affect each other
Poverty
SA
HIV
Pregnancy
EmploymentDepression
Development
Intellectual
disability
Abuse
Positive/
negative
reinforcement
Peers
Puberty
Development
Identity

6. Manisha’s Story
Hutchison - Essentials of Human Behavior
Integrating Person, Environment, and the
Life Course © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.
6

7. Overview of Dimensions
Hutchison - Essentials of Human Behavior
Integrating Person, Environment, and the
Life Course © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.
7

8. A Caveat
• We should know what we don’t know
• Acknowledge the complexity and mystery of humans
and the world in which we live
• Competence is important, but we should also be
sensitive to “overconfident assertions of certainty”
about others and their behaviors
(Karen Armstrong in “Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life” 2010 p. 128)

9. Social Locations
• Where we fit in a system of social identities, such as:
ethnicity gender
social class sexual orientation
religion ability/disability
age race
• How our own particular social locations shape:
how we see the world
what we notice
how we interpret what we “see.”
Hutchison - Essentials of Human Behavior
Integrating Person, Environment, and the
Life Course © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.
9

10. Theory
• Helps organize and make sense of situations
• Gives us a framework for interpreting person
and environment and planning interventions
• Model - visual representation of the
relationships between concepts
• Paradigm - a way of seeing the world
• Perspective - an emphasis or a view
Hutchison - Essentials of Human Behavior
Integrating Person, Environment, and the
Life Course © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.
10

11. Evaluating Theory
• Coherence and conceptual clarity
• Testability and evidence of empirical support
• Comprehensiveness
• Consistency with social work’s emphasis on
diversity and power arrangements
• Usefulness for social work practice
Hutchison - Essentials of Human Behavior
Integrating Person, Environment, and the
Life Course © 2012 SAGE Publications, Inc.
11

12. This Semester…
• What affect can alcohol consumption by a mother have on a
fetus and an infant?
• What is the nature-nurture controversy?
• What language skills can we expect from a typically developing
9-year-old?
• What is the social work perspective on abortion?
• What did Carl Rogers have to say about people?
• How can we evaluate theory?
• What is intelligence?
• What is disproportionality?
• What does gang culture have to do with racial oppression?
• What are some possible outcomes of unplanned pregnancy in
adolescence?
• Are girls more self-critical of their appearance than boys?

13. This Semester…
• How do people develop morally?
• Is there a correlation between adolescent suicide rates
and ethnicity?
• How can we empower homeless youth?
• What is the theory of intersectionality all about?
• Is there a double-standard of aging?
• Why is HIV/AIDS out of control in Black America?
• What do some social theories have to say about poverty?
• Is there a “gay lifestyle?”
• How do we promote a wellness perspective in older
adulthood?
• What are some major problems faced by older people?
• And much more…