Human Behavior and the Social Environment: Theory and Practice

This comprehensive text integrates multiple dimensions of the human experience in a reader-friendly style and provides the interface between developmental theory and practice.

Human Behavior and the Social Environment, 1/e, introduces and incorporates current research on the biological, psychological, socio-cultural, and spiritual dimensions of human behavior throughout the life-cycle. The authors provide an appropriate focus on contemporary perspectives that are central to the practice of social work, such as trauma, neurobiological underpinnings of behavior, chronic illness and disability. They pay particular attention to models of racial, ethnic, class, gender and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender identity development; to the influences of gender, sexual orientation, social class, race and culture on family structure and function, and to issues pertinent to a variety of “post-modern” family forms.

Additionally, the text explores macro influences of groups, communities and organizations in individual chapters. It also contains a chapter on social welfare policy that examines the impact of specific policies at each stage of the life-cycle and paves the way for new directions in research and future directions in policy and practice.

This comprehensive text integrates multiple dimensions of the human experience in a reader-friendly style and provides the interface between developmental theory and practice.

Human Behavior and the Social Environment, 1/e, introduces and incorporates current research on the biological, psychological, socio-cultural, and spiritual dimensions of human behavior throughout the life-cycle. The authors provide an appropriate focus on contemporary perspectives that are central to the practice of social work, such as trauma, neurobiological underpinnings of behavior, chronic illness and disability. They pay particular attention to models of racial, ethnic, class, gender and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender identity development; to the influences of gender, sexual orientation, social class, race and culture on family structure and function, and to issues pertinent to a variety of “post-modern” family forms.

Additionally, the text explores macro influences of groups, communities and organizations in individual chapters. It also contains a chapter on social welfare policy that examines the impact of specific policies at each stage of the life-cycle and paves the way for new directions in research and future directions in policy and practice.

Joan Granucci Lesser, Ph.D., is currently a Resident Adjunct Associate Professor, and Chair of Social Work Practice at the Smith College School for Social Work She was previously Associate Professor at the Springfield College School of Social Work where she served as chair of Human Behavior and the Social Environment and Social Work Practice sequences. Dr. Lesser received her Ph.D. from New York University and her MSW from Columbia University where she was the recipient of a National Institute in Mental Health Training Grant. Dr. Lesser has also served on the adjunct faculties of New YorkUniversityi School of Social Work and Fordham University Graduate School of Social Services in New York City. She had held various clinicial, supervisory and adminnstrative positions including Director of Social Work at Flower Hosptial in NYC. She is the author, with Dr. Marlene Cooper, of Clinical Social Work Practice: An Integrated Approach (Allyn & Bacon, 2001, 2005,2008; 2010. ). Dr. Lesser is also the founder of the Pioneer Valley Professionals, a multidisciplinary community-based practice in Holyoke, MA, which provides services to children, adolescents, adults, and families. Dr. Lesser has presented locally, nationally and internationallymost recently in Guangzhou China on the “treatment of elders with trauma histories” and in Athens, Greece and Barcelona, Spain on :Cross Cultural Research, Training a Practice: A Relational Framework.”

Donna Saia Pope, L.C.S.W. is currently an Adjunct Lecturer at New York University’s Silver School of Social Work. She was previously a member of the faculty of the Mercy College Social Work Program, where she developed and taught the Human Behavior and the Social Environment course sequence and served as Coordinator of Field Education. She received her M.S.W. from Hunter College of the City University of New York. Ms. Pope’s varied background in social work practice includes having served as Director of the Social Work Department at an urban health care setting in New York City, and as a private clinical practitioner and consultant. Her experience in clinical practice, social work administration, and program development spans several fields of practice, including substance abuse, eating disorders, developmental disabilities, medical social work and aging.