Description:
"The first edition of this book was published 25 years ago, but the work on it began several years before that. Much has happened in the world and in our understanding of human behavior since then. As we did the research for this seventh edition, we were struck by the momentous changes in the multidisciplinary research on human behavior that have occurred since the confluence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the international transmission of the video of George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police in 2020. Other increasingly important themes in human behavior theory and research include the continuing effects of colonialism on both colonized and colonizing people, intersecting systems of identity and oppression, and the important role that non-human elements play in human behavior. Most chapters of the book have been substantially revised since the sixth edition as we tried to integrate and synthesize these evolving themes. Whatever roles we play or settings in which we work, human behavior is the focus of the practice of social work. Sometimes we concentrate on individual behavior; other times the attention is on behavior in families, groups, communities, organizations, social institutions, societies, or some other configuration of relationships. We wrote this book because we think all social work practice should be grounded in the best scientific understanding of human behavior. The more we learn about human behavior, the more complex it appears and the more we recognize it as dynamic, not static, and influenced by many factors. Scientific knowledge about human behavior will always be partial, never complete or final. In addition, published research always lags behind human experience. Even as this book goes to press, new evidence will appear to contradict or expand upon what is reported here. You are a part of the evolving story of human behavior. We hope this book will inspire you to continue to learn about this story. Social work practice involves ongoing learning, unlearning, and relearning"--