This document summarizes the first week of a Human Behavior and the Social Environment course. It introduces the syllabus, course requirements, and key topics including a multidimensional approach to understanding human behavior by considering personal, environmental, and time dimensions. The course will examine diversity, inequality, and pursuing social justice. Students will complete exams, a group research paper and presentation, and attend class regularly.

2. Week #1
Florida Atlantic University
School of Social Work
SOW 4104
Human Behavior &
the Social
Environment
Dr. Whiteman

3. • Introductions
• Review syllabus
• Group selection
• Questions
• Setting the Stage: A Multidimensional Approach
• Person, environment, and time separately
• Emphasis on Diversity, Inequality, and the Pursuit of
Social Justice
• Knowledge of the case, the self, values and ethics
• Theory and Research in a Multidimensional Approach

4. COURSE REQUIREMENTS
• Mid-Term Examination=30
• Final Examination=30
• Analysis Research Paper &
Presentation =30
• Attendance=10
• Total points=100

5. COURSE REQUIREMENTS
• Examinations:
• Mid-term: October 2
• Final: December 4
• Analysis Research Paper and Presentation (Group
Project)
• October 9: Each group must be prepared to update
the class on the topic and progress on the paper and
presentation.
• October 23: Students can submit draft paper for
instructor feedback
• November 6: Final paper

6. COURSE REQUIREMENTS
• Presentations Dates:
– November 6
– November 13
– November 20

7. Group Exercise

8. Exploring Your Motivation for the Profession
— Possible Reasons
– To help others
– To save people (from harm of some sort)
– To fully live religious obligations
– To heal the world
– I can’t stand to see others suffer
– People always turn to me for help
– I love to talk
– I’m curious
– I have so much myself
– I had a hard time & no one was there for me
– I just like people
– Social workers are who I want to work with

10. A Multidimensional Approach
• 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

11. Personal dimensions
– Biopsychosocial approach
• What are the major time dimensions?
Personal
Dimensions

12. Environmental
Dimensions

13. Time
Dimensions

14. Genie’s Story
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmdyc
JQi4QA

15. The Complexity of Human Behavior:
Consider Genie’sStory
• Focus on the person: What is it about Genie’s
biophysical, psychological, and social 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 Genie’s world influence her?
• Focus on time: What has changed in Genie’s life? How
have past experiences and events impacted Genie’s
current situation?
• How would our understanding of Genie’s story change if we
had no knowledge of her prior life experiences, if we only
assessed her situation based in her current functioning?

16. The Global Perspective
• Awareness of profound differences in views of the
world
• Awareness of diversity of ideas and cultures
• Curiosity about different parts of the world
• Location of self in the world
• Awareness of view from the outside
• View of systems and mechanisms of oppression

17. • What is Heterogeneity?
• What is Diversity?
• Why is this important as a social worker?
Diversity

18. • Power relationships between social groups
and patterns of opportunity for social
groups
• Types of categorizations used to develop
hierarchical social structures:
– Gender
– Race
– Class
• These categorizations create privilege
Inequality

19. • What are mechanisms of oppression?
Pursuit of Social JusticeTo challenge
injustice, we must
recognize it and
understand how it
is embedded in our
social institutions.

20. Knowledge Ingredients Necessary
“TO DO” Social Work
• Specifics of the case or situation
– Quality of relationship between social worker
and client
How can you improve quality of relationship?

21. Knowledge Ingredients Necessary
“TO DO” Social Work
• Thinking processes, emotions, and social
location of self

22. Knowledge Ingredients Necessary
“TO DO” Social Work
• Social work values and ethics.
– Service
– Social Justice
– Dignity and Worth of the Person
– Importance of Human Relationships
– Integrity
– Competence

23. Knowledge Ingredients Necessary
“TO DO” Social Work
• Scientific knowledge of theory and
research
– http://www.nrepp.samhsa.gov/

24. Scientific Knowledge: Theory and
Research from the THEORY side
THEORY
– Provides a framework for understanding
person/environment transactions
– Guides interventions
– Focuses our attention on particular aspects of the
person-environment-time configuration
– Is based on assumptions, or beliefs held to be true
without testing or proof, about the nature of human
social life
– Is composed of concepts which are put together to form
propositions and statements of relationship

25. Scientific Knowledge: Theory and Research
from the THEORY side
THEORY DEFINED
– A logically related set of concepts and
propositions, organized into a deductive
system, that explains some aspects of our
world.
– Concepts are the building blocks of theory
(i.e., acculturation, loss, self-reliance).
– Example: Risk & Resiliency theory

26. Scientific Knowledge: Theory and Research
from the RESEARCH side
RESEARCH:
• Is a problem-solving process
• Is a systematic method of seeking answers to questions
• Is empirical -- something that we experience through our senses,
as opposed to something that we experience purely in our minds
• Is a way of observing events with the intent to look for patterns in
those events
• Is a way to test the assumptions of theories

27. Scientific Knowledge: Theory and Research from
the RESEARCH side
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

28. Research & Theory Activity
• Select a social issue that interests you.
List 5 things that you “know” about this
issue.
• Think about how you know what you know.
• How would you go about confirming or
disproving your current knowledge on this
topic?

29. Homework
• Choose a perspective/theory that best explains
HBSE and explain why.
• Do these perspectives/theories explain HBSE ,
why or why not?
• Given what you have read, what two
interventions would be most successful working
with your group/population of interest?