Dimensions of Human Behavior: Person and Environment, 7th Edition

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Dimensions of Human Behavior

Elizabeth D. Hutchison

Leanne Wood

Charlesworth

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Person and Environment

Seventh Edition

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Person and Environment Think-AB

Seventh Edition


Emeritus

Virginia Commonwealth University

Leanne Wood Charlesworth

Nazareth College

and contributing authors

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Hutchison, Elizabeth D., author. | Charlesworth,

Leanne Wood, author.

Title: Dimensions of human behavior: person and

environment / Elizabeth D. Hutchison, Emeritus, Virginia

Commonwealth University, Leanne Wood Charlesworth,

Nazareth University and contributing authors.

Description: Seventh Edition. | Thousand Oaks, California:

SAGE, [2024] | Revised edition of Dimensions of human

behavior, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and

index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2023042525 | ISBN 9781071831458

(paperback) |

ISBN 9781071831519 ink-AB

(e

T pub h )

Subjects: LCSH: Social psychology. | Human behavior. | Social

structure. | Social service.

Classification: LCC HM1033.D56 2024 | DDC 302–

dc23/eng/20231026

LC record available at

https://lccn.loc.gov/2023042525 Printed in the

United States of America

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Brief Contents

1. Case Studies

2. Preface

3. Acknowledgments

4. About the Editors

5. About the Contributors

6. About the Case Study Contributors

7. Part I A MultidimensiTonahl Aipnprkoa-cAh foBr

Multifaceted Social Work

1. Chapter 1 Human Behavior: A Multidimensional

Approach

2. Chapter 2 Theoretical Perspectives on Human

Behavior

8. Part II The Multiple Dimensions of Person

1. Chapter 3 The Biological Person

2. Chapter 4 The Psychological Person: Cognition,

Emotion, Personality, and Self

3. Chapter 5 The Psychosocial Person: Relationships,

Stress, and Coping

4. Chapter 6 The Spiritual Person

9. Part III The Multiple Dimensions of Environment

1. Chapter 7 The Physical Environment

2. Chapter 8 Cultures

3. Chapter 9 Social Structure and Social Institutions:

Global and National

4. Chapter 10 Families

5. Chapter 11 Small Groups

6. Chapter 12 Organizations

7. Chapter 13 Communities

8. Chapter 14 Social Movements

10. Glossary

11.References

12. Index

Detailed Contents

1. Case Studies

2. Preface

3. Acknowledgments

4. About the Editors

5. About the Contributors

6. About the Case Stud

T y C h on i t n rib k uto - rs AB

7. Part I A Multidimensional Approach for Multifaceted Social Work

1. Chapter 1 Human Behavior: A Multidimensional

Approach

1.A Case Study About Person and Environment

1. Case Study 1.1: Joshua, Making a New Life

2. Human Behavior: Individual and Collective

1. Organization of Book

3. A Multidimensional Approach

1. Personal Dimensions

2. Environmental Dimensions

3. Time Dimensions

4. Advancing Human Rights and Social, Racial,

Economic, and Environmental Justice: A Global

Perspective

1. Human Rights and Social, Racial, Economic,

and Environmental Justice

2. Anti-oppressive and Anti-racist Practice

3. Diversity

4. Equity and Social Inclusion

5. Knowing and Doing

1. Knowledge About the Case

2. Knowledge About the Self

3. Values and Ethics

6. Scientific Knowledge: Theory and Research

1. Theory

2. Empirical Research

3. Critical Use of Theory and Research

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7. Implications for Social Work Practice

8. Key Terms

9. Active Learning

2. Chapter 2 Theoretical Perspectives on Human

Behavior

1. A Case Study About Human Behavior Theory

1. Case Study 2.1: COVID-19 in the Family

2. Multiple Theoretical Perspectives for a

Multidimensional Approach

1. Systems Perspective

1. Critical Analysis of the Systems

Perspective

2. Critical Perspective

1. Critical Analysis of the Critical Perspective

3. Social Constructionist Perspective

1. Critical Analysis of the Social

Constructionist Perspective

4. Psychodynamic Perspective

1. Critical Analysis of the

Psychodynamic Perspective

5. Developmental Perspective

1. Critical Analysis of the

Developmental Perspective

6. Learning Perspective

1. CrT itica h l A i n n al k ys - is A of t B he

Learning Perspective

7. Humanistic-Existential Perspective

1. Critical Analysis of the Humanistic-

Existential Perspective

3. The Merits of Multiple Perspectives


5. Key Terms

6. Active Learning

8. Part II The Multiple Dimensions of Person

1. Chapter 3 The Biological Person

1. Six Case Studies of the Biological Person

1. Case Study 3.1: Cheryl’s Legs and Head

2. Case Study 3.2: A Diabetes Diagnosis for

Jenna

3. Case Study 3.3: Shay and Terry

4. Case Study 3.4: HIV: Thomas’s Hero

5. Case Study 3.5: Louise and Huntington’s

and Stewart’s Obesity and Cardiovascular

Disease

6. Case Study 3.6: Juan and Belinda’s Sexual

Life in Retirement

2. An Integrative Approach for Understanding the

Intersection of Interior (Proximal) Biological

Health and Illness and Exterior (Distal)

Environmental Factors

3. Systems Taxonomy: Six Interior (Proximal)

Environment Systems

1. Nervous System

2. Endocrine System

3. Immune System

4. Cardiovascular System

5. Musculoskeletal System

6. Reproductive System

4. Interactions of Exterior (Distal)

Environments and Interior (Proximal) Health

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Environment


6. Key Terms

7. Active Learning

2. Chapter 4 The Psychological Person: Cognition,

Emotion, Personality, and Self

1. Two Case Studies of Cognition, Emotion,

Personality, and Self

1. Case Study 4.1: Janna Smith, Unemployed

and Worried

2. Case Study 4.2: Charles Miller, Making a New

Start

2. Cognition, Emotion, Personality, and

Self: An Introduction

3. Theories of Cognition

1. Piaget’s (Stage) Theory of Cognitive

Development

2. Information Processing Framework

3. Bandura’s Social Learning/Social Cognitive

Theory

4. Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

5. Salovey and Mayer’s Theory of

Emotional Intelligence

6. Theories of Moral Development and Reasoning

4. Theories of Emotion

1. Noncognitive Physiological Theories of

Emotion

1. James and Lange Theories of Emotion

2. Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion

3. Izard’s Differential Emotions Theory (DET)

4. Davidson’s Theory of Six

Emotional Dimensions

2. Cognitive Theories of Emotion

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1. The Schachter-Singer Two-Factor

Theory of Emotion

2. Lazarus’s Cognitive Appraisal

Theory of Emotion

3. Weiner’s Attribution Framework

of the Emotional Process

4. LeDoux and Brown’s Higher-Order

Theory of Emotional Consciousness

5. Connection of Positive Emotions and

Affect With Happiness and Well-Being

5. Theories of Personality

1. Trait Perspectives of Personality

2. Cognitive-Affective Theories of Personality

3. Pancha Kosha Theory of Personality: An

Eastern- Based Theory

4. Biological Influences on Personality and

Mental Illness

6. Theories of the Self

7. Cognitions, Emotions, Personality, Self, and

Evidence- Supported Interventions (ESIs)

1. Shapiro’s Eye Movement Desensitization

and Reprocessing (EMDR)

2. Beck’s Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT)

3. Linehan’s Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)


9. Key Terms

10. Active Learning

3. Chapter 5 The Psychosocial Person: Relationships,

Stress, and Coping

1. A Case Study About the Psychosocial Person

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1. Case Study 5.1: Dan’s Dilemma

2. The Self in Relationships and Relationships in the

Self

1. Relational and Intersubjective Theories

2. Attachment Theory

1. Impact of Early Nurturing on Development

3. Feminist Theories of Relationships

4. Social Identity Theory

3. The Concept of Stress

1. Categories of Stress

2. Stress and Crisis

3. Traumatic Stress

4. Coping Processes

1. Biological Coping Processes

2. Psychological Coping Processes

3. Social Coping Processes

1. The Nature of Social Support

2. Virtual Support

3. How Social Support Aids in Coping

4. How Social Workers Evaluate Social

Support

4. Spiritual or Religious Coping Processes

5. Coping and Traumatic Stress

5. Perspectives on Coping

1. Medical (Psychiatric) Perspective

2. Psychological Perspective

3. Sociological Perspective

4. Anthropological Perspective

5. Public Health Perspective

6. Social Work Perspective

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7. Key Terms

8. Active Learning

4. Chapter 6 The Spiritual Person

1. Eight Case Studies of Spirituality and Religion

1. Case Study 6.1: Caroline’s Challenging

Questions

2. Case Study 6.2: Naomi’s Health Crisis

3. Case Study 6.3: Matthew’s Faith Journey

4. Case Study 6.4: Trudy’s Search for the Sacred

5. Case Study 6.5: Leon’s Two Worlds

6. Case Study 6.6: Jean-Joseph’s Serving the

Spirits

7. Case Study 6.7: Amira’s Quest for Self

8. Case Study 6.8: Beth’s Framework for Living

2. The Spiritual Dimension

1. The Meaning of Spirituality

2. Spirituality in the United States and Globally

3. Theories of Spiritual Development

1. Fowler’s Stages of Faith Development

2. Transpersonal Theories

4. The Role of Spirituality in Social Work

1. Developments in the Profession

2. Spirituality and Human Diversity

1. Race and Ethnicity

2. Sex and Gender

3. Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

4. Disability

5. Age

3. Spiritua

T lly h Se i n n sit k ive - S A oc B ial

Work Practice

4. Assessment

1. Micro, Mezzo, and Macro Social Work

Practice


6. Key Terms

7. Active Learning

1. Part III The Multiple Dimensions of Environment

1. Chapter 7 The Physical Environment

1. Two Case Studies of Human Behavior and the

Physical Environment

1. Case Study 7.1: Ben Watson’s Experience

With Accessible and Inaccessible

Environments

2. Case Study 7.2: Shanthi’s Need for

Healthy Affordable Housing in Chennai,

India

2. Theories of Human Behavior and the

Physical Environment

1. Theories of Place

2. Theories of Spatial Behavior

3. Behavior Settings Theories

3. The Natural Environment

1. Positive and Negative Effects of Human

Interaction with the Natural Environment

2. Natural Disasters and Human Behavior

4. The Built Environment

1. Housing

1. Houselessness

2. Race-Based Housing Segregation and

Racial

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Health Disparities

2. Technology

3. Healing Environments

4. Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility

in Built Environments

5. Ecological Justice, Sustainability, and

Environmental Justice: A Social-Racial-

Economic-Ecological Justice Perspective


7. Key Terms

8. Active Learning

2. Chapter 8 Cultures

1. A Case Study About Cultures

1. Case Study 8.1: Rubina, Living Across Cultures

2. What Is Culture?

3. Theories of Culture

1. Materialist Perspective

2. Mentalist Perspective

3. Other Theoretical Perspectives

4. Major Concepts in the Study of Culture

1. Values

2. Beliefs

3. Symbols

4. Language

5. Norms

6. Subcultures and Countercultures

7. Ideal Culture Versus Real Culture

8. Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism

5. Culture and Power

1. Race

2. Ethnicity

3. Gender

4. Sexuality

5. Social Class

6. Disability

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6. Genes, Culture, and Cultural Change

1. Coevolution of Genes, Culture, and Behavior

2. Cultural Change


8. Key Terms

9. Active Learning

3. Chapter 9 Social Structure and Social Institutions:

Global and National

1. A Case Study About Social Structure and

Social Institutions

1. Case Study 9.1: Osvaldo Jimenez, Finding His

Way as an Undocumented Student in the

United States

2. Patterns of Social Life

3. Patterns of Inequality in Social Life

4. Contemporary Trends in Global and U.S.

Social Institutions

1. Trends in the Government and Political

Institution

2. Trends in the Economic Institution

3. Trends in the Educational Institution

4. Trends in the Health Institution

5. Trends in the Mass Media Institution

6. Trends in the Social Welfare Institution

7. Trends in the Religious Institution

8. Trends in the Family and Kinship Institution

5. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Social

Institutions


7. Key Terms

8. Active

LearnTinhg

4. Chapter 10

Families

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1. A Case Study About Family

1. Case Study 10.1: The Sharpe Family Adapts

2. What Is a Family?

3. Theoretical Perspectives for Understanding

Families

1. Family Systems Perspective

2. Exchange and Choice Perspective on Families

3. Symbolic Interaction Perspective on Families

4. Intersectionality Perspective on Families

5. Life Course Perspective on Families

6. Family Stress Perspective

4. Diversity in Family Formation and Structure

1. Family Formation

2. Multigenerational and Nuclear Family

Households

3. Single-Parent Families

4. Childless Couples

5. Repartnered Families

6. Adoptive and Foster Families

5. Challenges to Family Life

1. Economic Hardship

2. Racialized Bias and Discrimination

3. Anti-LGBTQ+ Bias and Discrimination

4. Migration

5. Domestic and Family Violence

6. Divorce and Cohabitation Dissolution

7. Problematic Substance Use


7. Key Terms

8. Active Learn

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5. Chapter 11 Small Groups

1. A Case Study About Small Groups

1. Case Study 11.1: The Sexuality and Gender

Group at a Women’s Residential Substance

Abuse Treatment Facility

2. Small Groups in Social Work

1. Therapy Groups

2. Mutual Aid Groups

3. Psychoeducational Groups

4. Self-Help Groups

5. Task Groups

6. Technology-Facilitated Groups

3. Dimensions of Group Structure

4. Group Composition

1. Heterogeneity Versus Homogeneity

2. Social Justice Issues in Social Work Groups

5. Basic Group Processes

1. Theories of Group Processes

1. Psychodynamic Theory

2. Symbolic Interaction Theory

3. Status Characteristics and Expectation

States Theories

4. Exchange Theory

5. Self-Categorization Theory

2. Group Development

1. Stage Theories and Models

2. Process Models

3. Group T Dyn h am in ics k-AB

1. Formal and Informal Leadership

2. Formal and Informal Roles

3. Communication Networks

4. Group Cohesiveness

6. Interdisciplinary Teams and Leadership

1. Interdisciplinary Teams and Social Work

2. Social Work Leadership


8. Key Terms

9. Active Learning

6. Chapter 12 Organizations

1. A Case Study About Organizations

1. Case Study 12.1: Changing Leadership,

Changing Times at Beacon Center

2. Organizations: An Introduction

1. Ubiquitous Across the Human Life Course

2. Formal and Informal Features of Organizations

3. Theoretical Perspectives on Organizations

1. Demographic Perspective

1. Theories of Internal Organizational

Demography

2. Organizational Ecology: A Macro

Demographic Theory

2. Relational Perspective

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1. Resource Dependence Theory

2. Social Capital Theory

3. Social Network Theory

3. Cultural Perspective

1. National Culture Approach

2. Institutional Approach

3. Diversity and Inclusion Approach

4. Organizational Culture Interacting With

Organizational Learning Approaches

4. Impact of Organizations on Society

1. Burnout: A Negative Organizational Outcome

5. Human Service Organizations

1. Leadership in Human Service Organizations


7. Key Terms

8. Active Learning

7. Chapter 13 Communities

1. Three Case Studies of Community

1. Case Study 13.1: Creating Community on

Wood Street, Oakland, California

2. Case Study 13.2: A Rural West Virginia

Community Struggling to Recover

3. Case Study 13.3: The Korean Parents’

Network for People with Disabilities (KPNPD)

2. Communities: An Introduction

1. What Is Community?

2. Geographical and Relational Communities

3. Theoretical

T Ap h pro i a n ch k es - t A o

C

B ommunity

1. Ecological Approach

2. Relational Approach

1. Social Capital and Social Network Theories

2. Sense of Community Theory

3. Cultural Approach

4. Critical Approach

4. Social Work and Communities

5. Issues and Themes in Community Practice


7. Key Terms

8. Active Learning

8. Chapter 14 Social Movements

1. A Case Study About a Social Movement

1. Case Study 14.1: Fighting for Our Water,

Land, and Air

2. Social Movements: An Introduction

1. Movements on the Left and Right

2. Movement–Countermovement Interactions

3. Theoretical Perspectives on Social Movements

1. Mobilizing Structures Perspective

1. Informal and Formal Structures

2. Information and Communication

Technology (ICT)

2. Cultural Framing Perspective

1. Diagnostic Framing

2. Prognostic Framing

3. Motivational Framing

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3. Political Process Perspective

1. Political Opportunities

2. Political Threats

4. Emerging Perspectives

1. The Role of Emotions in Social Movement

Mobilization

2. The Intersectionality Approach

4. Social Movement Trajectories and Outcomes

1. Social Movement Trajectories

2. Social Movement Outcomes

5. Social Work and Social Movements


7. Key Terms

8. Active Learning

10. Glossary

11.References

12. Index

Case Studies

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Preface

The first edition of this book was published 25 years ago,

but the work on it began several years before that. Much

has happened in the world and in our understanding of

human behavior since then. As we did the research for this

seventh edition, we were struck by the momentous changes

in the multidisciplinary research on human behavior that

have occurred since the confluence of the COVID-19

pandemic and the international transmission of the video of

George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police in 2020. Other

increasingly important themes in human behavior theory and

research include the continuing effects of colonialism on both

colonized and colonizing people, intersecting systems of

identity and oppression, and the important role that nonhuman

elements play in human behavior.

Most chapters of the book have been substantially revised

since the sixth edition as we tried to integrate and synthesize

these evolving themes.

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Whatever roles we play or settings in which we work, human

behavior is the focus of the practice of social work.

Sometimes we concentrate on individual behavior; other

times the attention is on behavior in families, groups,

communities, organizations, social institutions, societies, or

some other configuration of relationships. We wrote this book

because we think all social work practice should be grounded

in the best scientific understanding of human behavior. The

more we learn about human behavior, the more complex it

appears and the more we recognize it as dynamic, not static,

and influenced by many factors. Scientific knowledge about

human behavior will always be partial, never complete or

final. In addition, published research always lags behind

human experience. Even as this book goes to press, new

evidence will appear to contradict or expand upon what is

reported here. You are a part of the evolving story of human

behavior. We hope this book will inspire you to continue to

learn about this story. Social work practice involves ongoing

learning, unlearning, and relearning.

About This Book

This book uses social work’s time-honored person-inenvironment

approach to develop understanding of human

behavior, recognizing that aspects of persons and

environments are totally intertwined with each other.

Consistent with contemporary behavioral science theory and

research, we present human behavior as multidimensional.

As with the first six editions of the book, we identify relevant

dimensions of both person and environment and present upto-date

theory and research about each of these dimensions,

integrating material that demonstrates how the dimensions

are totally intertwined.

The same 12 dimensions of person and environment are

used in this book that were presented in the previous six

editions, but the theory and research about each dimension

has changed over time, remarkably so since the sixth edition.

During the work to produce the first edition, we received

feedback that some dimensions covered in the book were not

essential knowledge for social workers; more specifically, the

need for chapters on the biological person, spiritual person,

physical environment, social structure and social institutions,

and social movements was questioned. More recently, we

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have not received that feedback as often. The

embeddedness of biological processes in all of human

behavior is now accepted across behavioral science

disciplines. Spirituality and religion are recognized as

important, even central, to the lives of many people. We

could not begin to fulfill the recently articulated social work

commitment to environmental justice without a solid

understanding of interactions of humans with the physical

environment. Commitment to social, racial, economic, and

environmental justice requires an understanding of

institutional racism and oppression, marginalization, and

social exclusion. Theory and research about social

movements are essential to help social workers navigate this

commitment to justice in a neoliberal era that emphasizes

austerity, privatization, shrinking of the social welfare

system, limited government, and individual solutions for

societal problems.

Council on Social Work Education Nine Core Competencies

We have included material throughout the chapters in this

book to assist readers to develop the nine core social work

competencies identified by the Council on Social Work

Education (CSWE) in its 2022 Educational Policy and

Accreditation Standards. Material is presented throughout the

book to assist the reader to engage in personal reflection

related to personal biases and social work values. The critical

thinking questions presented in each chapter further assist

in ongoing critical examination of personal biases, conceptual

frameworks, and empirical research. Issues of human rights

and social, racial, economic, and environmental justice are

emphasized throughout the book, as are issues of racism,

oppression, diversity, equity, and inclusion. All chapters

present multidisciplinary and interprofessional research

findings about human behavior that can be used to improve

practice, policy, and programs. A number of chapters include

material on relevant social policies, using social justice, antiracist,

and anti-oppressive lenses to analyze historical, social,

racial, cultural, economic, and global influences on policy

development.

Theories of human behavior are a major focus of the book

and are covered in every chapter. Each chapter includes

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practice principles for applying knowledge about human

behavior for engagement, assessment, intervention, and

evaluation, but evaluation of practice receives scant

attention in the book. The multidisciplinary and

interprofessional theoretical content includes theories of

individual behavior, as well as theories of families, small

groups, communities, organizations, social institutions, and

social movements.

The following grid provides selected examples of coverage of

CSWE competencies in the book:

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Breadth and Depth

When Lib Hutchison was engaged in MSW study during the

turbulent late 1960s, some students were rebelling about

the use of a singular human behavior theory—Erikson’s

psychosocial theory—for what was called the Human Growth

and Development (HG&D) curriculum. The students argued

that this use of a singular theory was not sufficient to

understand what was happening in the world being changed

by the civil rights, student, and anti-war protest movements

of the 1960s. A day was set aside to discuss the HG&D

curriculum, and the question was raised should the

curriculum be deep or wide. Lib’s answer to the question was

“yes.” Social workers need an understanding of human

behavior that is both deep and wide, but it is a daunting task

to develop such a knowledge base. Knowledge about human

behavior is spread across a number of disciplines and

encompasses a number of conceptual frameworks. Social

work’s knowledge of human behavior must be

multidisciplinary and multitheoretical.

We have tried to present T a b h oo i k n th k at - is A bo B th

wide and deep in its

study of human behavior. Width of knowledge is essential

because of the many types of settings in which social workers

work; if we have a narrow band of knowledge, no matter how

impressive it is in depth, we will understand the practice

situations we encounter from this perspective. When we

have a wide understanding of the complexity of human

behavior, we can continue to add depth to that understanding

to fit the situations we encounter.

General Knowledge and Unique Situations

The purpose of the behavioral sciences is to help us

understand

general patterns in person–environment transactions. The

purpose of social work assessment is to understand unique

configurations of person and environment dimensions. Social

workers must interweave what they know about unique

situations with general scientific knowledge. To assist you in

this process, we begin each chapter with one or more case

studies, which we then interweave with

contemporary theory and research. Most of the case studies

change some elements of the stories to protect the

confidentiality of the people involved.

In some chapters, one case study is used to demonstrate

how the same situation can be looked at from multiple

perspectives. In other chapters, multiple case studies are

presented to invite the reader to begin to engage with the

diversity represented in personal and environmental

dimensions. In this edition, we have continued to expand the

representation of human diversity and intersecting systems

of privilege and oppression in the case studies. Two

international case studies have been added.

New in This Edition

The book continues to be organized as it was in the first

edition, in three parts: Part I includes two introductory

chapters, Part II includes four chapters about dimensions of

the person, and Part III includes eight chapters on

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environmental dimensions. Instructors will find extensive

updating in all chapters and substantial revision in a number

of chapters. The more substantial overall revisions for this

edition include the following:

A more critical conceptual approach is taken

throughout the book, with more attention to themes of

justice and injustice, racism and other forms of

oppression, marginalization, and social exclusion.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals and

social systems receives attention throughout the book.

Non-human elements of ecological systems receive greater

attention in a number of chapters.

Some exhibits have been updated and new exhibits are

added in most chapters.

Eight new case studies have been added, and four have

been updated to reflect contemporary issues.

Major chapter by chapter revisions include:

Chapter 1: Human Behavior: A Multidimensional Approach. The

discussion of human rights and social, racial, economic,

and environmental justice; anti-oppressive and antiracist

practice; and diversity, equity and inclusion is

expanded. Four new exhibits are presented.

Chapter 2: Theoretical Perspectives on Human Behavior. A new

case study is introduced. There is some reorganization of

theoretical perspectives, with seven presented instead of

the eight that appeared in the sixth edition. Systems,

social constructionist, psychodynamic, and

developmental perspectives continue to be discussed.

The critical perspective replaces the conflict perspective.

The exchange and choice perspective no longer appears,

but some of the content is included with the discussion

of the learning perspective. The learning perspective

replaces the behavioral perspective with much more

attention to cognitive theories. The humanisticexistential

perspective replaces the humanistic

perspective with more attention to existential

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approaches. The revised chapter emphasizes the way

that multiple theoretical perspectives have become more

critical over time. A more focused critical analysis of

each perspective is included. New visual metaphors are

used to represent the theoretical perspectives.

Chapter 3: The Biological Person. One new case study is

introduced. The revision expands on the

interconnectedness of all elements of the body and

surroundings. Transhumanism and posthumanism

conceptual frameworks are added.

Chapter 4: The Psychological Person: Cognition, Emotion,

Personality, and Self. The chapter has been completely

rewritten. Two new case studies are introduced. A

number of new theories of cognition and emotion are

presented. Theories of personality are introduced. Three

evidence-supported interventions are overviewed. The

revised chapter includes Eastern and well as Western

ways of thinking about self and personality. Ten new

exhibits are presented.

Chapter 5: The Psychosocial Person: Relationships, Stress, and

Coping. Discussion of social coping processes and spiritual

or religious coping processes are added. Anthropological

and public

health perspectives are added to the discussion of

perspectives on coping. One new exhibit is presented.

Chapter 6: The Spiritual Person. The discussion of theories

of spiritual development is shortened. The discussion of

spirituality and human diversity becomes a more central

part of the chapter and is presented in greater depth

and in a more critical framework. Disability and age are

added to the discussion of human diversity. The

discussion of spiritually sensitive social work has been

reorganized. Seven new or revised exhibits are

presented.

Chapter 7: The Physical Environment. A new case study of

housing insecurity in India is introduced. The discussion

of theories of human behavior and the physical

environment is reorganized, with three types of theories

analyzed: theories of place, theories of spatial behavior,

and behavior settings theories. A section on natural

disasters is added to the discussion of the natural

environment. Two sections are added to the discussion of

the built environment: (1) a section on housing, including

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historical discussion of race-based housing segregation,

and (2) inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility in

the built environment. A section on ecological justice,

sustainability, and environmental justice is added from

the critical perspective of social-racial-economicecological

justice. Seven new exhibits are presented, and

one is updated.

Chapter 8: Cultures. Colonialism theories of culture are

introduced in the discussion of theories of culture, and

discussion of Indigenous cultures is expanded. The

discussion of symbols emphasizes an intersectional

approach. The discussion of the role of culture in social

and economic inequality is expanded.

New discussion of the role of ableism in disempowering

disabled people is introduced.

Chapter 9: Social Structure and Social Institutions: Global and

National. A new case study is introduced. Exhibits are

updated to reflect new data. A revised section on

patterns of inequality in social life is added. The impact

of the COVID-19 pandemic on the major social

institutions is analyzed. Greater attention is paid to the

public health system in the discussion of the health

institution. The current international focus on social

protection is emphasized in the analysis of the social

welfare institution. A section on diversity, equity, and

inclusion in social institutions is added.

Chapter 10: Families. An intersectionality perspective on

families replaces the feminist perspective in the

discussion of theoretical perspectives on families. The

section on diversity in family structures has been

reorganized, and sections on family formation and

adoptive and foster families are added. The section on

challenges to family life has been reorganized and

greatly revised, with new sections on economic

hardship, racialized bias and discrimination, anti-

LGBTQ+ bias and discrimination, and migration.

Chapter 11: Small Groups. Discussion of a conceptual

framework for social justice and small groups is added.

Chapter 12: Organizations. The case study is updated to

demonstrate how one human service organization

managed the COVID-19 pandemic. New attention is paid

to informal features of organizations. The section on

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theoretical perspectives on organizations is completely

revised in keeping with recent developments in the field.

The theoretical perspectives are now categorized as

demographic, relational, and cultural. This new

categorization demonstrates growing attention to

organizational culture and to inclusion and exclusion in

organizational life. A section on the impact of

organizations on society is added. A section on human

service organizations is added, with an emphasis on the

impact of neoliberalism on human service organizations.

Eight new exhibits are added.

Chapter 13: Communities. Two new case studies are added,

including an international case study from South Korea.

The section on theoretical approaches to community has

been completely revised, with new categories of

ecological approach, relational approach, cultural

approach, and critical approach. The section on social

work and communities has been completely revised as

has the section on issues and themes in community

practice. Four new exhibits are added.

Chapter 14: Social Movements. The case study is updated

and reflects a more global approach. New content on

social movements on the right and movement–

countermovement interactions are added to reflect new

trends in the social movement literature. The sections on

the mobilizing structures and the political process

perspectives are reorganized to reflect trends in

research. A discussion of the emerging intersectionality

approach to social movements is added. A section on

social movement trajectories and outcomes is added.

The section on social work and social movements is

revised to propose a model for developing critical

consciousness for social work activism.

Four new exhibits are added.

A Word About Diversity Language

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In their study of human diversity, human behavior

researchers continuously struggle to find respectful language

to define different identity groups. You have probably noticed

that the language used to describe identity groups is everchanging

and that not every member of a given identity

group embraces the same language at a given point in

time. There are personal, generational, regional, and other

types of variations in preferred diversity language. We

have also found that different researchers define and

measure identity groups in different ways—and the U.S.

Census Bureau uses its own, sometimes peculiar, language

to describe and measure identity groups. In this book, when

we report on human behavior research, we use the

language of the researcher so as not to distort their work.

Likewise, when we report on census data or research based

on census data, we use the language of the Census

Bureau. That means that different terms are used at different

points to describe the same identity group.

Throughout the text, we adhere to a style guide to support

the latest recommendations from the seventh edition of the

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association—

among other copyediting style manuals—regarding bias-free

language. Style guides are meant to be updated over time in

order to react to changes in our

communities, academia, and our sensibilities. In

consideration of this, we recognize that they are not ever set

in stone and continue to evolve.

One Last Word

Learning about human behavior is a lifelong process. We

hope that this book gives you a good base for your ongoing

learning about human behavior and the many possibilities for

social work action. You can help us in our learning process by

letting us know what you liked or didn’t like about the book.


Reno, Nevada

ehutch@vcu.edu

Leanne Wood Charleswo

T rth Nazareth University hink-AB

lcharle8@naz.edu

Acknowledgments

A project like this book is never completed without the

support and assistance of many people. A seventh edition

stands on the back of the first six editions, and over the

years a large number of people have helped to keep this

project going. We are grateful to all of them, some of them

known to us and others working behind the scenes.

Steve Rutter, former publisher and president of Pine Forge

Press, shepherded every step of the first edition and

provided ideas for many of the best features of the second

edition, which are carried forward in the third, fourth, fifth,

sixth, and seventh editions. Along with Paul O’Connell,

Becky Smith, and Maria Zuniga, he helped to

refine the outline for the second edition, and that outline

continues to be used in this book. Becky Smith worked as a

developmental editor for the first two editions and taught us

so much about writing and readers. Kassie Graves provided

disciplined and creative editorial assistance from 2006 to

2016, for the third, fourth, and fifth editions of this book. We

are grateful for the assistance Dr. Maria E. Zuniga offered

during the drafting of the second edition. She provided many

valuable suggestions for how to improve the coverage of

cultural diversity in each chapter. Her suggestions improved

the second edition immensely and have stayed with us as

lasting lessons about human behavior in a multicultural

society.

For this edition, we are happy to be working with the

talented, professional, and supportive team at Sage. Megan

O’Heffernan has been a smart, dedicated, kind, and

supportive content development editor, who kept us on track

and was quick to respond to our questions. We are happy to

be working with Megan again. Terri Lee Paulsen has been the

copy editor, making the words flow better and catching the

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reference mistakes. She is a delight to work with.

Veronica Stapleton Hooper joined the seventh edition as

production editor, the person who turns words and ideas into

a beautiful and inviting book. Gail Buschman served as cover

designer, and Jennifer Haldeman as marketing manager.

Many more people at Sage have worked behind the scenes to

help us complete this project. Three we know of are Adeline

Grout, Eve Oettinger, and Lara Parra. We wish we could

thank the whole Sage team by name.

We are grateful once again to work with a fine group of

contributing authors, including some new ones who have

come on board to help with this seventh edition. What a

great addition they have been! The contributing authors

were gracious about timelines and incorporating ideas from

the editors. Most important, they were committed to

providing a state-of-the-art knowledge base for

understanding the multiple dimensions of human behavior

for use in social work practice. We are also grateful for

collaborators who have provided rich case studies for

Chapters 1, 7, 8, 9, and 13.

The students we have taught over the years deserve a

special note of gratitude. They have provided helpful

feedback about what worked and didn’t work with the book

and pushed us to be more inclusive in language and content.

Many things we have learned from them show up in the

pages of this book. Lib Hutchison is grateful to former

student Leanne Wood Charlesworth for joining the work on

this seventh edition. The book has benefitted greatly from

her ideas and contributions.

Our deepest gratitude goes to our families, who have

supported us as we worked to bring this project to fruition.

We appreciate the patience, love, and support.

The editors and Sage would like to thank the following

reviewers for their in-depth feedback, which was invaluable

in guiding the revision of this edition:

Emily Greenfield, Rutgers University

Agnieszka Halarewicz, H T

unt h

er i

C n

oll k

eg -

e, A

Ci B

ty

University of New York

About the Editors

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Elizabeth D. Hutchison received her MSW from the

George Warren Brown School of Social Work at

Washington University in St. Louis and her PhD from the

University at Albany, State University of New York. She

was on the faculty in the social work department at Elms

College from 1980 to 1987 and was chair of the

department from 1982 to 1987. She was on the faculty in

the School of Social Work at Virginia Commonwealth

University from 1987 to 2009, where she taught courses

in human behavior and the social environment, social

work and social justice, and child

and family policy; she also served as field practicum

liaison. She has been a social worker in health, mental

health, aging, and child and family welfare settings and

engaged in volunteer work with incarcerated women and

environmental justice for farm workers in the Coachella

Valley of California. She is committed to providing social

workers with comprehensive, current, and useful

frameworks for thinking about human behavior. Her

other research interests focus on child and family

welfare. She lives in Reno, Nevada, where she enjoys

hiking around Lake Tahoe and being a hands-on

grandmother to two humans and one dog. She

collaborates with the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

of Northern Nevada on local social, racial, economic, and

environmental justice issues.

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Leanne Wood Charlesworth

Leanne Wood Charlesworth received her MSW from the

University at Albany and PhD from the School of Social

Work at Virginia Commonwealth University. She began

her career as a

social worker in the child welfare systems in

Washington, DC, and Virginia. After obtaining her PhD,

she worked in the research and evaluation field in

Baltimore. In 2003, she joined the Nazareth College

Department of Social Work in Rochester, New York, as a

full-time faculty member, teaching human behavior and

the social environment, research methods, introduction

to social work, field seminar, and an elective on

secondary trauma and self-care. She also began

collaborating with the local homeless services provider

network on a variety of initiatives, including a Photovoice

project and the local annual Project Homeless Connect.

More recently, she has taken on the roles of BSW

program director and department chair.

About the Contributors

Linwood Cousins

Linwood Cousins, MSW, MA, PhD, is professor emeritus in

the School of Social

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Work at Western Michigan

University. He is a social worker and an anthropologist

who practiced in child welfare and family and

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community services. His research, teaching, and practice

interests focused on the sociocultural manifestations of

race, ethnicity, and social class as well as other aspects

of human diversity in the community life and schooling of

African Americans and other ethnic and economic

minorities.

Elizabeth P. Cramer

Elizabeth P. Cramer, PhD, LCSW, ACSW, is professor in

the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social

Work, where she teaches courses in direct practice;

power, privilege, and oppression; interpersonal violence;

and a doctoral level course on social work education and

teaching. She approaches her teaching from a traumainformed

lens and incorporates mutuality, kindness, and

universal design in her courses. Her primary

research/scholarship areas are abuse of people with

disabilities and abuse prevention programs for teens and

for people with

disabilities. She is the principal investigator of the I-CAN!

Accessibility Project, funded by the Virginia Department

of Criminal Justice Services, whose mission is to promote

awareness about abuse of people with disabilities and to

advocate for equal access to services and legal

protections. She also serves on the project team for

Leadership for Empowerment and Abuse Prevention

(LEAP), an abuse prevention program for people with

intellectual disability.

Cory Cummings

Cory Cummings, LCSW, PhD, is assistant professor of

social work at Nazareth University in Rochester, New

York, where he teaches a range of graduate courses,

mostly in the area of advanced practice skills. His

scholarship focuses on promoting health equity and

wellness for groups impacted by disadvantages and

disparities. This includes work with LGBTQ+ older adults,

the peer mental health recovery community, and the use

of community-based participatory research methods. Dr.

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Cummings has a practice background working in

community mental health, including case management,

individual and group therapy, and

management/administration.

Elizabeth DePoy

Elizabeth DePoy, MSW, PhD, is professor of

interdisciplinary studies and social work and cooperating

faculty in mechanical engineering. After completing her

initial undergraduate degrees in occupational therapy

and French literature, she shifted her academic and

scholarly focus to a more macro social justice

perspective by pursuing a masters in social work; from

there her doctoral efforts focused on applied

epistemology. She has been centrally involved in

curriculum development and instruction in both the

graduate and undergraduate programs in

interdisciplinary disability studies and teaches in those

programs along with teaching a graduate online

research sequence in the School of Social Work and

serving on doctoral committees in mechanical

engineering. Her scholarship is acknowledged

nationally and internationally in the fields of disability

and design, and research and evaluation methodology.

With Dr. Stephen Gilson, she is an inventor of several

mobility devices, one on exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt,

Smithsonian Design Museum. She has earned over $1.4

million in extramural funding for individual and

collaborative research.

Stephen French Gilson

Stephen French Gilson, MSW, PhD, is professor and

coordinator of interdisciplinary disability studies at the

Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies;

professor at the School of Social Work at the University

of Maine; and senior research fellow at Ono Academic

College Research Institute for Health and Medical

Professions, Kiryat Ono, Israel. After he completed his

undergraduate degree in art, he shifted his career to

social justice, pursuing a master’s in social work.

Realizing that knowledge of human biology and

physiology was foundational to his work, he completed a

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PhD in medical sciences. Synthesizing the diversity and

richness of this scholarly background, Dr.

Gilson engages in research in disability theory, disability

as diversity, design and access, social justice, health and

disability policy, and the atypical body. He teaches

courses in disability as diversity, policy, and human

behavior from a legitimacy perspective. In 2017, he

received a Trustee Professorship award from the

University of Maine to support his international study of

social practice art. His most recent research integrates

and applies artistry, design, and commitment to human

rights to the development of aesthetically designed

adaptive equipment. The AFARI, a three-wheeled

outdoor fitness mobility support, is now on exhibit at the

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New

York. Along with his wife, Dr. Liz DePoy, Dr. Gilson is the

owner of an adapted rescue farm in Maine. Living his

passion of full access, the barn and farm area have been

adapted not only to better assure human access and

animal caretaking but also to respond to the needs of

the disabled and medically involved animals that live on

the farm. Two other major influences on Dr.

Gilson’s writing, research, and work include his passion for

and involvement in adaptive alpine skiing and dressage.

Tawanda L. Hubbard

Tawanda L. Hubbard, DSW, MSW, LCSW, is an associate

professor of professional practice at Rutgers University

School of Social Work (RUSSW), where she teaches

advanced practice courses. She obtained her BS in

Business Administration with a concentration in

Management from Bloomfield College and her MSW and

DSW from RUSSW. She is a PhD candidate in Family

Science and Human Development at Montclair State

University. Dr. Hubbard has over 19 years of experience

in child welfare, mental and behavioral health, case

management, advocacy, and clinical practice, with a

small private practice and consulting firm. She is trained

in family therapy (Ackerman, Bowen, and Multicultural

Intergenerational approaches), EMDR, and certified in

REBT and child sexual abuse therapy. Dr. Hubbard’s

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research agenda focuses on mental and relational health

and well-being in Black women and families, young Black

women aging out of foster care and transitioning

successfully into adulthood, dismantling structural

inequities, and promoting inclusive and transformative

leadership and practices in human service organizations.

Dr. Hubbard was honored in 2022 and 2023 with the

outstanding clinical specialization professor award at

RUSSW.

Jeanne M. Koller

Jeanne M. Koller, PhD, MSW, LCSW, is an assistant

professor in the School of Social Work at Monmouth

University. She earned her doctorate at Rutgers

University School of Graduate Studies, master’s degree

at Hunter College, and undergraduate degree at the

University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Dr. Koller has 26

years of clinical social work experience, and her areas of

interest include behavioral health, aging, and LGBT+

issues. She primarily teaches advanced-year clinical

MSW courses but also teaches across the BSW, MSW,

and DSW curriculums.

Soon Min Lee

Soon Min Lee, MSW, PhD, is professor in the Department

of Social Welfare at Sejong Cyber University, Seoul,

Korea. She received the MSW from the University of

Illinois Urbana- Champaign and her PhD in Social Work at

Virginia Commonwealth University. Her major areas of

interest are social work ethics and mental health of

people with disabilities. She currently teaches social work

practice, social work practice skills, community social

work, and social work ethics at the undergraduate level.

Michael J. Sheridan

Michael J. Sheridan, MSW, PhD, has 25-plus years of

experience as a social work educator, teaching courses

on spirituality and social work, transpersonal theory,

diversity and social justice, research methods and

statistics, human behavior theory, social work practice,

international social development, and conflict resolution

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and peacebuilding. Her major research and scholarship

focus has been on the effective and ethical integration

of spirituality within social work practice and education.

She also served as the director of the Center for

Spirituality and Social Work at Catholic University of

America.

Her previous practice experience includes work in mental

health, health, corrections, and youth and family

services. Most recently she was special advisor with the

Office of Intramural Training & Education at the National

Institutes of Health (NIH), where she provided a variety

of diversity and wellness trainings and programs. She

continues to consult with NIH, providing online training

and group facilitation. She is also an active collaborator

with the Universalist Unitarian Justice Ministry of North

Carolina.

Joseph Walsh

Joseph Walsh, MSW, PhD, LCSW, is a former professor in

the School of Social Work at Virginia Commonwealth

University. He was educated at Ohio State University and

worked for 40 years

in community mental health settings. His major areas of

interest are clinical social work, serious mental illness,

and psychopharmacology. He taught courses in social

work practice, human behavior and the social

environment, and the dynamics of the social worker–

client relationship, while maintaining a small clinical

practice. Dr. Walsh enjoys teaching ESL classes,

volunteering at a medical hospital and local library,

appearing in plays and short films, and spending time

with his grandchildren. He especially enjoys appearing in

musical theater productions.

About the Case Study Contributors

R. Shawn Allen

R. Shawn Allen, DSW, MSW, LCSW, is an associate

professor of social work at Concord University. Shawn

earned his DSW from Tulane University, MSW from West

Virginia University, and BSW from Concord University.

His practice background includes being one of the first

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regional coordinators of the West Virginia Aging and

Disability Resource Center, where he assisted older

adults and persons living with disabilities with services

such as information and referral, options counseling,

benefits counseling, and short-term case management.

Additionally, he serves on numerous committees

throughout West Virginia, helping to promote services for

older adults and persons living with disabilities. His

research interests include ethical social work practice in

rural areas, the effect of the opioid epidemic in

Appalachia, and service barriers influencing the lives of

rural older adults.

Najwa Awad

Najwa Awad, LCSW-C, PMH-C, is a graduate from the

School of Social Work at Virginia Commonwealth

University. She is an author and psychotherapist in

private practice, with a focus on providing traumainformed,

culturally sensitive counseling to women and

minorities. She has special interests in EMDR,

helping underserved Muslim communities and speaking

in public forums about reducing stigma toward seeking

mental health treatment.

Jennifer Cullison

Jennifer Cullison, PhD, is an assistant professor of history

at California State University, Stanislaus. She teaches

courses on immigration and ethnic history, Mexican

American history, U.S. history, public history, and oral

history. Previously, Dr. Cullison was at the University of

Nevada, Reno, where she headed a university–civic

partnership called the Realities of Undocumented

Immigrants Oral History Project. Her research focuses on

U.S. immigration policy history and the human

experience of undocumented immigrants and people

detained by U.S. immigration regimes (the Immigration

and Naturalization Service or Immigration and Customs

Enforcement). Her work seeks to aid efforts to dismantle

and re-envision both the U.S. carceral state and U.S.

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immigration policy. Since 2008, she has been involved in

collaborations and movements to support people

impacted by U.S. immigration policy.

G. Gladston Xavier

G. Gladston Xavier, PhD, MSW, MA, goes by the name

“Ashok” and is an associate professor with the

Department of Social Work, Loyola College, in Chennai,

India. Ashok earned his PhD and MSW degrees from

Loyola College, University of Madras, and his MA in

Conflict Transformation from Eastern Mennonite

University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. His practice

experience includes sustained engagement in conflict

transformation, trauma healing, playback theatre, and

peacebuilding work with refugees and displaced persons

of Sri Lanka, India, and Afghanistan. His major areas of

work include human rights advocacy, refugee

empowerment, community development, communitybased

conflict transformation, and planning and

implementing disaster response. In 2020, he initiated

and led the psycho-social response of Chennai City; the

project reached thousands of

persons during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. He was

a Fulbright Scholar in Residence with Eastern Mennonite

University Social Work Program in 2021–2022.

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BOOK

Part I A Multidimensional Approach for

Multifaceted Social Work

Devyani Hakakian is beginning her workday at an

international advocacy organization devoted to

women’s rights.

Sylvia Gomez and other members of her team at the

rehabilitation hospital are meeting with the family of an

18-year- old male who is recovering from head injuries

sustained in a motorcycle accident.

Mark Bernstein is on the way to the county jail to assess

the suicide risk of an inmate.

Caroline O’Malley is knocking at the door of a family

reported to her agency for child abuse.

Helen Moore is preparing a report on environmental

justice for a legislative committee.

Juanita Alvarez is talking with an unhoused man about

taking his psychotropic medications.

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Stan Weslowski is meeting with a couple who would

like to adopt a child.

Andrea Thomas is analyzing the results of a needs

assessment recently conducted at the service center for

older adults where she works.

Anthony Pacino is wrapping up a meeting of a cancer

support group.

Sam Belick is writing a social history for tomorrow’s

team meeting at the high school where he works.

Sharlena Cook is preparing to meet with a group of Head

Start parents to discuss parenting issues.

Sarah Sahair has just begun a meeting of a

recreational group of 9- and 10-year-old girls.

Jane Kerr is facilitating the monthly meeting of an

interagency coalition of service providers for substanceabusing

women and their children.

Ann Noles is planning a fund-raising project for the local

Boys’ and Girls’ Club.

Meg Hart is wrapping up her fourth counseling session

with a lesbian couple.

Chien Liu is meeting with a community group concerned

about youth gang behavior in their neighborhood.

Mary Wells is talking with one of her clients at the rape

crisis center.

Nagwa Nadi is evaluating treatment for post-traumatic

stress disorder at a Veteran’s Administration hospital.

What do these people have in common? You have probably

guessed that they all are social workers. They work in a

variety of settings, and they are involved in a variety of

activities, but they all are doing social work. They all are

involved in activities to engage with, assess, and intervene

in human behavior. Social work is a multifaceted profession,

and because it is multifaceted, social workers need a

multidimensional understanding of human behavior. This

book provides such an understanding. The two chapters in

Part I introduce you to a multidimensional way of thinking

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about human behavior and set the stage for subsequent

discussion. In Chapter 1, you are introduced to the multiple

dimensions of person, environment, and time that serve as

the framework for the book, and you are introduced to

social work’s emphasis on human rights; social, racial,

economic, and environmental justice; and diversity, equity,

and social inclusion. You also are given some tools to think

critically about the multiple theories and varieties of

research that make up our general knowledge about these

dimensions of human behavior. In Chapter 2, you encounter

seven theoretical perspectives that contribute to

multidimensional understanding. You learn about their

central ideas and their scientific merits. Most important, you

consider the usefulness of these seven theoretical

perspectives for social work.

1 Human Behavior: A Multidimensional Approach


Learning Objectives

1.1Recognize one’s own emotional and cognitive

reactions to a case study.

1.2Analyze the historical connection between social

work and the person-in-environment perspective.

1.3Outline the elements of a multidimensional

person-inenvironment approach to human

behavior.

1.4Advocate for an emphasis on a global perspective;

human rights and social, racial, economic, and

environmental justice; and anti-racism, diversity,

equity, and inclusion in social work’s approach to

understanding human behavior.

1.5Summarize

social

four ingredients of knowing how to do

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work.

1.6Analyze the roles of theory and research in guiding

social work practice.

1.7Apply knowledge of the multidimensional personin-

environment framework; human rights and social,

racial, economic, and environmental justice; antiracism,

diversity, equity, and inclusion to recommend

guidelines for social work engagement, assessment,

intervention, and evaluation.

A Case Study About Person and Environment

Case Study 1.1: Joshua, Making a New Life

Joshua spent the first 10 years of his life in the city of Uvira,

in the South Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of

Congo (DRC), formerly Zaire. He is the fourth oldest child in a

family that included 11 children. He is of the Banyamulenge

ethnic group, and his family spoke Swahili, Kinyamulenge,

and French while living in Uvira. He was raised Christian in

the United Methodist Church. Joshua’s family

lived comfortably in Uvira. His mother owned a boutique that

sold clothes, shoes, lotions, accessories, and petroleum. His

father bought cows, had them butchered, and then sold the

meat.

Of his life in Uvira, Joshua recalls that a typical day included

getting up for breakfast and spending the day at school.

After school, he did chores and sometimes helped his mom

in her boutique. Then he played soccer until dinner. It was a

good life.

All of that changed in 2003. The long-standing Congo civil

war was getting closer to his family’s home in Uvira. Joshua

recalls hearing gunshots about 15 miles away. His family left

their home in Uvira in the middle of the night by foot and

walked across the Burundi border to the nearby Gatumba

refugee camp run by the United Nations High Commissioner

for Refugees (UNHCR). They were joined on the walk and in

the camp by a lot of other people from Uvira. Life was hard

in the crowded camp, where people slept in tents with

mosquitoes buzzing around. Sometimes there was not

enough water or food for the whole camp. The hygiene in

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the camp was not good, and a lot of people were sick.

Joshua lost a lot of friends and family in the camp. He recalls

that the children were not able to attend school in the

camp.

A terrible thing happened on August 13, 2004. There was a

heinous massacre at the Gatumba refugee camp, killing 166

refugees and seriously wounding over 100 more. News

reports indicate that refugees who were members of the

Banyamulenge ethnic group were the specific target of the

massacre. Joshua’s mom died of gunshot wounds, and his 8-

year-old sister’s body was never found. The whole camp was

burned down, and Joshua’s family was separated. Joshua,

who was 11 years old at the time, ran with his 7-month-old

sister.

They were first in the hospital and then taken in by a stranger

with whom they stayed for several weeks before finding their

father and other siblings. Their father had been shot during

the massacre and was taken to the hospital. Two of Joshua’s

siblings were also found in the hospital. Other siblings had

found safety a few miles away at a makeshift camp. After

finding his father and siblings, Joshua and his 7-month-old

sister stayed with an extended family relative in

Bujumbura, Burundi, for about 4 months. His father went to a

hospital in Kenya, and some siblings were in an orphanage.

At some point, Joshua and some older siblings went back to

Uvira in the DRC. They stayed in the house where they had

lived before they fled and were able to go to school again,

but not right away.

In 2006, Joshua’s father was discharged from the hospital,

came back to Uvira, and took all the family back to

Bujumbura, Burundi, where he filed for refugee status.

Joshua and his siblings went to a few interviews for the

refugee status application, but mostly the process was

handled by his father, and Joshua doesn’t know much about

it.

In May 2007, Joshua’s family, consisting of a single father

and 10 children, arrived in Boise, Idaho. Joshua was almost

14 years old, and he felt excited and eager to begin school.

He was also struck by how cold the weather was. Joshua’s

father received Supplemental Security Income (SSI) because

of disability related to wounds from the massacre. His father

also had to continue with treatment for his wounds, was

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hospitalized from time to time, and continues to receive

periodic treatment. His father is now ordained as a pastor in

a local African church and currently serves on a committee

for the local African community. He received his citizenship

in 2013.

The language issue was really hard at first for Joshua, but it

was even harder for his older siblings and father. Joshua

graduated from high school in 2011, from community college

in 2013, and from university in May 2017. He received

citizenship in September 2017 and was married in October

2017. He coaches local Nations United and Boys & Girls Club

soccer teams and works as the employment specialist and

donations manager at the Agency for New Americans, the

refugee resettlement agency that sponsored his family

during their resettlement. All of Joshua’s surviving siblings

still live in Boise. Unfortunately, his oldest sister died in

November 2016. She had been shot in the head during the

massacre, and her injuries left her paralyzed on the left side

of her body. She had gotten married after the family arrived

in Boise and left six children behind when she died. Joshua

says the family misses her very much.

Story provided by Agency for New Americans, Boise, Idaho

Human Behavior: Individual and Collective

As eventful as it has been, Joshua’s story is still unfolding. As

a social worker, you will become a part of many unfolding life

stories, and you will want to have useful ways to think

about those stories and effective ways to be helpful to

people like Joshua, his family, and other refugees from the

DRC, as well as the many other people you will encounter in

your social work journey. This book and its companion

volume, Dimensions of Human Behavior: The Changing Life Course,

provide ways for you to think about the nature and

complexities of human behavior—the people and situations

at the center of social work practice. To begin to do that, we

must first clarify the purpose of social work and the approach

it takes to individual and collective human behavior. This is

laid out in the 2022 Educational Policy and Accreditation

Standards of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE):

The purpose of the socT ial

h wo

i r

n k p

k ro

- fe

A ssio

B n

is to promote human

and community well-being. Guided by a person-inenvironment

framework, a global perspective, respect for

human diversity, and knowledge based on scientific

inquiry, the purpose of social work is actualized through

its quest for social, racial, economic, and environmental

justice, the creation of conditions that facilitate the

realization of human rights, the elimination of poverty,

and the enhancement of life for all people, locally and

globally. (CSWE, 2022, p. 14)

Let’s put that statement into some historical context. The

CSWE was formed in 1952 to bring the accreditation of social

work education under a single body, bringing together

separate accrediting bodies for medical social work,

psychiatric social work, and generalist practice to accredit

both undergraduate and graduate social work education

programs. Three years later, in 1955, the National

Association of Social Workers (NASW) was formed by

consolidating seven existing organizations, the American

Association of Social Work plus

specialized associations of psychiatric social workers,

medical social workers, school social workers, group workers,

community organizing social workers, and social work

researchers. Both the newly formed CSWE and NASW were

dedicated to identifying what was common to all social work

practice. The CSWE immediately set to work to develop

curriculum policy and accreditation standards for a social

work education that could prepare students for all practice

settings and social work roles.

In these early efforts to identify the common base of social

work, presenters of one workshop at the 1952 meeting of the

American Association of Schools of Social Work, a forerunner

of CSWE, argued that “knowledge and understanding of

human behavior is considered an indispensable base for

social work education and for all social work activity” (Social

Welfare History Archives, 1952, p. 1). I agree wholeheartedly

with that statement. Whether we are concerned about

how an individual can recognize the role of emotions and

cognitive biases shaping their behavior;

how a family can improve its communication

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patterns; how a group can become more

cohesive;

how a community can become empowered to solve

problems; how to maximize the benefits of increasing

diversity in an

organization;

or the most effective ways to organize efforts to advance

human rights and social, racial, economic, and

environmental justice;

we are concerned about human behavior.

In 1958, in the first working definition of social work practice

after the formation of CSWE and NASW, Harriett Bartlett

linked the person-inenvironment perspective on human

behavior to the definition of social work (Kondrat, 2008).

That connection has endured for six decades. In discussion

of social work competencies, the CSWE 2022 Educational

Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) notes that social

workers “apply knowledge of human behavior and person-inenvironment,

as well as interprofessional conceptual

frameworks” to engage with, assess, intervene with, and

evaluate practice with

“individuals, families, groups, organizations, and

communities” (CSWE, 2022, pp.11–13).

It is important to recognize that the social work profession,

like all disciplines and professions, continues to change and

evolve. In 2020, in the midst of health disparities in a global

pandemic and the high- profile brutal murder of George Floyd

by Minneapolis police officers, social work—like other

professions and disciplines—began to reexamine its own

history of racism and white supremacy (see Aguilar &

Counselman-Carpenter, 2021; Wright et al., 2021). In July

2021, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW,

2021a) submitted a report to the profession on racial justice,

noting some ways that the social work profession had

contributed to ongoing discrimination and oppression of

people of color. In this report, NASW apologized for grave

mistakes in the profession’s history and called for a

renewed effort to live up to its mission to pursue justice.

Here are some of the grave mistakes in the history of social

work noted in the report:

The white social refoTrmhersiinn tkhepArogBressive

era did not welcome Black Americans

into the programs developed for white

immigrants.

Many white social reformers of the progressive era

supported the eugenics movement and participated in

involuntary sterilization programs that targeted women

of color and low-income women.

White suffragists, including some social work and social

welfare leaders, blocked efforts of Black women to vote

in their efforts to secure the right for white women to

vote.

African American social reformers were not allowed to

attend most of the first schools of social work and were

not included in the telling of the history of social work

until recent times.

Social workers played a role in the Indian boarding school

movement that separated Indigenous children from their

families and cultures.

New Deal safety net programs created during the

Franklin Roosevelt administration excluded people

involved in domestic work and farm labor, the two lowwage

occupations open to African Americans at that

time.

Poor Black men were recruited into the fraudulent

Tuskegee medical experiment by social workers.

Social workers were part of the intake teams at the

internment camps for Japanese American families during

World War II.

The contributing authors and I applaud the reinvigorated

effort to live up to social work’s mission to pursue justice for

all and have attempted to revise the chapters of this book in

a way that supports that renewed mission. As social workers,

we must recognize the roles we play in existing systems of

oppression, avoid interventions that maintain those systems,

and develop new interventions to challenge those systems.

In this book, we use the language of “person and

environment” rather than “person-in-environment” because

the emphasis is not always on the individual person.

Although the person-in-environment (person and

environment) construct noted in the CSWE educational policy

is an old idea in social work, it still is a very useful way to

think about human behavior—a way that can accommodate

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such contemporary themes in human life as the emotional

life of the brain, human–robot relationships, social media,

human rights, economic globalization, the racialization

process, and environmental justice. This book elaborates and

updates the person and environment construct that has

guided social work intervention since the earliest days of the

profession. The element of time is added to the person and

environment construct to call attention to the dynamic

nature of both people and environments. This is important in

rapidly changing societies around the world. Early social

workers could not have imagined television and air travel,

much less cell phones, a plethora of social media platforms,

remote education, or instant communications across

continents. And, no doubt, the world 50 years from now

would seem as foreign to us as the United States seemed to

Joshua and his family when they first arrived here.

As you reflect about Joshua’s story, you may be thinking, as I

am, not only about Joshua but also about the different

environments in which he has lived and the ways in which

both Joshua and his environments have changed over time.

As they live their lives in the

natural environment, humans join with other humans to

develop physical landscapes and structures, technologies,

and social systems that form the context of their lives. These

landscapes, structures, technologies, and social systems are

developed by collective action, by humans interacting with

each other. Once developed, they then come to shape the

way humans interact with each other and with their natural

environments. Landscapes, structures, technologies, and

social systems can support or deter individual and collective

well- being. Usually, they benefit some individuals and

groups while causing harm to others. Social workers are

concerned about both individual and collective behavior and

well-being; when we talk about human behavior, we are

referring to both the individual and collective behavior of

humans. Sometimes we focus on individual behavior, and

other times we are more concerned about the social systems

created by human interaction.

This book identifies multiple dimensions of both person and

environment and draws on ongoing scientific inquiry, both

conceptual and empirical, to examine the dynamic

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understanding of each dimension. Special attention is paid

to globalization; human rights and social, racial, economic,

and environmental justice; and antiracism, diversity, equity,

and inclusion in examination of each dimension. In this

chapter, a multidimensional approach to person and

environment is presented, followed by discussion of human

rights and social, racial, economic, environmental justice;

anti-oppressive and anti-racist practice; diversity; and

equity and inclusion. After a brief discussion of the process

by which professionals such as social workers move from

knowing to doing, the chapter ends with a discussion of how

scientific knowledge from theory and research informs social

work’s multidimensional understanding of human behavior.

Organization of Book

In this book, Part I includes two stage-setting chapters that

introduce the framework for the book and provide a

foundation for thinking critically about the discussions of

theory and research presented in

Parts II and III. Part II comprises four chapters that analyze

the multiple dimensions of persons—one chapter each on

the biological person, the psychological person (or the self),

the psychosocial person (or the self in relationship), and the

spiritual person. The eight chapters of Part III discuss

environmental dimensions: the physical environment,

cultures, social structure and social institutions, families,

small groups, formal organizations, communities, and social

movements.

As noted earlier, presenting person and environmental

dimensions separately, as we do in Parts II and III, is a risky

approach. We do not wish to reinforce any tendency to think

about human behavior in a way that camouflages the

inseparability of person and environment.

In our work as social workers, we engage in both analysis and

synthesis. Sometimes we need to think analytically, breaking

down a complex situation by thinking more critically about

specific aspects and dimensions of the situation, whether

that is a biological system or a pattern of family

relationships. But we also need to be able to put the puzzle

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pieces back together to see the whole story. That is

synthesis. We are always working back and forth between

analysis and synthesis. Each chapter in the book attempts to

capture some of the complexity of multiple interacting

dimensions of behavior.

A Multidimensional Approach

Social work’s person and environment construct has

historically recognized both person and environment as

complex and

multidimensional , that is, as having several identifiable

dimensions. A dimension refers to a feature that can be

focused on separately but that cannot be understood

without also considering its embeddedness with other

features. This last piece is really important: Although we can

focus on one dimension of a human story to help us think

about that dimension more clearly, no one dimension can be

understood without considering other dimensions as well. We

are walking a treacherous path here by separating out the

dimensions to explore each in some depth. The fear is that by

doing so, we will reinforce the human tendency to think of

these dimensions as things

that are separate and unrelated rather than recognizing how

they are all utterly intertwined. As neuroscientist Robert

Sapolsky (2017, p. 5) warns, “It’s human behavior. And, it is

indeed a mess, a subject involving brain chemistry,

hormones, sensory cues, prenatal environment, early

experience, genes, both biological and cultural evolution,

and ecological pressures, among other things.” In a similar

vein, writing about child development, Arnold Sameroff

(2010, p. 7) writes that “it is both child and parent, but it is

also neurons and neighborhoods, synapses and schools,

proteins and peers, and genes and governments.”

Throughout this book, we try to call attention to how

dimensions of human behavior are related to each other and

intertwine to influence specific behaviors. Think about

Joshua. What comes quickly to your mind as you think about

the factors that influence his current behavior?

If we were writing a book focusing on only one type of

behavior, such as aggression as Sapolsky (2017) writes

about, we could demonstrate how all the elements of person

and environment are intertwined to create that one type of

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behavior. Because, instead, we are writing a book that covers

the wide range of human behaviors, both individual and

collective behaviors, we organize the book around various

dimensions of person and environment and do our best to

illustrate how those dimensions are related to each other. For

example, the chapter on cultures includes discussion of the

neuroscience of prejudice as well as discussion of gene–

culture coevolution. We encourage you to pay particular

attention to these discussions of the way in which different

dimensions of person and environment are intertwined.

With an explosion of behavioral science research across a

number of disciplines in the past few decades, the trend has

been to expand the range of dimensions of both person and

environment folded into the person and environment

construct. Time too can be thought of as multidimensional.

Let’s look at some of the dimensions of person, environment,

and time in Joshua’s story.

If we focus on the person in Joshua’s story, we think about

the conditions in the refugee camp that threatened his

biological systems

and how he survived while many others died in the camp,

where hygiene was poor and water and food were scarce.

We also think about the biological damage done to members

of his family at the time of the massacre and are reminded

how humans often carry both biological and psychological

reminders of physically and emotionally traumatic

situations. Joshua appears to have emotional resilience and

good problem-solving skills, having had the discernment to

run from the massacre with his baby sister, the fortitude to

survive the perilous days while the family waited to be

resettled in the United States, and the flexibility to adapt to

a new life once he arrived in the United States. He was able

to learn a new language and culture and plan for the future.

It appears that he has been able to build meaningful

interpersonal relationships at work and in the community.

The Christian faith has been a source of comfort for him and

his family as they adapted to a new environment.

If we focus on the environment, we see many influences on

Joshua’s story. Consider first the physical environment.

Joshua lived a comfortable life in the city of Uvira, where he

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spent his days in school and was able to be outside playing

soccer after chores were done.

From there, he took a short walk across the Burundi border

to a crowded and primitive refugee camp where he has

memories of being bothered by mosquitoes. After the

massacre, he, his father, and his siblings lived where they

could—in camps, hospitals, and other people’s homes. They

were finally resettled in a city about the size of his original

city of Uvira but where the climate was much colder. They

were surrounded by mountains as they had been in Uvira.

Joshua is once again able to be outside playing soccer but for

a shorter season.

Culture is a dimension of environment that exerts a powerful

influence in Joshua’s story. Ethnic culture clash was a large

part of the Congo civil war, and Joshua and his family were

of the Banyamulenge ethnic group that had been targets for

ongoing discrimination and exclusion since the colonial

period. Such cultural conflict is not new; historical analysis

suggests that intercultural violence has actually declined in

recent times (Pinker, 2011), but it continues to be a source

of great international upheaval and the driving force behind

refugee resettlement. As is true in many parts of

the world, ethnic conflict is intertwined in the Congo with

control over a natural resource, in this case coltan, a

metallic ore used in electronics such as computers and cell

phones (McMichael & Weber, 2021).

Joshua’s story has been powerfully influenced by the

geopolitical unrest that marked his young life in Africa. His

relationships with social institutions have changed over time,

and he has had to adapt his behavior to the changing

situations. Even though his country was engaged in civil war

during much of his young life, it did not reach his city until he

was 10 years old. Before that, his family lived in relative

comfort and peace. His family was relieved to get to the

United Nations refugee camp, but life there was hard, and

ultimately the war followed them there, even though the

camp was supposed to be protected by the Burundi

government. Once they arrived in the United States, Joshua

and his siblings were able to go to school again, to make

their way economically, and to work toward citizenship in

their adopted country.

Another dimension of theTenhvirionnmkent,AfamBily,

is paramount to Joshua. He has suffered

family loss and endured time when

members of his family were separated before resettling in the

United States. He has been lucky, however, to have his father

and surviving siblings living nearby. Many refugee families end

up spread across several continents, and that may or may not

be true for Joshua’s extended family. Joshua now has a wife to

count as family.

Small groups, organizations, and communities have been

important forces in Joshua’s life, but he has had little direct

contact with social movements. His soccer teams are

important small groups in the life he has created in Boise.

He participates in small groups at church and in the African

community in Boise. He is a member of the small staff

group at the refugee resettlement agency.

Several organizations have been helpful to Joshua and his

family since they fled Uvira. The refugee camp was an

organization that brought initial safety but ultimately trauma

and loss. Joshua’s association with other organizations has

been much more positive; he

did well in several school organizations and has returned to

work for the refugee resettlement agency that sponsored

his family and assisted them to make a successful

resettlement. The African Christian church where his father

is a minister is a source of close relationships, spiritual

connectedness, and continuity with life in Uvira.

Joshua and his family needed to adapt their behavior to live

in several different types of communities. In Uvira, they

were surrounded by extended family, long-term friends and

neighbors, and a church community. In the crowded refugee

camp, disease and despair were common, and Joshua was

not able to go to school. That community was split, with

some being targeted for massacre while others were not.

After the massacre, Joshua and his family moved about from

camps and hospitals to strangers and family relatives in

Burundi, and even back to Uvira, always trying to find safety.

Now he lives in a city in southwestern Idaho in proximity to

other refugees from the DRC and worships with many of

them.

We don’t know if Joshua Tis ahwairne tkha-t

AtheBGatumba Refugees Survivors Foundation (Davey et

al., 2022) has spearheaded a social

movement to undertake inquiry about the Gatumba

massacre, seek justice for the survivors of the Gatumba

genocide, raise global awareness of torture and genocide,

organize memorial gatherings to help survivors heal, reunite

family members who were separated during the evacuation

of the camp, relocate survivors from unsafe areas, and

advocate for medical support for survivors. It is possible that

the Boise community of Banyamulenge refugees has

benefited from the work of the GRSF as they heal from the

trauma of that massacre.

Time is also an important part of Joshua’s story. His story, like

all human stories, is influenced by the human capacity to live

not only in the present time but also in past and future times.

Escape, crowded camps, massacre, family loss and

separation, and resettlement are past events in his family’s

life and can be vividly recalled. There were times in the

family’s life when they needed to focus on future possibilities

with such questions as “Will our father get better?” and

“Will we be granted refugee status, and if so when and where

will we go?” This future thinking has had an enormous impact

on the current circumstances of the family’s lives. In the

interview for this case study, Joshua engaged in thinking

about his past life in Uvira and the refugee camp, as well

as the massacre event, but for the most part he lives

largely in the present while imagining possibilities for the

future with his wife, siblings, and father.

Joshua’s story is also influenced by the historical times in

which he has lived and is living. He has lived in a time of

violent ethnic discord in his home country, and the civil strife

continues in the DRC (Human Rights Watch, 2021). He is

lucky to have been resettled to the United States in an era of

international support for refugees. The times in which we live

shape our behaviors in many ways.

Another way to think about the role of time in human behavior

is to consider the way in which age, or life stage, influences

behavior.

Joshua notes that although learning English was difficult for

him, it was much easier for him at age 13 than it was for his

father. He finds this stage of his life, with school behind him

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and a new marriage, to be an exciting time with a future

stretching out before him.

As suggested, social work has historically recognized

human behavior as an interaction of person with

environment, although the relative emphasis on different

dimensions of person and environment has changed over

time. Today, a vast multidisciplinary literature is available to

help us in our social work efforts. The good news is that the

multifaceted nature of this literature provides a broad

knowledge base for the varied settings and roles involved in

social work practice. The bad news is that this literature is

highly fragmented, scattered across a large number of fields.

What we need is a structure for organizing our thinking about

this multifaceted, multidisciplinary, fragmented literature.

The multidimensional approach provided in this book should

help. This approach is built on the person–environment–time

model described earlier. Although in this book we focus on

specific dimensions of person and environment separately,

including

information on how our understanding of these dimensions

has changed over time, keep in mind the earlier caution that

dimension refers to a feature that can be focused on

separately but cannot be understood without considering

other features. The dimensions identified in this book have

largely been studied as detached or semidetached realities,

with one dimension characterized as causing or leading to

another. In recent years, however, behavioral science

scholars have collaborated across disciplines, leading to

exciting new ways of thinking about human behavior, which

the contributing authors and I share with you. We

emphasize again that we do not see the dimensions

analyzed in this book as detached realities, and we are not

presenting a causal model. We want instead to show how

these dimensions work together, how they are interwoven

with each other, and how many possibilities are opened for

social work practice when we think about human behavior in

a multidimensional way. We are suggesting that humans

engage in multidetermined behavior , that is, behavior that

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develops as a result of many causes. As Sapolsky (2017, p.

8) says, “It is impossible to conclude that behavior is caused

by a gene, a hormone, a childhood trauma”—because all

these factors and many others interact in one individual to

produce unique results ... you have to think complexly about

complex things” like human behavior. Figure 1.1 is a graphic

overview of the dimensions of person, environment, and

time discussed in this book. Table 1.1 defines and gives

examples of each dimension.

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Descriptio

n

Figure 1.1 Person, Environment, and Time

Dimensions Table 1.1


BOOK

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Critical Thinking Questions 1.1

What courses have you taken that added to your

understanding of human behavior? How does content from

any of these courses help you to understand Joshua’s story

and how a social worker might have been helpful to Joshua

and his family at any time during their resettlement? Do you

agree that the person and environment construct is still

useful for social work? Explain your answer.

Personal Dimensions

Any story could be told from the perspective of any person

in the story. The story at the beginning of this chapter is told

from Joshua’s perspective, but it could have been told from

the perspectives of a variety of other persons, such as a

member of a different ethnic group in the DRC, Joshua’s

father or one of his siblings, a staff member at the Gatumba

refugee camp, the family in Burundi who took Joshua and his

baby sister in, or the case manager at the refugee

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resettlement agency. You will want to recognize the multiple

perspectives held by different persons involved in the stories

of which you become a part in your social work activities.

You also will want tools for thinking about the various

dimensions of the persons involved in these stories. In recent

years, social work scholars, like contemporary scholars in

other disciplines, have taken a biopsychosocial approach that

recognizes human behavior as the result of interactions of

integrated biological, psychological, and social systems (see

Choy et al., 2015; Sapolsky, 2017; Yeager et al., 2016). In this

approach, psychology—personality, emotion, cognition, and

sense of self—is seen as inseparable from biology. Emotions

and cognitions affect the health of the body and are affected

by it (D. Banerjee et al., 2021; Smith et al., 2013; Yeager et

al., 2016).

Neurobiologists are identifying the brain circuitry involved in

thoughts and emotions (Davidson & Begley, 2012; Sapolsky,

2017). They are finding evidence that the human brain is

wired for social life and identifying the regions and circuitry

of the “social brain” (Porcelli et al., 2019). They are also

finding that physical and social environments have an impact

on brain structure and processes and on body

systems and disorders (McEwen & Bulloch, 2019).

Interpersonal relationships are an important part of social

environments. Two concepts are important in this study of

the connection between physical and social environments

and the human body: biological embedding and epigenetics.

Biological embedding occurs when life experience changes the

biological processes and affect later life health and wellbeing

(Nist et al., 2019; Sun et al., 2022). Epigenetics is the

study of how behaviors and environments can affect the way

genes work, changing how the body reads a DNA sequence

without changing the DNA (Li, 2021). Environments influence

biology, but the same environment acts on diverse genetic

material. This can help us understand how some people

survived and some did not before the massacre in the

Gatumba refugee camp. Two people with the same genetic

makeup and biological characteristics can have very different

behavioral outcomes, and two people with very different

genetic makeup and biological characteristics can have the

same or similar behavioral outcomes. In addition, two people

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with the same or similar experiences with the environment

can have very different behavioral outcomes, and two people

with very different experiences with the environment can

have the same or similar behavioral outcomes (Sameroff,

2010).

Social work scholars and those in the social and behavioral

sciences and medicine have argued for greater attention to

the spiritual dimension of persons as well (Bowles et al.,

2017; Crisp, 2017; Pandya, 2016; Pathan, 2016). Beginning in

the late 20th century, a group of U.S. medical faculty and

practitioners initiated a movement to reclaim medicine’s

earlier spiritual roots (Fleenor et al., 2022), and in 2014,

Puchalski et al. reported that content on spirituality and

health was incorporated into the curricula of over 75% of

U.S. medical schools. Developments in neuroscience have

generated new explorations of the unity of the biological,

psychological, and spiritual dimensions of the person. For

example, some research has focused on the ways that

emotions and thoughts, as well as spiritual states, influence

the immune system and some aspects of mental health

(Davidson & Begley, 2012; Dehghan et al., 2021; Holmes et

al., 2019). One national longitudinal study examined the role

of spirituality in physical and mental health after the

collective trauma of the 9/11

Dimensions of Human Behavior: Person and Environment, 7th Edition – Hutchison & Wood Charlesworth

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