Journal #1 HBSE

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Chapter 1: Human Behavior:

A Multidimensional Approach

DIMENSIONS OF

Person and Environment

HUMAN BEHAVIOR

Chapter Outline

Case study: Manisha and her changing environments

Human behavior: Individual and collective

A multidimensional approach

Diversity, inequality, and the pursuit of social justice: A global perspective

Knowing and doing

Scientific knowledge: Theory and research

A word of caution

The Complexity of Human Behavior: Consider Manisha’s Story

Focus on the person: What is it about Manish’s physical, emotional, and spiritual self that helps us to understand her behavior?

Focus on the environment: How did/do the geography, culture, political events, social organizations, and family relationships in Manisha’s world influence her?

Focus on time: What has changed in Manisha’s life? How have past experiences and events impacted Manisha’s current situation?

Human Behavior: Individual and Collective

Person and his/her environments have been essential considerations in social work practice

Element of time has been added to call attention to dynamic nature of people and environments

A Multidimensional Approach

Multidimensional: having several identifiable dimensions

Dimension: a feature that can be focused on separately but that cannot be understood without also considering other features

The dimensions are embedded with each other and interact to determine behavior

Multidetermined behavior: behavior that develops as a result of many causes

Personal Dimensions

Biopsychosocial approach – recognizes human behavior as a result of interactions of integrated biological, psychological, and social systems

Psychology inseparable from biology

Argument for greater attention to the spiritual dimension of persons

Environmental Dimensions

Bronfenbrenner (2005):

Microsystems

Mesosystems

Exosystems

Macrosystems

Chronosystems

Anderson and Carter (1974):

Culture and society

Communities

Organizations

Groups

Families

Environmental Dimensions Cont.

Dimensions:

Person

Environment

Time

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Person Dimension

Biological

The body’s biochemical, cell, organ, and psychological systems

Psychological

The mind and the mental processes

Spiritual

The aspect of the person that searches for meaning and purpose in life

Environmental Dimension

Physical

Culture

Social Structure and Social Institutions

Formal Organization

Community

Social Movements

Small Groups

Families

Dyads

Time Dimensions

Dimensions not only interact dynamically, but also change over time

Linear time

Time ordered from past through present into the future

Historical era

Specific block or period of time in which individuals and collective lives are enacted

Chronological age

How people change at different ages and life stages as they pass from birth to death

The concept of time differs by culture:

Clock time and orientation to the future associated with more industrialized countries

Event time and orientation to the past associated with less industrialized countries

A Multidimensional Approach: Some Examples of Dimensions

What are the major personal dimensions covered in the text?

What are some examples?

What are the major environmental dimensions?

What are some examples?

What are the major time dimensions?

What are some examples?

Diversity, Inequality, and the Pursuit of Social Justice: A Global Perspective

Global perspective

To be aware that my view of the world is not universally shared

To have growing awareness of the diversity of ideas and practices

To be curious about conditions in other parts of the world and how they relate to our society

To understand where I fit in the global social structure

To have growing awareness of how people in other societies view my society

To have growing understanding of how the world works

Globalization – process by which the world’s people are becoming more interconnected economically, politically, environmentally, and culturally

Diversity

Increasing racial, ethnic, and religious diversity in the U.S.

Heightened consciousness of human differences

Gender, cultural, sexual orientation, abilities, disabilities, family forms, and so on

Heterogeneity – differences among individuals

Diversity – differences among groups

Inequality

Gender, race, and class are categorizations used to develop hierarchical social structures that influence social identities and life chances

Privilege – unearned advantage

White privilege

U.S. privilege

Social locations – where we fit into a system of social identities

Diversity, Inequality, and the Pursuit of Social Justice

What is Heterogeneity?

What is Diversity?

What is meant by “shifting nature of terminology” and why is it important to understand?

What is meant by “mechanisms of oppression” and what are they?

What is meant by “privilege” and “disadvantage” and how are they multidimensional?

The Pursuit of Social Justice

NASW Code of Ethics identifies social justice as one of six core values of social work

Mechanisms of oppression can be used intentionally or unintentionally

Global social justice

Theories of social justice:

Fairness

Capabilities approach

The Pursuit of Social Justice Cont.

Knowing and Doing

Four ingredients of “knowing how” to do social work:

Knowledge about the case

Develop understanding of situation

Select and order information

Knowledge about the self

Understanding one’s own thinking processes, emotions, and social location

Values, and ethics

Established by NASW

Scientific knowledge

Scientific Knowledge: Theory and Research

Theory – interrelated set of concepts and propositions, organized into a deductive system, that explains relationships among aspects of our world

Provides framework for understanding person/environment transactions

Guides interventions

Focuses our attention on particular aspects of the person-environment-time configuration

Theory and Research Continued

Theory Cont.

Concepts – building blocks of theory

Propositions – assertions

Deductive reasoning – use of propositions to generate specific hypotheses to test

Assumptions – beliefs held to be true without testing or proof

Theory and Research Continued

Empirical research – careful, purposeful, and systematic observation of events with the intent to note and record them in terms of their attributes, to look for patterns in those events, and make our methods and observations public

A problem-solving process

Is empirical - something that we experience through our senses, as opposed to something that we experience purely in our minds

Is a way to test the assumptions of theories

Theory and Research Continued

Empirical research cont.

Positivist perspective: world has order that can be discovered, findings can be applied to other groups, findings are tentative, scientific methods are value-free

Quantitative methods of research – measures concepts, standardize collection of data, attend to preselected variables, use statistical measures

Interpretist perspective (constructivist): assumption that reality is based on people’s definitions of it

Qualitative methods of research – flexible, experiential, captures how participants view social life

Postpositivism: philosophical position that recognizes the complexity of reality and limitations of human observers

Theory and Research Continued

Criteria for 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

Theory and Research Continued

Criteria for Evaluating Research

Corroboration

Multidimensionality

Definition of terms

Limitation of sample

Influence of setting

Influence of the researcher

Social distance

Specification of inferences

Suitability of measures

Theory and Research Continued

In summary:

Theory = ideas or assumptions about what is happening and why

Research = evidence based, what we can see, hear, feel about what is happening

Theory and Research in a Multidimensional Approach: Questions to Ponder

Do the dimensions of human behavior have an objective reality that exists outside a person’s consciousness OR is all reality based on personal perception (subjective reality)?

Belief in objective reality is congruent with positivist perspective that uses quantitative research methods to test theory

Belief in subjective reality is congruent with an interpretist perspective that uses qualitative research methods to understand how people experience their lives

A Word of Caution

Textbook presents personal and environmental dimensions separately

Note that person and environment cannot be separated when thinking about human behavior

Approach has been taken for several reasons:

1. Personal and environmental dimensions have been studied separately

2. Introduce dimensions not typically covered in social work textbooks

3. Ensure collective behavior receives attention it deserves

Questions to ask as you read the material

What is the evidence for this statement?

Is this true for all people (for me, for my client, for other people I know)?

How can I use this information in my practice?

Is there anything left out of this argument?

What is the main point of this section?

Can I summarize the argument?

How does this relate to other evidence about this topic?