Human Behavior in the Social Environment from an African American Perspective - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0789009579 ISBN 13: 9780789009579

Publisher: Routledge, 1999

Synopsis

In Human Behavior in the Social Environment from an African American Perspective, leading black scholars come together to discuss complex human behavior problems faced by African Americans and to force the abandonment of conceptualization theories made without consideration of the Black experience. Challenging you to engage in different thinking and develop new theories for addressing the needs of African Americans, this book highlights the assets of black individuals, families, and communities and guides you through program interventions and public policies that strengthen and empower African Americans. You will learn to enhance your clients’coping strategies and resilience by factoring in their strengths rather than focusing on their weaknesses.

Human Behavior in the Social Environment from an African American Perspective contextualizes community behavior patterns, gender roles, and changing contemporary identities to challenge your assumptions about African American culture and communities and convince you to rethink your intervention strategies and methods. To further help you fine-tune your service delivery, this book leads you through discussions on:

• help-seeking behaviors of young street males
• the association of sociocultural risk factors with suicides
• the use of emotive behavior therapy to help African Americans cope with the prospect of imminent death
• advocating for changes in institutions and systems which negatively impact the lives of the poor and the oppressed
• how social work has ignored one segment of the African American community--young girls in urban settings
• psychological consequences of coming of age in a hostile environment
  
  Social workers, community-based groups, policymakers, and other helping professionals owe it to their clients to shrug off culturally incompetent services and care. Using Human Behavior in the Social Environment from an African American Perspective as a guide, you will learn to redress your programs and policies with a sensitivity to the factors and mechanisms that maximize the buoyancy of disadvantaged groups over various stages of their life development.

About this title

Review:

"A book of scholarly, convincing, and relevant chapters that provide an African-American perspective on human behavior and the social environment. Written by black professionals, these chapters offer new insights about the impact of race on psychosocial development in American society. This volume may be too provocative for some, but it is difficult to ignore the authors' contributions to social work knowledge. . . . ENHANCES THE PRACTITIONER'S GOALS FOR EVER-IMPROVED ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTION SKILLS." -- Alphonso W. Haynes, EdD, Professor, School of Social Work, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan

"EXPLORES, DEBUNKS, AND RECONSTRUCTS THE MYTHS, STEREOTYPICAL PERSPECTIVES, AND FALLACIOUS THEORIES that have been used to 'explain' the African-American experience. Through carefully developed essays and ethnographic research that highlight the voices of African Americans and their experiences, the 'playing field' of social science theorizing has been leveled. . . . Represents a rare challenge to that tradition, and signals a new research agenda for black scholars. -- Curtis A. Leonard, PhD, Dean, Temple University, School of Social Administration, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0789009579
• ISBN 13: 9780789009579
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 358
• Editor: See Letha A.