SWK6100 Human Behavior and the Social Environment (HBSE)

Abstract

¶The Human Behavior sequence includes two courses: Human Behavior in the Social Environment HBSE) and Psychosocial-pathology. HBSE is the first of the two courses in the Human Behavior and will introduce students to the conceptual and theoretical frameworks that inform our understanding of the human condition and the normative stages of human development from prenatal through old-old-age. The course material will focus on the reciprocal and transactional influences between individuals and their environment with an emphasis on the micro, mezzo, macro and chrono systems and the importance of cultural competence for the social work practitioner. The growth and development of the individual will be viewed as a person in dynamic transition through the context and lens of the life course perspective. The individual, family, community, and larger society will be explored as elements in a state of perpetual flux, each uniquely affected by socioeconomic, political, historical, and ecological forces that are part of an overarching framework. ¶A unique aspect of this course is the emphasis on issues that deal with the ‘self’ in an ecological context, with specific attention to the exploration of the individual, physical, intellectual, and temperamental endowments in transaction and conflict with socio-cultural norms, family patterns, and the crises, struggles, conflicts, risks and opportunities encountered throughout the life course. This course lays the foundation for social work’s understanding of the diverse elements that unite contemporary knowledge and theories regarding human behavior and the social environment and the intersectionality of the human experience. Specific emphasis will be placed on the capacity and adaptability for individuals, groups and organizations to improve the conditions in their own lives in response to external forces. ¶Through the perspective of the LIfe Course Theory, the student will begin to approach their interactions with clients using a differentiated lens that reflects the critical influence of the environment on human development. The course utilizes class discussions, readings and assignments to develop increased awareness of themselves in relation to their own life experience, thereby gaining greater sensitivity and cultural competence related to the external forces that contribute to individual development