case study
Real Cases Project: Teaching Guide for Human Behavior in the Social Environment
1
Real Cases Project:
Human Behavior in the Social
Environment
Rozetta Wilmore-Schaeffer, PhD
Associate Professor
Yeshiva University
Wurzweiler School of Social Work
2495 Amsterdam Avenue
NY., NY 10033-3312 wilmores@yu.edu INTRODUCTION
A. Overview of this Course within the Social Work Curriculum
This course sequence, Human Behavior and the Social Environment (HBSE) aims to use the context of the child welfare system to help students develop an appreciation for the important aspects of the human condition. The course emphasizes the family as the basic unit of development and reciprocal influences between people and their environment. These influences are discussed within the context of social factors, societal, institutional, familial and biophysical forces. The interactions between family, individuals and environment form the foundation to the ecological approach to human development. Workers in the child welfare system must take all of this into consideration as they provide service to clients.
The course is focused on issues that deal with the development of the self in an ecological context, with specific attention to the study of the individual and family in the child welfare system. Emphasis is placed on the family as the basic unit of development and reciprocal influences between people and their environment. This applies to all HBSE curricula which may or may not be linked to the child welfare system. In those instances where this is linked to the child welfare system the focus is placed on life experiences and lifestyles of persons in vulnerable populations and at risk for crises, conflicts and dysfunction. Consideration is given to the capacity of persons to use organizational and community resources to improve their own and the community’s life in response to mezzo and macro system forces.
Integrating Child Welfare Practice Across the
1
Real Cases Project:
Human Behavior in the Social
Environment
Rozetta Wilmore-Schaeffer, PhD
Associate Professor
Yeshiva University
Wurzweiler School of Social Work
2495 Amsterdam Avenue
NY., NY 10033-3312 wilmores@yu.edu INTRODUCTION
A. Overview of this Course within the Social Work Curriculum
This course sequence, Human Behavior and the Social Environment (HBSE) aims to use the context of the child welfare system to help students develop an appreciation for the important aspects of the human condition. The course emphasizes the family as the basic unit of development and reciprocal influences between people and their environment. These influences are discussed within the context of social factors, societal, institutional, familial and biophysical forces. The interactions between family, individuals and environment form the foundation to the ecological approach to human development. Workers in the child welfare system must take all of this into consideration as they provide service to clients.
The course is focused on issues that deal with the development of the self in an ecological context, with specific attention to the study of the individual and family in the child welfare system. Emphasis is placed on the family as the basic unit of development and reciprocal influences between people and their environment. This applies to all HBSE curricula which may or may not be linked to the child welfare system. In those instances where this is linked to the child welfare system the focus is placed on life experiences and lifestyles of persons in vulnerable populations and at risk for crises, conflicts and dysfunction. Consideration is given to the capacity of persons to use organizational and community resources to improve their own and the community’s life in response to mezzo and macro system forces.
Integrating Child Welfare Practice Across the