Human Behavior and the Social Environment
Chair: Tonya Bibbs (Erikson Institute)
APM Assignment: 2017-2019
Co-chair: Tina Jordan (Bowie State University)
APM Assignment: 2020-2022
The Human Behavior in the Social Environment (HBSE) Track advances knowledge to guide decisions about what social workers need to do and how they should do it. The comprehensive knowledge base of human behavior serves as the glue that holds the multiple facets of social work practice together. This Track encourages submissions that reflect new understanding of the multidimensional influences on individual and collective behavior and that promote excellence in teaching HBSE content and its relevance to social work. Presentations discuss theory and research about biopsychosocial-spiritual aspects of human behavior and encourage innovations in theory and research. They discuss the effects of globalization, the relevance of culture and diversity of various forms, advances in understanding the biological aspects of human behavior, developmental risk and protective factors and processes, specific challenges of living encountered in social work practice, and systems of inequalities and mechanisms of oppression. There are also presentations on theory and research about effective pedagogy for teaching HBSE content.