Contemporary Human Behavior Theory: A Critical Perspective for Social Work Practice

by Susan Robbins, Pranab Chatterjee, Edward Canda, George Leibowitz

Overview

Encourage students to think critically about social work practice with a multidisciplinary, theoretical approach
Contemporary Human Behavior Theory: A Critical Perspective for Social Work Practice takes a multidisciplinary, theoretical approach to HBSE and provides a consistent analytical framework for readers to examine both traditional and contemporary theories. Students are encouraged to develop their critical-thinking skills as they explore each theory and analyze the social, ideological, and economic structures of society that impact individual problems. Each chapter includes coverage of the research that supports a particular theory, an analysis of the validity of that research, and a discussion of contemporary issues.

Updated with material that is critical to social work practice today, the 4th Edition includes new cases with practice application exercises, and expanded content on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and intersex (LGBTQI+) persons’ development and empowerment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780134779263
Publisher:	Pearson Education
Publication date:	08/22/2018
Series:	What's New in Social Work Series
Edition description:	Critical
Pages:	560
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

About our authors

Susan P. Robbins, PhD, LCSW, is Professor at the University of Houston, Graduate College of Social Work. She has been a clinical and forensic social worker and educator for over 35 years. She served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Social Work Education from 2013-2016 and is the lead author of two monographs on drug abuse prevention. She is also a contributing author to the Encyclopedia of Social Work and the Social Workers' Desk Reference and has published numerous journal articles. She teaches courses on theory, human behavior in the social environment, mediation and a national award-winning graduate course on substance abuse. In 2016 she was the recipient of the Sol Gothard Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Organization of Forensic Social Work.

Pranab Chatterjee, PhD, is Professor Emeritus at the Mandell School of Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University. He is the author of many books and journal articles on the welfare state, social policy and human behavior. His books, Approaches to the Welfare State (1996) and Repackaging the Welfare State (1999), both published by NASW Press, show how the welfare states require an economic surplus. Further, the books show how the welfare state is often an ideological compromise and a camouflage for many types of conflict, as well as a by-product of industrialization. His co-authored papers on human behavior in the Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare and Social Development Issues, dispute the theory of universal stages of human development and suggest that adolescence and old age are socially constructed in local communities. His challenge of existing theories of human development, thus, suggest that human behavior is locally constructed and cannot be seen as a universal phenomenon.

Edward R. Canda, MA, MSW, PhD, is Professor and Coordinator of the Spiritual Diversity Initiative at the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare. Dr. Canda's research and service address connections between cultural diversity, spirituality and resilience in relation to health, mental health and disabilities. For over 40 years, Professor Canda has been exploring insights from Eastern philosophy for social welfare. He has about 200 publications and has conducted about 230 presentations in the United States and in many other countries, especially in East Asia and Central Europe. His widely cited coauthored book, Spiritual Diversity in Social Work Practice (1999/2010) was published by Oxford University Press. In 2013, he received the Council on Social Work Education's Significant Lifetime Achievement Award for innovations on spirituality through scholarship and education.

George Stuart Leibowitz, PhD, LICSW, is Professor at Stony Brook University, School of Social Welfare in New York, where he teaches human behavior in the social environment and courses on trauma, substance abuse and clinical practice. He is Chair of the Integrated Health program and is Project Director for the 2017 HRSA Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training grant. Dr. Leibowitz's research agenda includes understanding and addressing addictions among underserved populations, as well as restorative justice and assessment and interventions with juveniles with sexually harmful behavior. He has published research articles in journals such as Trauma and Dissociation, Criminal Justice and Behavior and Journal of Child Sexual Abuse. He recently coedited the 2nd edition of Forensic Social Work: Psychosocial and Legal Issues Across Diverse Populations and Settings, published by Springer Publishing in 2017.

Table of Contents

Brief Table of Contents

1. The Nature of Theories
2. Systems Theory
3. Conflict Theories
4. Theories of Empowerment and Social Capital
5. Feminist Theory
6. Theories of Assimilation, Acculturation, Bicultural Socialization, and Ethnic Minority Identity
7. Psychodynamic Theory
8. Theories of Life Span Development
9. Theories of Cognitive, Moral, and Faith Development
10. Symbolic Interaction
11. Phenomenology, Social Constructionism, and Hermeneutics
12. Behaviorism, Social Learning, and Exchange Theory
13. Transpersonal Theory
14. Application of Theories

Detailed Table of Contents

1. The Nature of Theories
   • Organization of the Book and Rationale for Selection of Theories
   • Why Study Theories of Human Behavior?
   • Theories: What Are They?
   • The Social Construction of Theories
   • Ideology, Scientific Theory, and Social Work Practice
   • Determinism and Reductionism: A Problem of Social Construction
   • Theories: Application to Practice
   • Critical Analysis of Theory: The Missing Dimension
   • An Afterthought: Paths to Human Knowledge
2. Systems Theory
   • Historical Context
   • Key Concepts
   • Structural Functionalism
   • The Ecological Perspective
   • Dynamic Systems Theory
   • Deep Ecology
   • Ecofeminism
   • Contemporary Issues
   • Application to Social Work Practice
   • Critical Analysis
   • Consistency with Social Work Values
   • Philosophical Underpinnings
   • Methodological Issues and Empirical Support
3. Conflict Theories
   • Historical Context
   • Key Concepts
   • Class Conflict
   • Roads from Marx
   • Contemporary Issues
   • Application to Social Work Practice
   • Critical Analysis
   • Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics
   • Philosophical Underpinnings
   • Methodological Issues and Empirical Support
4. Chapter 4: Theories of Empowerment and Social Capital
   • Historical Context
   • Key Concepts
   • Stratification, Oppression, and Inequality: The Sociopolitical Context of Empowerment Theories
   • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning and Intersex Empowerment Theories
   • Social Work Empowerment Theories
   • Social Capital Theory
   • Contemporary Issues
   • Application to Social Work Practice
   • Critical Analysis
   • Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics
   • Philosophical Underpinnings
   • Methodological Issues and Empirical Support
5. Feminist Theory
   • Historical Context
   • Key Concepts
   • Feminist Theories
   • Contemporary Thought in Feminist Theory
   • Contemporary Issues
   • Application to Social Work Practice
   • Critical Analysis
   • Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics
   • Philosophical Underpinnings
   • Methodological Issues and Empirical Support
6. Theories of Assimilation, Acculturation, and Bicultural Socialization and Ethnic Minority Identity
   • Historical Context
   • Key Concepts
   • Deficiency Theory
   • The Dual Perspective
   • Bicultural Socialization
   • Ethnic, Racial/Cultural and Minority Identity
   • A Multidimensional Transactional Model of Bicultural Identity
   • Transculturality
   • Cultural Competence
   • Contemporary Issues
   • Application to Social Work Practice
   • Critical Analysis
   • Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics
   • Philosophical Underpinnings
   • Methodological Issues and Empirical Support
7. Psychodynamic Theory
   • Historical Context
   • Key Concepts
   • Sigmund Freud: Psychoanalysis
   • Roads from Freud
   • The Freudian Mainstream
   • The Freudian Left
   • Contemporary Issues
   • Application to Social Work Practice
   • Critical Analysis
   • Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics
   • Philosophical Underpinnings
   • Methodological Issues and Empirical Support
8. Theories of Life Span Development
   • Historical Context
   • Key Concepts
   • Theoretical Knowledge about Physical Development
   • Theoretical Knowledge about Sexual Development
   • Theoretical Knowledge about Neurobiology and Neurotransmission
   • Theories of Psychosocial Development: The Life Span Approach
   • Roads from Erikson
   • Theories of Midlife Development
   • Life Span Development and Late Adulthood
   • Life Span Development of Women
   • Shame Resilience Theory
   • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, and Intersex Identity Development
   • Stage Theories: Popularity versus Validity
   • Contemporary Issues
   • Application to Social Work Practice
   • Critical Analysis
   • Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics
   • Philosophical Underpinnings
   • Methodological Issues and Empirical Support
9. Theories of Cognitive, Moral, and Faith Development
   • Historical Context
   • Cognitive Development
   • Moral Development
   • Contemporary Issues
   • Application to Social Work Practice
   • Critical Analysis
   • Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics
   • Philosophical Underpinnings
   • Methodological Issues and Empirical Support
10. Symbolic Interaction
    • Historical Context
    • Key Concepts
    • The Chicago School and Early Interactionism
    • Roads from Mead
    • Role Theory, Reference Groups, and Socialization through the Life Cycle
    • Contemporary Issues
    • Application to Social Work Practice
    • Critical Analysis
    • Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics
    • Philosophical Underpinnings
    • Methodological Issues and Empirical Support
11. Phenomenology, Social Constructionism, and Hermeneutics
    • Historical Context
    • Key Concepts
    • Roads from Schutz
    • Contemporary Issues
    • Application to Social Work Practice
    • Critical Analysis
    • Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics
    • Philosophical Underpinnings
    • Methodological Issues and Empirical Support
12. Behaviorism, Social Learning, and Exchange Theory
    • Behaviorism
    • Social Learning Theory
    • Exchange Theory
    • Contemporary Issues
    • Application to Social Work Practice
    • Critical Analysis
    • Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics
    • Philosophical Underpinnings
    • Methodological Issues and Empirical Support
13. Transpersonal Theory
    • Historical Context
    • Key Concepts
    • Transpersonal and Integral Theories
    • Contemporary Issues
    • Application to Social Work Practice
    • Critical Analysis
    • Consistency with Social Work Values and Ethics
    • Philosophical Underpinnings
    • Methodological Issues and Empirical Support
14. Application of Theories
    • Alternative Approaches to Theory Selection
    • “Measuring Up” to the Themes for Critical Reflection on Theories
    • Person-Focused Theories
    • Environment-Focused Theories
    • Twelve Great Ideas
    • An Example of Integrating Theories for a Practice Issue
    • Roads from Here: Future Possibilities and Challenges for Innovation in Human Behavior Theory

References Discography Name Index Subject Index