Introduction to

Human
Behavior & the
Social
Environment
 Overview of today’s review
class:
 What is SW’s multidimensional approach?
 What is human behavior theory?
 Why do we study theory?
 How do we critique what we learn?
 “Multidimensional” approach is…
 Based on the belief that human behavior is
dynamic
 Developed through internal & external forces

 Influenced by the interaction of person,

environment, & time
 A person is shaped by an ever changing environment
& the environment is shaped by the person
 Both are shaped by “time”
 What is Social Work’s
“Multidimensional”
Approach to Human
Behavior?
What does “multidimensional” mean?
 These 3 dimensions include…
 The person…
 biological, psychological, social, & spiritual
 The environment…
 family, neighborhood, community, social structure,
clan, “tribe”
 Time…
 constants, trends, cycles, shifts, time orientation,
pace of time, life events

All 3 dimensions are shaped by our cultures

 What does “time” include?
 Constants
 Changes that move in only one direction, such as age
 Trends
 Changes that move in a general direction, but are not constant,
such as an increase in the number of women involved in peace-
building
 Cycles
 Changes that are repetitive, such as the school semester cycle
or the crop harvest cycle
 Shifts
 Changes that are sudden, such as those caused by death,
illness, trauma, natural disaster, & war
 Time orientation
 The way we think about time, such as “past, present, future”
 This especially depends on our culture
 A multidimensional
approach recognizes that
human behavior develops
as a result of many causes
& is multi-determined
Culture- a way of LIFE
 Social Workers are
(sometimes) destroyers of
cultures.
What is human behavior
theory?
What is its purpose?
Why do we study it?
 First, what is “theory”?
 A system of thoughts & interrelated
concepts

 Includes general propositions

 intended to explain or predict
phenomena in specific situations
 What is
“human behavior” theory?
 A system of thought & interrelated
concepts that propose explanations of
why the empirical world is the way that
it is
 A framework that helps us organize our
thoughts, evaluate & interpret our
world, explain & predict behavior
What is the purpose of human
behavior theory for SW?
 It explains & predicts:
 individualhuman behavior (micro)
 the impact of larger social structures (mezzo)
 social problems (macro)

 It guides & informs:

 social work practice
 social policy & knowledge development

 It directs social work research

 It gives credibility to the profession
In other words….

Theories help us know which way to

go & how to get there!
But, theories of human behavior are
“socially constructed” ideas.
That means…
Theories are shaped by the social
world in which they were developed.
 Yet, all theories evolve &
develop within a socio-
historical context influenced
by time
 For example…
theories about what is “normal”
human behavior change
from culture to culture,
from one historical moment to the next,
from one specific interpersonal
situation to another,
from one person’s beliefs to another’s.
 For this reason, it is always
important to critique theories
 To question…
 how the theory developed & who developed it
 To determine…
 the evidence for the theory’s support
 To evaluate…
 whether the theory is useful for the people we serve &
in the situations where we work
 To assess…
 if the theory is in line with social work values & ethics
 What is “personality?
 comes from the Latin word “per” and
sonare” which means to sound through.
 is sometimes defined as person’s public
self, what he or she selects to display to
the world. (Jung’s concept of persona)
 most personality theories agree that
personality can be described in terms of
consistent behavior patterns. The
tendency to respond consistently to
various situations is what gives a person
identity.
Erroneous Methods of Assessing
Personality/Behavior
1. ) First Impression – it gives
some people a clue to the
pattern of the observed
individual. They then brand
that person as a certain
“personality type” and
ascribe to him or her
supposed characteristics of
that type.
A first impression may be used on physical
appearance, facial features or expressions,
mannerisms, style of dressing, name,
nationality, race, what a person says and how
it is said, what one does and how it is done,
or some other physical or physiological
characteristic which is identified in the mind of
the observer with a certain kind of personality
type or stereotype.
 Erroneous Methods of Assessing
Personality
2.) Pseudo-scientific Methods
a.) Physiognomy - this is a method of
judging personality through the
measurement and study of person’s
physical features, most especially facial
features.
Erroneous Methods of Assessing
Personality
b.) Phrenology - in this method,
personality is judged by the size
and shape of the skull.
Erroneous Methods of Assessing
Personality

c.) Graphology - this method uses

a person’s handwriting to know his
or her personality. General
penmanship and the way a letter is
formed have a corresponding
personality characteristic.
What theories are we going
to discuss in this review
class?

Why were they selected?

Theories about interaction in
the social environment

 Especially useful for

macro social work
practice
 Theories about human behavior &
development
 Especially useful for micro &
mezzo practice
 Theories geared toward
social work intervention
 Especially useful for societies
in social
turmoil & individuals
who have experienced trauma
 Remember that…
 A multidimensional approach requires
multiple theories
 There is no one theory that can fit all
situations all of the time
 Attention to diversity & oppression must
always be given
 Theories are evolving, tentative, & socially
constructed
 “The map is not the
territory.”
--Gregory Bateson

 “Thereis nothing so practical

as a good theory.”
--Kurt Lewin
Revisiting Hierarchy of
Needs

Abraham Maslow
Psychoanalytic Theory

Sigmund Freud
 Structure of Personality

1.) ID – present at birth which

includes instincts
 operates on a pleasure principle

2.) Ego – operates on a reality

principle
 comes into existence because the
needs of the organism require
appropriate transactions with the
objective world of reality.
 Structure of Personality

3.) Super ego – moral arm of the

personality
 the human organism is not born with a
super ego, rather children must acquire
it through interaction with parents,
teachers and other formative agents.
2 subsystems
 Conscience
 Ego – ideal
 Psychosexual Stages?
Stages Erogenous Zones

 Oral Stage (Birth to 18 months) __?____

 Anal Stage (18 months- ¾ yrs) __?____
 Phallic Stage (3 yrs to 4-7 yrs) __?____
 Latency Stage (5 yrs to 12 yrs) __?____
 Genital Stage (12 yrs onwards) __?____
 When fixated:
 ORAL – PASSIVE CHARACTER –
describes as dependent to others. They
often retain even to excessive eating,
drinking and smoking. They are seeking the
pleasure they missed in infancy.
 ORAL- AGGRESSIVE PERSONALITY –
when we begin teething, one satisfying thing
to do when you are teething is to bite on
something like mommy’s nipple. If this
precipitates an early weaning, one may
develop this verbally aggressive,
argumentative, sarcastic personality. 
 When fixated:
ANAL- EXPULSIVE PERSONALITY – some
parents put themselves at the child’s mercy in the
process of toilet training. They beg, they cajole, they
show great joy when one does it right, they act as
though their hearts were broken when the child does it
right. The child is the king of the house. These people
maybe cruel, destructive and given to vandalism.  

ANAL RETENTIVE PERSONALITY – when parents

are strict. They maybe competing with their neighbors
and relatives as to whom can potty train their child
first (early potty training being associated with great
minds).These people are turned out to be clean,
perfectionist, dictatorial and stubborn.
Individual Psychology

Alfred Adler
 One of the two most prominent figures
who broke with Freud and went on to
establish their own original system of
thought is Alfred Adler.

 The cornerstone of Adler’s system is the

view that the person cannot be
separated from the social community.
Adler described his childhood
as a difficult and unhappy
time. He enjoyed a warm
relationship with his mother
during his first 2 years of life,
but he lost that pampered
position when his younger
brother was born.
Central Concepts of
this theory
1. Inferiority Feelings and
Compensation
 People with physical disabilities often
strive to compensate for their weakness
or defects.
 Demosthenes (a child stutterer, became one of the world’s
greatest orator.)
 Wilma Rudolph (physically handicapped as a child, went on to
win 3 Olympic gold medals in track.
 Theodore Roosevelt (a weak and sickly child, became a
specimen of physical fitness as an adult as well as President of
the United States.
 3 Childhood Handicaps as
Contribution to Inferiority feelings:
 Inferior Organs
 Overindulged Children
 Parental Neglect -
2.) Striving for Superiority
 This upward drive is universal in
nature; it is common to all.
 Superiority can take either a
negative (destructive) or a positive
(constructive direction.
 Negative direction – is evident in
the case of poorly adjusted people
who strive for superiority through
selfishness and concern for
personal glory at the expense of
others.
 Positive Direction – the efforts for a
superior way of life are intimately
bound up with the concern for the
welfare of others.
3.) Styles of Life
 - originally called the “life plan” or
guiding image”, represents the
most distinctive feature of Adler’s
theory of personality.
 - A set of behaviors designed to
compensate superiority.
4.) Social Interest
In Adler’s view, our own lives have
value only to the extent that we
add value to the lives of others.
Our own lives have no ultimate
value unless we contribute to the
lives of our fellow human beings
and even to the lives of those yet
unborn.
5.) Creative Self
The creative power is responsible
for the person’s life goal. It
determines the method of striving
for good and contributes to the
development of social interest. It
makes a person a FREE SELF-
DETERMINED INDIVIDUAL.
6.) ORDER OF BIRTH
a.)First –Born (Oldest) Child –
“Dethroned Monarch”.
b.) The Only Born Child
considered as “tied to the
mother’s apron string” and
expects pampering and
protection from all others too.
c.)The Second –Born (Middle)
Child
Characterized as highly competitive and highly
ambitious. Her style of life of constantly trying to
prove that she is better than her older siblings.
d.) Last Born (Youngest) Child
this child may be relegated to
the role of “ tag-along kid” .
7.) Fictional Finalism
 the idea that human behavior is directed
toward a future goal of its own making.
 People are more affected by their
expectations of the future than by their
actual past experiences. He further argued
that many people proceed through life
acting “as if” certain ideas were objectively
true.