essay social environment

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StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-.

StatPearls [Internet].

Human behavior in a social environment.

Naveen P. Sharma ; Vikas Gupta .

Affiliations

Last Update: February 7, 2024 .

• Continuing Education Activity

Human behavior in a social environment (HBSE) is a concept that serves as a cornerstone in the realm of social sciences, offering a comprehensive perspective on human behavior that extends across the biological, psychological, and social spectra. This activity provides a concise introduction to HBSE, unraveling its relevance to various forms of clinical work. Emphasizing the pivotal role of interprofessional teams, this activity elucidates how a profound grasp of HBSE can significantly enhance patient care by fostering a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted factors influencing human behavior.

Due to the breadth of this pivotal subject, HBSE extends beyond a mere discipline and often forms the backbone of entire courses and academic degrees. As implied by its name, HBSE delves deep into the understanding of human behavior, encompassing its myriad contributors and characteristics. This activity sheds light on the dynamic interplay between individuals and their social environments, navigating through various levels and systems that shape human behavior. Learners will emerge equipped with valuable insights into the interface between human behavior and intricate social structures, fostering a holistic perspective applicable across diverse fields of medicine.

• Identify key concepts within human behavior in a social environment to recognize the diverse contributors and characteristics influencing human behavior.
• Differentiate between the various functions of human behavior in a social environment, understanding how they manifest across diverse levels and systems within the social environment.
• Identify 3 common theories applicable to the concept of human behavior in a social environment, recognizing their foundational concepts and principles.
• Communicate effectively with members of the interprofessional team, sharing insights derived from human behavior in a social environment to improve patient care coordination and optimize clinical outcomes.
• Introduction

Human behavior in a social environment (HBSE), also called human behavior and the social environment, is a broad topic that often comprises entire courses or academic degrees. HBSE is a foundational aspect of social work, and its topics apply to multiple fields of medicine. As the term implies, HBSE seeks an understanding of human behavior, including all of the contributors to and characteristics of human behavior, the social environment and different levels and systems of this environment, and the interface between them. 

HBSE provides a framework to understand both individuals and the environment in which they live, which can help facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of the individual presenting for treatment. This approach can be particularly important in understanding barriers to adherence, personality structures, interactional styles, irregular follow-ups and no-shows, and other clinically pertinent behaviors.

Accordingly, HBSE provides a method to broaden the clinician's view of the patient's life and the challenges and limitations that exist for the patient. Through this understanding, one can garner an appreciation for these barriers, subsequently facilitating an ability to address some existing barriers. This insight is particularly relevant to understanding social determinants of health, which are considered vital contributors to adherence, response to treatment, and follow-up. [1] [2]

The concept of "person-in-environment" is closely related to the HBSE framework and is often considered a foundational aspect of social work practice. Person-in-environment takes into account both the individual and the multiple environments within which the individual interacts, acknowledging that both share a reciprocal relationship. [3]  Several theories can help clinicians identify contributors to this reciprocal relationship, as discussed below. These theories describe static and dynamic contributors to a person's presentation and can be combined or used individually to capture a complete understanding of the patient or client.

• Issues of Concern

The theories and models applicable to HBSE include:

• Micro-mezzo-macro approach
• Biopsychosocial-spiritual approach
• Systems theory
• Social-ecological model
• Ecological systems model

Facilitating an understanding of person-in-environment, many of these theories overlap in how they organize an understanding of individuals and associated contributors to their presentation. There are also differences between each theory regarding how each identifies and analyzes specific information. 

Micro-Mezzo-Macro Approach

This approach refers to a 3-level understanding of contributors to systems involving and surrounding the individual.

• Micro:  Involves considerations for the biological and psychological characteristics of the individual, including personality, mental and physical health or pathology, and education levels
• Mezzo:  Takes into account the networks and services immediately surrounding an individual, including the home and neighborhood environments, social networks (friends, neighbors, family), and available medical and social services.
• Macro:  Includes the largest scale contributors that can impact an individual through the mezzo level, including economic and political changes and regulations as well as natural forces (eg, earthquakes, tornados). [4]

Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Model

The biopsychosocial model was first introduced in 1977 by George Engel to understand the multitude of factors that contribute to a person. It has been argued that this model itself does not include existential factors, including spirituality or death. As such, the biopsychosocial-spiritual model was proposed to provide a more comprehensive view in this regard.

• Biological  contributors :  Any medical or biological contributors to the person's presentation, including medical illnesses, genetics, neurobiology, physical attributes, diet, substances, and medications.
• Psychological contributors:  These include temperament, personality, memory, attitudes, coping mechanisms, and beliefs.
• Social contributors:  These include social support networks, culture, workplace, education, socioeconomic status, and relationships.
• Spiritual contributors:  These include any aspects of belief for or against a spiritual or religious entity. [5]

Ecological Systems Model

The ecological systems model was originally described by Bronfenbrenner, who posited 5 system levels (from smallest to largest) as they pertain to the individual.

• Microsystem:  Refers to things that directly surround the individual and that the individual interacts with most intimately (eg, home, work, school, and relationships within this system, including family, friends, and caregivers)
• Mesosystem:  Refers to interconnections between microsystems and their impact on the individual (eg, the work system and associated demands may either positively or negatively influence the home system)
• Exosystem:  Describes a system level in which the individual is affected but unable to effect change (eg, an individual's company going out of business and losing their job as a result).
• Macrosystem: Describes a system level in which the cultural, political, and economic environment can be understood, all of which can affect the individual.
• Chronosystem:  Describes dynamic and timing-dependent events, including how historical events might impact an individual's life. [6]
• Clinical Significance

Case Example

The application of HBSE in clinical practice can best be understood using a case example. Consider a 40-year-old male who presents for an evaluation of brittle diabetes; he has: 

• A history of hypertension
• Type 2 diabetes
• Hyperlipidemia
• Coronary artery disease status post 2-vessel coronary artery bypass grafting (3 months ago)
• Major depressive disorder
• Generalized anxiety disorder

Additionally, he recently lost his job, is going through a divorce, and is currently living alone. Using any of the above theories, we can quickly identify that the information we have thus far only constitutes a basic level of understanding of this presenting individual. 

Hypotheses: m icro factors

Using the micro-mezzo-macro approach, for example, we can identify some biological and psychological factors contributing to his presentation (ie, the micro factors). These include the medical and psychiatric disorders listed above. On further analysis of each of these disorders alone, one can begin to formulate hypotheses about some initial contributors to the patient's labile blood sugars. These hypotheses might take into consideration:

• Mood/emotional state: The patient's mood, anhedonia, and hopelessness may impact his adherence to medical treatment, which we could further assess.
• Psychological or physiological effects: The ongoing psychological or physiological effects of the patient's CABG may make it difficult for him to exercise (and therefore control his blood sugar).
• Treatment interactions:  Treatment interactions might affect the patient's insulin resistance or response to medications.
• Cognition:  The patient's cognition may be affected on some level, contributing to his inability to remember to take his medications.

Hypotheses: m ezzo- and macro-level contributors

One can also see that mezzo- and macro-level contributors are less clear based on the initial information. We may need to explore these factors further to understand how they may contribute to this patient's presentation.

• The patient may have some financial strain as a result of his recent job loss; he may also have lost his insurance coverage. Both these factors could make affording medications or visits with providers unfeasible.
• Another consideration might be that his job loss occurred in the setting of a worsening economy.
• We could also hypothesize that his job loss was the result of deteriorating interpersonal relations, which in turn damaged his perception of his self-importance and self-worth.
• We may also consider that losing his job means that he has lost a significant portion of his social support network. 
• Living alone:  He may have limited social support to take care of himself and his needs, which could be various, and may also affect his perception of the importance of treatment adherence.
• The divorce process:  This factor may also contribute to financial strain and interpersonal difficulties, making it more difficult for him to trust or interact with others, including his providers. It may also be worsening his depressive or anxiety-related symptoms, as well as his diet.
• These might include the availability of green spaces near him, neighborhood safety, nearby community organizations that could support him, legislation affecting the patient's housing or job security, or healthcare policies or changes.
• Additionally, concepts such as discrimination and prejudice and the impact of race on this individual can inform adherence, trust in healthcare providers, and an understanding of potential significant life stressors contributing to the patient's presentation.

As we continue to consider aspects of this individual's presentation, we can see that there may be multiple other factors contributing to his presenting complaint. Psychosocial factors, as described above, have been reported in the literature to have a significant impact on healthcare outcomes in a variety of studies. [7] [8] [9] [10]

• Other Issues

HBSE also utilizes theories of development through the lifespan and other psychological theories, including psychoanalytic theory and theories of development proposed by Erikson, Piaget, and Kohlberg. These theories can be instrumental in understanding an individual's overall development and any aspects of their presentation associated with an incomplete transition through stages of development.

Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development

This theory describes stages of development that range from infancy to old age, with a total of 8 stages. [11]  Each stage describes a significant developmental period, where adequate adaptation, support, and development can lead to more fulfilling lives. 

Stage 1: Trust versus mistrust

• Infancy: First 18 months
• Development of stable, nurturing, and consistent relationships with caregivers
• Disruptions in the stability or consistency of the relationship can lead to impairments in trust.

Stage 2: Autonomy  versus  shame and doubt

• Early childhood:  Ages 18 months to ~3 years
• Development of independence, sense of control over abilities (including bodily functions), and assertiveness
• Over-control or excess criticism during this period leads to shame, self-doubt, and increased dependence on others.

Stage 3: Initiative  versus  guilt

• Preschool age:  Ages ~3 to 5 years
• Development of interpersonal skills, assertiveness, and social interactions
• Restriction from exploring these environments can lead to a sense of guilt, as the child may view their way of interacting as a nuisance.

Stage 4: Industry  versus  inferiority

• School-age:  Ages 5 to ~12 years
• Development of self-esteem through social interactions and peer groups; feelings of pride and accomplishment during a time of increasing demands from academic and social situations
• Disruptions during this time can lead to feelings of failure and inferiority, especially compared to peers.

Stage 5: Identity  versus  confusion

• Adolescence:  Ages 12 to 18 years
• Development of a sense of identity and sense of self through in-depth self-exploration, including beliefs and values, and an increasing sense of independence
• Erickson described this stage as the bridge between the morality learned as a child and the ethics developed by the adult.
• Disruption in this stage leads to a sense of confusion and a lack of sense of self.

Stage 6: Intimacy  versus i solation

• Young adulthood:  Ages 18 to 40 years
• Development of secure and enduring intimate relationships with others that are meaningful and lasting
• Disruptions during this stage result in a sense of isolation and loneliness.

Stage 7: Generativity  versus  stagnation

• Adulthood:  Ages 40 to 65 years
• Development of feeling of accomplishment, contributions to society, to children, and the world
• Disruptions during this stage lead to feelings of disillusionment, distance, and stagnation.

Stage 8: Integrity  versus Despair

• Old age:  Age 65 and older
• Development of an understanding of one's life and a review of one's accomplishments; feeling integrity and coherence about one's self, which leads to wisdom
• Disruptions during this stage can lead to feelings of despair and regret.

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

This model describes 4 stages of childhood cognitive development. [12] [13]  

Sensorimotor period

• Ages: Birth to 18 to 24 months
• As the name implies, sensations, bodily functions, and movements ("sensorimotor") are developed in this stage.
• The concept of "object permanence" is also developed during this stage, in which the child recognizes the existence of an object (eg, parent or toy) despite not being able to sense it immediately.

Preoperational period  

• Ages: 2 to 7 years
• A semiotic function is developed during this stage, which is the development of the symbolic representation of thoughts, memories, events, and imaginative thought.
• This period represents the beginning of the assimilation of ideas and thoughts, in addition to describing and identifying these ideas.

Concrete operational period

• Ages: 7 through 11 or 12 years
• In this stage, the child can apply logic and rules to concrete objects in their environment to predict and understand the world in greater detail.
• The concept of conservation is developed in this stage, wherein the child understands that the amount of liquid does not change after being poured into a wider or thinner container (which affects the height or level of water).

Formal operational period

• Ages: 12 until adulthood
• The application of rules and logic to more abstract concepts is developed during this stage.
• The types of thought developed during this stage include hypothetical-deductive thought, propositional thought, isolating variables, and examining combinations.

Piaget also commented on "moral development," describing 2 stages: heteronomy and autonomy.

The concept of heteronomy or "heteronomous morality" is the child's understanding that there are rules and duties and authority figures who must be obeyed. This is related to the idea of "moral realism," in which the rule itself is more important than the purpose of the rule. In this regard, the intention of the person doing the act is less important than the outcomes of the actions to the child. The child expects that violations of these rules will be punished, referred to as "immanent justice." In this regard, heteronomous morality considers that power is handed down from above (heteronomously).

During play, children develop an understanding of "moral relativism," where morality can be considered more about intentions rather than consequences. This results in the development of "autonomous morality" or autonomy. The concept of punishment also changes where the purpose of punishment is to correct wrongs rather than punish the guilty.

Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development

The Kohlberg theory expounded on the concept of morality development. It describes 3 stages (with 6 substages) of the development of morals and considers that the development of morality takes longer. [14]

Preconventional morality

• Ages: Birth to 9 years
• The child is punished for doing something wrong.
• Punishment is avoided by doing good.
• "What's in it for me?"
• Individual needs are prioritized.

Conventional

• Ages:  Adolescence 
• The child wishes to win the approval of others.
• Emphasis is placed on people being "nice" to others.
• The child accepts rules without question as a means of maintaining social order.
• This goes beyond wishing to win the approval of others

Postconventional

• Ages:  Adulthood
• Multiple world views are acknowledged, accepted, and respected.
• Laws are considered social contracts instead of a rigid set of rules.
• Abstract reasoning around morals is applied.
• Rather than laws being followed, individuals choose the moral principles by which they live.

Each of these theories describes the development of individuals as they progress through changing social environments. Patients presenting for assessment will have varying degrees of development or disruption in development at each stage, which can affect their behavior, interpersonal relationships, and approaches to prescribed treatments, among other things.

Traditional Disease and Medical Models

The disease and medical models also provide useful ways to approach patient care and contribute significantly to understanding patients. In this more traditional biomedical view, the process of identifying syndromes leads to the identification of diseases; pathophysiology, etiology, epidemiology, pathology, and other such concepts are then applied to develop an understanding of each disease. Through this developed understanding, the ability to diagnose and accurately treat patients is garnered.

The success of these models is evident in the modern-day practice of healthcare, in which most healthcare workers are familiar with and apply them. However, significant limitations of this approach include that it tends to neglect psychosocial components, or as HBSE describes, many other factors that contribute to a person's development and situation. Accordingly, these additional factors can contribute to the precipitation and perpetuation of disease in patients. [15]

A More Dimensional Approach

Clinicians' understanding of mental health and disorders is evolving towards a more dimensional approach. [16] This is a currently evolving model of mental health and disorders; as such, there is not a widespread consensus regarding how this model can be accepted and applied to clinical practice. A significant advantage of a dimensional model is that it removes the arbitrary separation between health and disorder. By placing health and disorder on the same spectrum, stigma can be reduced by understanding the human condition and the spectrum of human behavior and mental health. This model also allows a more effective understanding of the evolution of disorders in mental health, as individuals may be on one part of the spectrum during a single point in time and may transition to another part of the spectrum at another point in time. Such a dimensional approach may also prove useful in diagnosing medical illness, especially in conditions where cutoffs or ranges of normality may have an arbitrary or uncertain origin.

The Transtheoretical Model

Another clinically relevant model is the transtheoretical model. [17] [18]  This model consists of 5 stages of change, along with termination.

Precontemplation

• This decision may be related to being misinformed, uninformed, or demoralized.

Contemplation

• The individual is planning to change in the foreseeable future.
• Awareness of the pros and cons of change.
• Some individuals can become stuck in this stage.

Preparation

• Often, the individual plans to do so in the immediate future (ie, within the next month).
• A plan of action accompanies the decision.
• The individual has made specific changes in their lives within the past 6 months.
• Confidence is built during this stage.

Maintenance

• The individual continues the behavior and system changes for more than 6 months.
• Skills are developed to anticipate triggers and maintain awareness of thoughts to return to previous habits.

Termination

• This is often omitted as a stage, as it is very difficult to achieve.
• Maintenance may be a more realistic lifetime goal.

An individual may move through each stage in sequence or exit and re-enter at any stage. The transtheoretical model can be best understood using the person-in-environment concept, as the individual's progression through each stage often depends on their social and physical environments. [19]  

For example, a person with alcohol-use disorder in the precontemplation stage may feel reluctant to pursue behavior changes as they find familiarity in their surroundings, including the people they drink with or the places they may frequent for a drink. These aspects of their life may contribute to a lack of awareness of a particular issue. In this way, facilitating change can often require the clinician to understand the individual's social environment in addition to their stage of change. Understanding the social environment can help the clinician facilitate progress through stages of change. For example, the client may need to give up or replace various aspects of their lives with new ones, such as a sober living environment and a sober social group.

Operant and Classical Conditioning Models 

Finally, operant and classical conditioning models can be considered in the social environment context. B.F. Skinner defined operant behavior as behavior "controlled by its consequences." [20]  Classical conditioning is a similar phenomenon characterized by an individual developing a response to a stimulus, wherein this stimulus previously did not elicit a response. [21] [22] [23]

Operant conditioning 

Operant conditioning can be organized as follows:

"Good" Intervention (Behavior increases)

• Positive ("good") intervention:  Refers to something given to the individual.
• Negative ("bad") intervention:  Refers to something taken away.  
• Reinforcement:  Refers to an increase in behavior as a result of the intervention.
• Punishment:  Refers to a decrease in behavior.

Classical conditioning

Classical conditioning can be organized in the following way:

• This response is not dependent on previous experience or learning and does not go away with time
• Unconditioned response:  Response from the individual to the unconditioned stimulus
• Neutral stimulus: Stimulus that does not elicit a response before training

When the neutral stimulus is provided at the same time as the unconditioned stimulus, over time, the individual will begin to develop the same response to the neutral stimulus as they have to the unconditioned stimulus. In other words, the neutral stimulus begins to elicit a conditioned response, and the neutral stimulus is now referred to as a conditioned stimulus. The conditioned response is the same behavior as the unconditioned response, except that the conditioned response is susceptible to extinction. Extinction refers to a loss of the conditioned response without frequent reinforcement of the response.

Classical conditioning was described concurrently by Edwin Twitmyer in his doctoral thesis in 1902 and by Ivan Pavlov's publication in 1903. Ivan Pavlov described the phenomenon in dogs, where dogs were trained to salivate at the ring of a bell. In this case, the bell was the neutral stimulus and was associated with the introduction of food, which was the unconditioned stimulus. The unconditioned response of salivation at the sight of food was then developed into a conditioned response, wherein the dogs salivated (conditioned response) at the ring of the bell (now the conditioned stimulus instead of a neutral stimulus). [23]  Twitmyer demonstrated that classical conditioning is also present in humans, where a bell could be associated with a reflex hammer and elicit the knee-jerk reflex in much the same way as the reflex hammer. In this case, the bell became the conditioned stimulus and elicited the conditioned response of the knee jerk. [21]

The Learning Process

Operant and classical conditioning provide a behavioral understanding of the learning process, which can be relevant when considering the above HBSE theories. Initially, learning primarily occurs within the microsystem, where the individual's learning is most immediately influenced by the most proximal relationships, experiences, and places. These may include close family members, such as siblings, parents, and grandparents; school, teachers, and classmates; and games, television, and social media. [24]  For example, individuals can develop an understanding of interpersonal relationships through these proximal components of their microsystem, which can subsequently influence how the individual interacts with larger systems later in life.

From an operant perspective, individuals who experience positive, trusting relationships early on may be positively reinforced to continue interacting with others and develop additional relationships outside their immediate circles. Those who experience negative, hurtful relationships may experience positive punishment with interpersonal relationships, and therefore, these individuals may reduce how often they explore new relationships. Over time, as the individual's awareness of larger systems develops, these early experiences can influence their willingness and ability to interact with and understand these larger systems, influencing change when possible. For example, those positively reinforced by interpersonal relationships may develop relationships that later allow them to work together and influence change on a larger systems level. In addition to the concept of interpersonal relationships, operant and classical conditioning have been explored in pain modulation, fatigue, and placebo effects. [25] [26] [27] [28]

• Enhancing Healthcare Team Outcomes

HBSE can provide a framework for collaborative care and interprofessional teams to provide optimal patient care. In these situations, healthcare professionals of different disciplines may have different means of formulating an understanding of the patient. Interprofessional teams can thus use HBSE concepts to understand cross-discipline formulations and treatment plans.

Given the limitations of the current healthcare system and the pressures it places on individual providers, each provider might consider focusing on addressing one aspect of the individual's care while maintaining an understanding of the more significant contributors to the patient's presentation. Of primary importance is assessing and evaluating a trained social worker who can identify factors hindering patient care and outline the patient's expectations from treatment in depth. Communicating these factors to the trained specialty nurse can help educate patients and improve compliance with care. Identifying detrimental factors and adverse reactions and notifying the clinicians of these findings can help improve clinical outcomes and prevent complications. Electronic medical records could assist with this by computer-assisted identification of significant factors or deficits in the patient's life that may limit adherence, healthcare literacy, or communication.

Through a greater understanding of HBSE, a more integrated healthcare team and system are achievable. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research identified 10 principles for healthcare integration to occur successfully, including "Standardized Care Delivery through Interprofessional Teams." [29]  One identified factor under this principle included "one standard of care." In this regard, a comprehensive view of each individual, using an understanding of HBSE, would allow for a universal standard of care to be developed across healthcare systems. Also, an emphasis on well-being and health promotion was recognized, which can be facilitated by understanding HBSE. 

• Nursing, Allied Health, and Interprofessional Team Interventions

The interprofessional team can provide support through various approaches, including making follow-up phone calls after hospital discharge or a clinic appointment to ensure adherence. These calls may also facilitate and address other factors contributing to the patient's presentation, which could not be captured during the appointment. Some examples include difficulty with transportation or identifying public transportation schedules, health literacy over the phone, and complex family systems that may affect patients' adherence. Some such barriers can thus be identified and addressed through various public and health system programs.

• Nursing, Allied Health, and Interprofessional Team Monitoring

Monitoring patients' adherence and barriers to adherence can be facilitated with an understanding of HBSE. Identifying factors outside of the biological realm can provide perspective for healthcare providers as to other contributors to adherence. For example, identifying cost considerations and financial strain as a contributor to non-adherence to prescriptions can allow the provider or healthcare team to recommend a prescription coupon site or assist the patient in applying for patient assistance programs. Interprofessional team monitoring can be particularly useful in identifying these varied factors. Each healthcare team member can work to identify different aspects of the patient's presentation using a biopsychosocial model. All interprofessional healthcare team members, including physicians, advanced practice providers, social workers, case managers, pharmacists, nurses, therapists, and all other clinicians and ancillary staff, can thus provide support to the individual patient in a variety of more complicated ways that are more holistic and comprehensive compared to a traditional disease-oriented model.

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Disclosure: Naveen Sharma declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Vikas Gupta declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

This book is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ), which permits others to distribute the work, provided that the article is not altered or used commercially. You are not required to obtain permission to distribute this article, provided that you credit the author and journal.

• Cite this Page Sharma NP, Gupta V. Human Behavior in a Social Environment. [Updated 2024 Feb 7]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-.

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15.3 The Environment

Learning objectives.

• List two reasons that make the environment an appropriate topic for sociologists to study.
• Describe two of the environmental problems facing the world today.
• Describe what is meant by the assertion that environmental problems are human problems.
• Explain the concepts of environmental inequality and environmental racism.
• Understand the various environmental problems that exist today.

At first glance, the environment does not seem to be a sociological topic. The natural and physical environment is something that geologists, meteorologists, oceanographers, and other scientists should be studying, not sociologists. Yet we have just discussed how the environment is affected by population growth, and that certainly sounds like a sociological discussion. In fact, the environment is very much a sociological topic for several reasons.

First, our worst environmental problems are the result of human activity, and this activity, like many human behaviors, is a proper topic for sociological study. This textbook has discussed many behaviors: racist behavior, sexist behavior, criminal behavior, sexual behavior, and others. Just as these behaviors are worthy of sociological study, so are the behaviors that harm (or try to improve) the environment.

Second, environmental problems have a significant impact on people, as do the many other social problems that sociologists study. We see the clearest evidence of this impact when a major hurricane, an earthquake, or another natural disaster strikes. In January 2010, for example, a devastating earthquake struck Haiti and killed more than 250,000 people, or about 2.5 percent of that nation’s population. The effects of these natural disasters on the economy and society of Haiti will certainly also be felt for many years to come.

As is evident in this photo taken in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti, changes in the natural environment can lead to profound changes in a society. Environmental changes are one of the many sources of social change.

United Nations Development Programme – Haiti Earthquake – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Slower changes in the environment can also have a large social impact. As noted earlier, industrialization and population growth have increased the pollution of our air, water, and ground. Climate change, a larger environmental problem, has also been relatively slow in arriving but threatens the whole planet in ways that climate change researchers have documented and will no doubt be examining for the rest of our lifetimes and beyond. We return to these two environmental problems shortly.

A third reason the environment is a sociological topic is a bit more complex: Solutions to our environmental problems require changes in economic and environmental policies, and the potential implementation and impact of these changes depends heavily on social and political factors. In the United States, for example, the two major political parties, corporate lobbyists, and environmental organizations regularly battle over attempts to strengthen environmental regulations.

A fourth reason is that many environmental problems reflect and illustrate social inequality based on social class and on race and ethnicity: As with many problems in our society, the poor and people of color often fare worse when it comes to the environment. We return to this theme later in our discussion of environmental racism.

Fifth, efforts to improve the environment, often called the environmental movement , constitute a social movement and, as such, are again worthy of sociological study. Sociologists and other social scientists have conducted many studies of why people join the environmental movement and of the impact of this movement.

Environmental Sociology

All these reasons suggest that the environment is quite fittingly a sociological topic, and one on which sociologists should have important insights. In fact, so many sociologists study the environment that their collective study makes up a subfield in sociology called environmental sociology , which refers simply to the sociological study of the environment. More specifically, environmental sociology is the study of the interaction between human behavior and the natural and physical environment. According to a report by the American Sociological Association, environmental sociology “has provided important insights” (Nagel, Dietz, & Broadbent, 2010, p. 13) into such areas as public opinion about the environment, the influence of values on people’s environmental behavior, and inequality in the impact of environmental problems on communities and individuals.

Environmental sociology assumes “that humans are part of the environment and that the environment and society can only be fully understood in relation to each other” (McCarthy & King, 2009, p. 1). Because humans are responsible for the world’s environmental problems, humans have both the ability and the responsibility to address these problems. As sociologists Leslie King and Deborah McCarthy (2009, p. ix) assert, “We both strongly believe that humans have come to a turning point in terms of our destruction of ecological resources and endangerment of human health. A daily look at the major newspapers points, without fail, to worsening environmental problems…Humans created these problems and we have the power to resolve them. Naturally, the longer we wait, the more devastating the problems will become; and the more we ignore the sociological dimensions of environmental decline the more our proposed solutions will fail.”

Environmental sociologists emphasize two important dimensions of the relationship between society and the environment: (a) the impact of human activity and decision making and (b) the existence and consequences of environmental inequality and environmental racism. We now turn to these two dimensions.

Human Activity and Decision Making

Perhaps more than anything else, environmental sociologists emphasize that environmental problems are the result of human decisions and activities that harm the environment . Masses of individuals acting independently of each other make decisions and engage in activities that harm the environment, as when we leave lights on, keep our homes too warm in the winter or too cool in the summer, and drive motor vehicles that get low gas mileage. Corporations, government agencies, and other organizations also make decisions and engage in practices that greatly harm the environment. Sometimes individuals and organizations know full well that their activities are harming the environment, and sometimes they just act carelessly without much thought about the possible environmental harm of their actions. Still, the environment is harmed whether or not individuals, corporations, and governments intend to harm it.

A major example of the environmental harm caused by human activity was the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill that began in April 2010 when an oil rig leased by BP exploded in the Gulf of Mexico and eventually released almost 5 million barrels of oil (about 200 million gallons) into the ocean. Congressional investigators later concluded that BP had made a series of decisions that “increased the danger of a catastrophic well,” including a decision to save money by using an inferior casing for the well that made an explosion more likely. A news report paraphrased the investigators as concluding that “some of the decisions appeared to violate industry guidelines and were made despite warnings from BP’s own employees and outside contractors” (Fountain, 2010, p. A1).

Sociologists McCarthy and King (2009) cite several other environmental accidents that stemmed from reckless decision making and natural disasters in which human decisions accelerated the harm that occurred. One accident occurred in Bhopal, India, in 1984, when a Union Carbide pesticide plant leaked forty tons of deadly gas. Between 3,000 and 16,000 people died immediately and another half million suffered permanent illnesses or injuries. A contributing factor for the leak was Union Carbide’s decision to save money by violating safety standards in the construction and management of the plant.

The April 2010 BP oil spill occurred after BP made several decisions that may have increased the possibility of a catastrophic explosion of the well.

International Bird Rescue Research Center – Gulf Oiled Pelicans June 3, 2010 – CC BY 2.0.

A second preventable accident was the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker disaster, in which the tanker hit ground off the coast of Alaska and released 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound. Among other consequences, the spill killed hundreds of thousands of birds and marine animals and almost destroyed the local fishing and seafood industries. The immediate cause of the accident was that the ship’s captain was an alcoholic and left the bridge in the hands of an unlicensed third mate after drinking five double vodkas in the hours before the crash occurred. Exxon officials knew of his alcoholism but let him command the ship anyway. Also, if the ship had had a double hull (one hull inside the other), it might not have cracked on impact or at least would have released less oil, but Exxon and the rest of the oil industry had successfully lobbied Congress not to require stronger hulls.

Hurricane Katrina was a more recent environmental disaster in which human decision making resulted in a great deal of preventable damage. After Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and especially New Orleans in August 2005, the resulting wind and flooding killed more than 1,800 people and left more than 700,000 homeless. McCarthy and King (2009, p. 4) attribute much of this damage to human decision making: “While hurricanes are typically considered ‘natural disasters,’ Katrina’s extreme consequences must be considered the result of social and political failures.” Long before Katrina hit, it was well known that a major flood could easily breach New Orleans levees and have a devastating impact. Despite this knowledge, US, state, and local officials did nothing over the years to strengthen or rebuild the levees. In addition, coastal land that would have protected New Orleans had been lost over time to commercial and residential development. In short, the flooding after Katrina was a human disaster, not a natural disaster.

Environmental Inequality and Environmental Racism

A second emphasis of environmental sociology is environmental inequality and the related concept of environmental racism . Environmental inequality (also called environmental injustice ) refers to the fact that low-income people and people of color are disproportionately likely to experience various environmental problems, while environmental racism refers just to the greater likelihood of people of color to experience these problems (Walker, 2012). The term environmental justice refers to scholarship on environmental inequality and racism and to public policy efforts and activism aimed at reducing these forms of inequality and racism. The Note 15.25 “Applying Social Research” box discusses some very significant scholarship on environmental racism.

Applying Social Research

Environmental Racism in the Land of Cotton

During the 1970s, people began to voice concern about the environment in the United States and across the planet. As research on the environment grew by leaps and bounds, some scholars and activists began to focus on environmental inequality in general and on environmental racism in particular. During the 1980s and 1990s, their research and activism spawned the environmental justice movement that has since shed important light on environmental inequality and racism and helped reduce these problems.

Research by sociologists played a key role in the beginning of the environmental justice movement and continues to play a key role today. Robert D. Bullard of Clark Atlanta University stands out among these sociologists for the impact of his early work in the 1980s on environmental racism in the South and for his continuing scholarship since then. He has been called “the father of environmental justice” and was named by Newsweek as one of the thirteen most influential environmental leaders of the twentieth century, along with environmental writer Rachel Carson, former vice president Al Gore, and ten others.

Bullard’s first research project on environmental racism began in the late 1970s after his wife, an attorney, filed a lawsuit on behalf of black residents in Atlanta who were fighting the placement of a landfill in their neighborhood. To collect data for the lawsuit, Bullard studied the placement of landfills in other areas. He found that every city-owned landfill in Houston was in a black neighborhood, even though African Americans amounted to only one-fourth of Houston residents at the time. He also found that three out of four privately owned landfills were in black neighborhoods, as were six of the eight city-owned incinerators. He extended his research to other locations and later recalled what he discovered: “Without a doubt, it was a form of apartheid where whites were making decisions and black people and brown people and people of color, including Native Americans on reservations, had no seat at the table.”

In 1990, Bullard published his findings in his book Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality . This book described the systematic placement in several Southern states of toxic waste sites, landfills, and chemical plants in communities largely populated by low-income residents and/or African Americans. Dumping in Dixie was the first book to examine environmental racism and is widely credited with helping advance the environmental justice movement. It received some notable awards, including the Conservation Achievement Award from the National Wildlife Federation.

More recently, Bullard, along with other sociologists and scholars from other disciplines, has documented the impact of race and poverty on the experience of New Orleans residents affected by the flooding after Hurricane Katrina. As in many other cities, African Americans and other low-income people largely resided in the lower elevations in New Orleans, and whites and higher-income people largely resided in the higher elevations. The flooding naturally had a much greater impact on the lower elevations and thus on African Americans and the poor. After the flood, African Americans seeking new housing in various real estate markets were more likely than whites to be told that no housing was available.

Bullard’s early work alerted the nation to environmental racism and helped motivate the Environmental Protection Agency in the 1990s to begin paying attention to it. His various research efforts are an outstanding example of how social research can increase understanding of a significant social problem.

Sources: Bullard, 1990; Bullard & Wright, 2009; Dicum, 2006

According to the American Sociological Association report mentioned earlier, the emphasis of environmental sociology on environmental inequality reflects the emphasis that the larger discipline of sociology places on social inequality: “A central finding of sociology is that unequal power dynamics shape patterns of social mobility and access to social, political, and economic resources” (Nagel et al., 2010, p. 17). The report adds that global climate change will have its greatest effects on the poorest nations: “Many of the countries least responsible for the rise in greenhouse gases will be most likely to feel its impacts in changes in weather, sea levels, health care costs, and economic hardships” (Nagel et al., 2010, p. 17).

Examples of environmental racism and inequality abound. Almost all the hazardous waste sites we discuss later in this chapter are located in or near neighborhoods and communities that are largely populated by low-income people and people of color. When factories dump dangerous chemicals into rivers and lakes, the people living nearby are very likely to be low-income and of color. Around the world, the people most affected by climate change and other environmental problems are those in poor nations and, even within those nations, those who are poorer rather than those who are wealthier.

Some evidence shows that although low-income people are especially likely to be exposed to environmental problems, this exposure is even more likely if they are people of color than if they are white. As a review of this evidence concluded, “It would be fair to summarize this body of work as showing that the poor and especially the nonwhite poor bear a disproportionate burden of exposure to suboptimal, unhealthy environmental conditions in the United States. Moreover, the more researchers scrutinize environmental exposure and health data for racial and income inequalities, the stronger the evidence becomes that grave and widespread environmental injustices have occurred throughout the United States” (Evans & Kantrowitz, 2002, p. 323).

As should be apparent from the discussion in this section, the existence of environmental inequality and environmental racism shows that social inequality in the larger society exposes some people much more than others to environmental dangers. This insight is one of the most important contributions of environmental sociology.

Global climate change is very likely to have its greatest impact on people in the poorest nations, even though these nations are the least responsible for greenhouse gases.

Hamed Saber – The Nomad’s Simple Life – CC BY 2.0.

Environmental Problems

To say that the world is in peril environmentally might sound extreme, but the world is in fact in peril. An overview of environmental problems will indicate the extent and seriousness of this problem.

Air pollution probably kills thousands of Americans every year and 2 million people across the planet.

Lei Han – Shanghai – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Air Pollution

Estimates of the annual number of US deaths from air pollution range from a low of 10,000 to a high of 60,000 (Reiman & Leighton, 2010). The worldwide toll is much greater, and the World Health Organization (2011) estimates that 1.3 million people across the globe die every year from air pollution.

These deaths stem from the health conditions that air pollution causes, including heart disease, lung cancer, and respiratory disease such as asthma. Most air pollution stems from the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal. This problem occurs not only in the wealthy industrial nations but also in the nations of the developing world; countries such as China and India have some of the worst air pollution. In developing nations, mortality rates of people in cities with high levels of particulate matter (carbon, nitrates, sulfates, and other particles) are 15–50 percent higher than the mortality rates of those in cleaner cities. In European countries, air pollution is estimated to reduce average life expectancy by 8.6 months. The World Health Organization (2011) does not exaggerate when it declares that air pollution “is a major environmental health problem affecting everyone in developed and developing countries alike.”

Pollution of many types especially harms children’s health. The Note 15.26 “Children and Our Future” box discusses this harm in greater detail.

Children and Our Future

Children and Environmental Health Hazards

As we consider environmental problems, we must not forget the world’s children, who are at special risk for environmental health problems precisely because they are children. Their bodies and brains grow rapidly, and they breathe in more air per pound of body weight than adults do. They also absorb substances, including toxic substances from their gastrointestinal tract faster than adults do.

These and other physiological differences all put children at greater risk than adults for harm from environmental health hazards. Children’s behavior also puts them at greater risk. For example, no adult of normal intelligence would eat paint chips found on the floor, but a young child can easily do so. Children also play on lawns, playgrounds, and other areas in which pesticides are often used, and this type of activity again gives them greater exposure. Young children also put their hands in their mouths regularly, and any toxins on their hands are thereby ingested.

Poverty compounds all these problems. Poor children are more likely to live in houses with lead paint, in neighborhoods with higher levels of air pollution, and in neighborhoods near to hazardous waste sites. Poor children of color are especially at risk for these environmental problems.

Three of the greatest environmental health hazards for children are lead, pesticides, and air pollution. Lead can cause brain and nervous system damage, hearing problems, and delayed growth among other effects; pesticides can cause various problems in the immune, neurological, and respiratory systems; and air pollution can cause asthma and respiratory illnesses. All these health problems can have lifelong consequences.

Unfortunately, certain environmentally induced health problems for children are becoming more common. For example, US children’s asthma cases have increased by more than 40 percent since 1980, and more than four hundred American children now have asthma. Two types of childhood cancer thought to stem at least partly from environmental hazards have also increased during the past two decades: acute lymphocytic by 10 percent and brain tumors by 30 percent.

It should be evident from this overview that environmental health hazards pose a serious danger for children in the United States and the rest of the world. Because children are our future, this danger underscores the need to do everything possible to improve the environment.

Source: Children’s Environmental Health Network, 2009

Global Climate Change

The burning of fossil fuels also contributes to global climate change , often called global warming , thanks to the oft-discussed greenhouse effect caused by the trapping of gases in the atmosphere that is turning the earth warmer, with a rise of almost 1°C during the past century. In addition to affecting the ecology of the earth’s polar regions and ocean levels throughout the planet, climate change threatens to produce a host of other problems, including increased disease transmitted via food and water, malnutrition resulting from decreased agricultural production and drought, a higher incidence of hurricanes and other weather disasters, and extinction of several species (Gillis & Foster, 2012; Zimmer, 2011). All these problems have been producing, and will continue to produce, higher mortality rates across the planet. The World Health Organization (2010) estimates that climate change causes more than 140,000 excess deaths worldwide annually.

Climate change is causing many problems, including weather disasters such as the one depicted here.

kakela – Hurricane Jeanne – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Another problem caused by climate change may be interpersonal violence and armed conflict (Agnew, 2012; Fisman & Miguel, 2010; Kristof, 2008), already discussed as a consequence of population growth. Historically, when unusual weather events have caused drought, flooding, or other problems, violence and armed conflict have resulted. For example, witch-burnings in medieval Europe accelerated when extremely cold weather ruined crops and witches were blamed for the problem. Economic problems from declining farm values are thought to have increased the lynchings of African Americans in the US South. As crops fail from global warming and reduced rainfall in the years ahead, African populations may plunge into civil war: According to an Oxford University economist, having a drought increases by 50 percent the chance that an African nation will have a civil war a year later (Kristof, 2008).

As we consider climate change, it is important to keep in mind certain inequalities mentioned earlier (McNall, 2011). First, the world’s richest nations contribute more than their fair share to climate change. The United States, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom compose 15 percent of the world’s population but are responsible for half of the planet’s carbon dioxide emissions. Second, the effects of climate change are more severe for poor nations than for rich nations. Africans, for example, are much less able than Americans to deal with the effects of drought, weather disasters, and the other problems caused by climate change.

Although almost all climate scientists believe that climate change is a serious problem and stems from human behavior, 28 percent of Americans in a November 2011 poll responded “no” when asked, “Is there solid evidence the earth is warming?” Another 18 percent said solid evidence does exist but that global warming is occurring because of “natural patterns” rather than “human activity.” Only 38 percent agreed with climate scientists’ belief that global warming exists and that it arises from human activity (Pew Research Center, 2011).

Overall, 63 percent of respondents agreed that solid evidence of global warming exists (leaving aside the question of why it is occurring). This figure differed sharply by political party preference, however: Whereas 77 percent of Democrats said solid evidence exists, only 43 percent of Republicans and 63 percent of Independents shared this opinion. Similarly, whereas 55 percent of Democrats said global warming is a “very serious” problem, only 14 percent of Republicans and 39 percent of Independents felt this way (Pew Research Center, 2011).

Water Pollution and Inadequate Sanitation

Water quality is also a serious problem. Drinking water is often unsafe because of poor sanitation procedures for human waste in poor nations and because of industrial discharge into lakes, rivers, and streams in wealthy nations. Inadequate sanitation and unsafe drinking water cause parasitic infections and diseases such as diarrhea, malaria, cholera, intestinal worms, typhoid, and hepatitis A. The World Health Organization estimates that unsafe drinking water and inadequate sanitation cause the following number of annual deaths worldwide: (a) 2.5 million deaths from diarrhea, including 1.4 million child deaths from diarrhea; (b) 500,000 deaths from malaria; and (c) 860,000 child deaths from malnutrition. At least 200 million more people annually suffer at least one of these serious diseases due to inadequate sanitation and unsafe drinking water (Cameron, Hunter, Jagals, & Pond, 2011; Prüss-Üstün, Bos, Gore, & Bartram, 2008).

Nuclear Power

Nuclear power has been an environmental controversy at least since the 1970s. Proponents of nuclear power say it is a cleaner energy than fossil fuels such as oil and coal and does not contribute to global warming. Opponents of nuclear power counter that nuclear waste is highly dangerous no matter how it is disposed, and they fear meltdowns that can result if nuclear power plant cores overheat and release large amounts of radioactive gases into the atmosphere.

The most serious nuclear plant disaster involved the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine in 1986. Chernobyl’s core exploded and released radioactive gases into the atmosphere that eventually spread throughout Europe. The amount of radiation released was four hundred times greater than the amount released by the atomic bomb that devastated Hiroshima at the end of World War II. About five-dozen people (Chernobyl workers or nearby residents) soon died because of the disaster. Because radiation can cause cancer and other health problems that take years to develop, scientists have studied the health effects of the Chernobyl disaster for the last quarter-century. According to the United Nations Scientific Committee of the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), an estimated 27,000 additional cancer deaths worldwide will eventually result from the Chernobyl disaster (Gronlund, 2011).

Seven years earlier in March 1979, a nuclear disaster almost occurred in the United States at the Three Mile Island plant in central Pennsylvania. A series of technological and human failures allowed the plant’s core to overheat to almost disastrous levels. The nation held its breath for several days while officials sought to bring the problem under control. During this time, some 140,000 people living within twenty miles of the plant were evacuated. The near disaster severely weakened enthusiasm for nuclear power in the United States, and the number of new nuclear plants dropped sharply in the ensuing two decades (Fischer, 1997).

Japan was the site of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in March 2011, when an earthquake and tsunami seriously damaged a nuclear plant in the Fukushima region, 155 miles north of Tokyo. More than 80,000 residents had to be evacuated because of the massive release of radioactive gases and water, and they remained far from their homes a year later as high levels of radiation continued to be found in the evacuated area. A news report on the anniversary of the disaster described the desolation that remained: “What’s most striking about Japan’s nuclear exclusion zone is what you don’t see. There are no people, few cars, no sign of life, aside from the occasional livestock wandering empty roads. Areas once home to 80,000 people are now ghost towns, frozen in time. Homes ravaged from the powerful earthquake that shook this region nearly a year ago remain virtually untouched. Collapsed roofs still block narrow streets. Cracked roads make for a bumpy ride” (Fujita, 2012). It will take at least thirty years to fully decommission the damaged reactors at Fukushima. The news report said, “This nuclear wasteland may not be livable for decades” (Fujita, 2012).

In February 2012, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a study that said the risk from nuclear power accidents in the United States was “very small.” If an accident should occur, the NRC concluded, plant operators would have time to cool down reactor cores and prevent or reduce the emission of radiation (DiSavino, 2012). However, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is more concerned about this risk (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2011). It says that several US reactors are of the same design as the Fukushima reactors and thus potentially at risk for a similar outcome if damaged by an earthquake. According to the UCS, “If [these reactors] were confronted with a similar challenge, it would be foolish to assume the outcome would not also be similar.” It adds that although earthquakes can cause fires at reactors, US plants routinely violate fire protection standards. A news report on the similarities between US nuclear power plants and the Fukushima plant reached a similar conclusion, noting that US nuclear power plants “share some or all of the risk factors that played a role at Fukushima” (Zeller, 2011).

Critics say many US nuclear plants lack adequate protection against several kinds of dangers.

James Marvin Phelps – Nuclear Wetlands – CC BY-NC 2.0.

As this conclusion implies, nuclear power critics say NRC oversight of the nuclear industry is too lax. A 2011 investigation by the Associated Press (AP) yielded support for this criticism (Donn, 2011). The AP found that the NRC has been “working closely with the nuclear power industry to keep the nation’s aging reactors operating within safety standards by repeatedly weakening those standards or simply failing to enforce them.” The report continued, “Time after time, officials at the [NRC] have decided that original regulations were too strict, arguing that safety margins could be eased without peril.” For example, when certain valves at nuclear plants leaked, the NRC revised its regulations to permit more leakage. Also, when cracking of steam generator tubes allowed radiation to leak, standards on tubing strength were weakened. And when reactors began to violate temperature standards, the NRC almost doubled the permitted temperatures. The investigation found “thousands” of problems in aging reactors that it said the NRC have simply ignored, and it concluded that a “cozy relationship” exists between the NRC and the nuclear industry.

A retired NRC engineer interviewed by the AP agreed that his former employer too often accommodated the nuclear industry by concluding that existing regulations are overly stringent. “That’s what they say for everything, whether that’s the case or not,” the engineer said. “They say ‘We have all this built-in conservatism.’”

Ground Pollution and Hazardous Waste

Pollution of the air and water is an environmental danger, as we saw earlier, but so is pollution of the ground from hazardous waste. Hazardous wastes are unwanted materials or byproducts that are potentially toxic. If discarded improperly, they enter the ground and/or bodies of water and eventually make their way into the bodies of humans and other animals and/or harm natural vegetation.

Love Canal, an area in Niagara Falls, New York, was the site of chemical dumping that led to many birth defects and other health problems.

Wikimedia Commons – public domain.

Two major sources of hazardous waste exist: (1) commercial products such as pesticides, cleaning fluids, and certain paints, batteries, and electronics and (2) byproducts of industrial operations such as solvents and wastewater. Hazardous waste enters the environment through the careless actions of homeowners and other consumers, and also through the careless actions of major manufacturing corporations. It can cause birth defects, various chronic illnesses and conditions, and eventual death.

Sometimes companies have dumped so much hazardous waste into a specific location that they create hazardous waste sites . These sites are defined as parcels of land and water that have been contaminated by the dumping of dangerous chemicals into the ground by factories and other industrial operations. The most famous (or rather, infamous) hazardous waste site in the United States is undoubtedly Love Canal, an area in a corner of Niagara Falls, New York. During the 1940s and 1950s, a chemical company dumped 20,000 tons of toxic chemicals into the canal and then filled it in with dirt and sold it for development to the local school board. A school and more than eight hundred homes, many of them low income, were later built just near the site. The chemicals eventually leached into the groundwater, yards, and basements of the homes, reportedly causing birth defects and other health problems. (See Note 15.27 “People Making a Difference” .)

People Making a Difference

In Praise of Two Heroic Women

In the annals of activism against hazardous waste dumping, two women stand out for their contributions.

One was Lois Gibbs, who led a movement of residents of Love Canal to call attention to the dumping of hazardous waste in their neighborhood, as just discussed in the text. Gibbs had never been politically active before 1978, when evidence of the dumping first came to light. After reading a newspaper article about the dumping, she began a petition to shut down a local school that was next to the dump site. Her efforts generated a good deal of publicity and prompted state officials to perform environmental tests in the homes near the site. Two years later the federal government authorized funding to relocate 660 families from the dangerous area. Gibbs later wrote, “It will take a massive effort to move society from corporate domination, in which industry’s rights to pollute and damage health and the environment supersede the public’s right to live, work, and play in safety. This is a political fight. The science is already there, showing that people’s health is at risk. To win, we will need to keep building the movement, networking with one another, planning, strategizing, and moving forward. Our children’s futures, and those of their unborn children, are at stake.”

The second woman was Erin Brockovich, the subject of a 2000 film of that name starring Julia Roberts. Brockovich also was not politically active before she discovered hazardous waste dumping while she was working as a legal assistant for a small California law firm. As part of her work on a real estate case, she uncovered evidence that Pacific Gas & Electric had been dumping a toxic industrial solvent for thirty years into the water supply of the small town of Hinkley. Her investigation led to a lawsuit that ended in 1996 with the awarding of $333 million in damages to several hundred Hinkley residents.

Both Lois Gibbs and Erin Brockovich have remained active on behalf of environmental safety in the years since their celebrated initial efforts. They are two heroic women who have made a very significant difference.

Sources: Brockovich, 2010; Gibbs, 1998

The Superfund program of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), begun about thirty years ago, monitors and cleans up hazardous waste sites throughout the country. Since its inception, the Superfund program has identified and taken steps to address more than 1,300 hazardous waste sites. About 11 million people live within one mile of one of these sites.

The world’s oceans are at peril for several reasons, with “potentially dire impacts for hundreds of millions of people across the planet,” according to a news report (ScienceDaily, 2010). A major reason is that overfishing of fish and mammals has dramatically reduced the supply of certain ocean animals. This reduction certainly makes it difficult for people to eat certain fishes at restaurants or buy them at supermarkets, but a far more important problem concerns the ocean food chain (Weise, 2011). As the supply of various ocean animals has dwindled, the food supply for the larger ocean animals that eat these smaller animals has declined, putting the larger animals at risk. And as the number of these larger animals has declined, other animals that prey on these larger animals have had to turn to other food sources or not have enough to eat. This chain reaction in the ocean food chain has serious consequences for the ocean’s ecosystem.

One example of this chain reaction involves killer whales and sea otters in the ocean off of western Alaska (Weise, 2011). Killer whales eat many things, but sea lions and harbor seals form a key part of their diet. However, the supply of these ocean mammals in western Alaska and elsewhere has decreased because of human overfishing of their prey fish species. In response, killer whales have been eating more sea otters, causing a 90 percent decline in the number of sea otters in western Alaska. Because sea otters eat sea urchins, the loss of sea otters in turn has increased the number of sea urchins there. And because sea urchins consume kelp beds, kelp beds there are disappearing, removing a significant source of food for other ocean life (Estes et al., 2011).

Another example of the ocean chain reaction concerns whales themselves. The whaling industry that began about 1,000 years ago and then intensified during the eighteenth century severely reduced the number of whales and made right whales almost extinct. In southern oceans, whale feces are an important source of nutrients for very small animals and plankton. As the whale population in these oceans has declined over the centuries, these animals and plankton that are essential for the ocean’s ecosystem have suffered immeasurable losses (Weise, 2011).

Bycatch. In addition to overfishing, bycatch , or the unintentional catching and killing of fish, marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds while other fish are being caught, also endangers hundreds of ocean species and further contributes to the chain reaction we have described. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2012) says that bycatch “can have significant social, environmental, and economic impacts.” It costs the fishing industry much time and money, it threatens many ocean species, and it endangers the ocean’s ecosystem.

A familiar bycatch example to many Americans is the accidental catching and killing of dolphins when tuna are being caught by large fishing nets. A less familiar example involves sea turtles. These animals’ numbers have declined so steeply in recent decades that six of the seven species of sea turtles are in danger of extinction. The major reason for this danger is bycatch from shrimp trawl nets and other types of fishing. This bycatch has killed millions of sea turtles since 1990 (Viegas, 2010).

Climate change. Other ocean problems stem from climate change. The oceans’ coral reefs are among the most colorful and beautiful sights in the world. More important, they are an essential source of nutrients for the oceans’ ecosystem and a major source of protein for 500 million people. They help protect shorelines from natural disasters such as tsunamis, and they attract tens of billions of dollars in tourism.

The decline of the whale population due to the whaling industry threatens the world’s supply of plankton and other very small marine animals.

Denis Hawkins – Whale breaching at Jervis Bay – CC BY-ND 2.0.

Despite all these benefits, coral reefs have long been endangered by overfishing, tourism, and coastal development, among other factors. Scientists have now found that climate change is also harming coral reefs (Rudolf, 2011). The global warming arising from climate change is overheating coral reefs throughout the world. This overheating in turn causes the reefs to expel the algae they consume for food; the algae are also responsible for the reefs’ bright colors. The reefs then turn pale and die, and their deaths add to the ocean’s food chain problem already discussed. Scientists estimate that three-fourths of the earth’s reefs are at risk from global warming, and that one-fifth of all reefs have already been destroyed. They further estimate that almost all reefs will be at risk by 2050.

Global warming will continue to be a main culprit in this regard, but so will increasing acidity, yet another problem arising from climate change. As carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, much of it falls into the ocean. This lowers the oceans’ pH level and turns the oceans more acidic. This increasing acidity destroys coral reefs and also poses a risk to commercial species such as clams, lobsters, and mussels.

An additional ocean problem stemming from climate change is rising sea levels (Daley, 2011). Global warming has caused polar ice caps to melt and the seas to rise. This problem means that storm surges during severe weather are becoming an ever-greater problem. Even without storm surges, much coastal land has already been lost to rising ocean levels. Despite these problems, many coastal communities have failed to build adequate barriers that would minimize damage from ocean flooding.

This chapter discussed food shortages earlier as a population problem, but food can also be an environmental hazard. Simply put, food is often unsafe to eat. In 2011, at least 31 Europeans died from a rare strain of E. coli, a deadly bacterium, and more than 3,000 became very ill; the culprit was contaminated bean sprouts (CNN, 2011). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 325,000 Americans are hospitalized annually because of illnesses contracted from contaminated food, and 5,000 Americans die each year from these illnesses (Kristof, 2011).

The deadly bacteria at fault often result from improper handling and other activities related to growing livestock and processing food. But they also result from the fact that livestock are routinely given antibiotics to keep them healthy despite the crowded and often dirty conditions in which they live. However, this wide use of antibiotics allows bacteria resistant to antibiotics to grow. When humans contract illnesses from these bacteria, antibiotics do not relieve the illnesses (Kristof, 2012).

One journalist pointed out the obvious problem: “We would never think of trying to keep our children healthy by adding antibiotics to school water fountains, because we know this would breed antibiotic-resistant bacteria. It’s unconscionable that Big Ag [Big Agriculture] does something similar for livestock” (Kristof, 2011, p. WK10). A member of the US House of Representatives who is also a microbiologist agreed: “These statistics tell the tale of an industry that is rampantly misusing antibiotics in an attempt to cover up filthy, unsanitary living conditions among animals. As they feed antibiotics to animals to keep them healthy, they are making our families sicker by spreading these deadly strains of bacteria” (Kristof, 2011, p. WK10).

Key Takeaways

• Environmental problems are largely the result of human behavior and human decision making. Changes in human activity and decision making are thus necessary to improve the environment.
• Environmental inequality and environmental racism are significant issues. Within the United States and around the world, environmental problems are more often found where poor people and people of color reside.
• Air pollution, global climate change, water pollution and inadequate sanitation, and hazardous waste are major environmental problems that threaten the planet.

For Your Review

• Pretend you are on a debate team and that your team is asked to argue in favor of the following resolution: Be it resolved, that air and water pollution is primarily the result of reckless human behavior rather than natural environmental changes. Using evidence from the text, write a two-minute speech (about three hundred words) in favor of the resolution.
• How much of the environmental racism that exists do you think is intentional? Explain your answer.
• List one thing you did yesterday that was good for the environment and one thing that was bad for the environment.

Agnew, R. (2012). Dire forecast: A theoretical model of the impact of climate change on crime. Theoretical Criminology, 16 , 21–42.

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Cameron, J., Hunter, P., Jagals, P., & Pond, K. (Eds.). (2011). Valuing water, valuing livelihoods . London, United Kingdom: World Health Organization.

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CNN. (2011, June 10). E. coli death toll rises to 31; sprouts traced to trash in home. CNN World . Retrieved from http://articles.cnn.com/2011-06-10/world/europe.e.coli_1_coli-outbreak-sprouts-german-health?_s=PM:WORLD .

Daley, B. (2011, April 3). Fighting a losing battle with the sea. Boston.com . Retrieved from http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2011/04/03/fighting_a_losing_battle_with_the_sea .

Dicum, G. (2006, March 14). Meet Robert Bullard, the father of environmental justice. Grist Magazine . Retrieved from http://www.grist.org/article/dicum .

DiSavino, S. (2012, February 1). Nuclear accidents pose little risk to health: NRC. Reuters . Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/01/us-utilities-nuclear-accidentstudy-idUSTRE8101ZA20120201 .

Donn, J. (2011, June 20). As nuclear plants age, NRC loosens safety regulations. The Boston Globe , p. A2.

Estes, J. A., Terborgh, J., Brashares, J. S., Power, M. E., Berger, J., Bond, W. J., et al. (2011). Trophic downgrading of planet Earth. Science, 333 (6040), 301–306.

Evans, G. W., & Kantrowitz, E. (2002). Socioeconomic status and health: The potential role of environmental risk exposure. Annual Review of Public Health, 23 (1), 303.

Fischer, D. (1997). History of the International Atomic Energy Agency: The first forty years . Vienna, Austria: Internatinal Atomic Energy Agency.

Fisman, R., & Miguel, E. (2010). Economic gangsters: Corruption, violence, and the poverty of nations . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Fountain, H. (2010, June 15). Documents show risky decisions before BP blowout. New York Times , p. A1.

Fujita, A. (2012, February 6). Japan’s nuclear exclusion zone shows few signs of life. ABC News . Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/International/fukushimas-nuclear-exclusion-zone-shows-signs-life/story?id=15521091#.TzFSXONSRyc .

Gibbs, L. M. (1998). Learning from Love Canal: A 20th anniversary retrospective. Retrieved February 8, 2012, from http://arts.envirolink.org/arts_and_activism/LoisGibbs.html .

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Gronlund, L. (2011). How many cancers did Chernobyl really cause?—updated version . Cambridge, MA: Union of Concerned Scientists.

King, L., & McCarthy, D. (Eds.). (2009). Environmental sociology: From analysis to action (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Kristof, N. (2012, April 5). Arsenic in our chicken? New York Times , p. A23.

Kristof, N. D. (2008, April 13). Extended forecast: Bloodshed. New York Times . Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/opinion/13kristof.html .

Kristof, N. D. (2011, June 12). When food kills. New York Times , p. WK10.

McCarthy, D., & King, L. (2009). Introduction: Environmental problems require social solutions. In L. King & D. McCarthy (Eds.), Environmental Sociology: From Analysis to Action (2nd ed., pp. 1–22). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

McNall, S. G. (2011). Rapid climate change: Causes, consequences, and solutions . New York, NY: Routledge.

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Social Problems Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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The Person in Environment

Learning objectives:.

• Explore the Person in Environment Approach
• Describe the Micro, Mezzo, and Macro Approach
• Describe the Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual Approach
• Describe Systems Theory
• Describe Ecological Theory
• Describe Ecosystems Theory
• Introduce Strengths Perspective

Jason’s parents have been called by the school social worker to discuss concerns related to fighting with a peer and declining grades.  His parents also report concerns at home with poor sibling relationships, anger issues, and “a bad attitude, always talking back, never listening or doing what we ask him to do”. They report a long family history of substance abuse and mental health issues (anxiety and depression). They report increased concerns related to this as they recently found marijuana in Jason’s room. Jason (14 y/o) reports “My parents don’t know what they’re talking about. My little brother and sister just get me in trouble because I don’t let them touch my stuff, besides, my parents don’t care, they don’t listen to me, they just want me to do what they say. And I don’t see what the big deal is with me smoking a little weed, it helps me feel better and not be so mad all the time.”

What comes to mind when you hear Person-In-Environment?

This approach is the concept that people can be heavily influenced by their environment. It highlights the importance of understanding an individual and their behavior through their environment. A person’s environment, along with their experiences, will help shape the way they view the world, how they think, and why they respond the way they do. In Social Work, gathering information from our clients is a foundation piece of the work we do and knowing what information to seek and how to organize it is like gathering pieces of a puzzle and working to put them together to get the whole picture (or at least as much of it as we can). This lesson will begin to introduce some particular approaches, perspectives, and theories that help build the lens and foundation of the Social Work profession.

Micro, Mezzo, and Macro

We will first start with the Micro, Mezzo, and Macro Approach . This is simply looking at levels within a person’s system, which will help give you some direction in what supports may be needed.

The Micro-level represents individual needs and involves direct interactions with clients, which is the most common type of social work. This level explores aspects related to biology, psychological needs, social (peer) and interpersonal (family) relationships or supports, and spiritual beliefs.

Jason’s micro level – Biologically no physical health issues have been reported but some concerns may be related to how use of marijuana may affect his physical health. He is an adolescent which means his body continues to experience hormonal and physical changes. Family reports history of substance abuse issues as well as struggles with mental health issues, which may indicate possible genetic connections to be explored. This may also be connected to psychological needs as he may be experiencing anxiety or depressive symptoms or if he reports use of marijuana as a coping mechanism. He is also reported to present with anger, fighting with his siblings and struggling with strained family relationships. This connects us to social aspects, exploring how he identifies his relationships and supports. No spiritual beliefs were reported in the vignette but would need to be explored when meeting with Jason.

The Mezzo-level represents connections or interactions with small groups, such as family, schools, churches, neighborhoods, community organizations, and peers/co-workers.

The Macro-level represents connections to systemic issues within large systems, such as laws/legislation, policy, healthcare systems, and international associations. This level also explores ethical frameworks, historical impacts of group experiences, and how discrimination and prejudice can impact marginalized populations.

It is important to remember to explore the interconnectedness and interactions between what information is presenting on each level for the person and how this may have an impact on their functioning and development within their environment.

Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual

The Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual Approach assesses levels of functioning within biological, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions (and how they are connected) to help understand human behavior. This approach includes much of the same information you will find in the Micro level but we are wanting to take a deeper look at how the individual is functioning in each dimension as well as how they can impact one another.

The Biological component includes aspects related to overall health, physical abilities, weight, diet, lifestyle, medication/substance use, gender, and genetic connections/vulnerabilities.

Jason’s biological aspects  – No concerns with overall physical health, developmental aspects of adolescence need to be considered, substance use concerns and impacts, identifies as male, and possible genetic connections/vulnerabilities (substance abuse, anxiety, depression, or any other family history of concern).

The Psychological component includes aspects related to mental health, self-esteem, attitudes/beliefs, temperament, coping skills, emotions, learning, memory, perceptions, and personality.

The Social component includes aspects related to peer and family relationships, social supports, cultural traditions, education, employment/job security, socioeconomic status, and societal messages.

Jason’s social aspects  – Strained family relationships, school relationships/educational supports, exploration of socioeconomic impacts, exploration of cultural traditions, and identification/exploration of peer relationships and supports.

The Spiritual component includes aspects related to spiritual or religious beliefs, or belief in a “higher being” or higher power they feel connected to or supported by.

Looking at each dimension of the Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual Approach allows you to engage in a more holistic exploration and assessment of a person as it examines and connects four important domains of their life.

Systems Theory

Systems Theory states behavior is influenced by a result of factors that work together as a system and are interconnected – each part plays an important role in the function of the whole, and the whole in turn supports and sustains the parts. A person’s family, friends, school, work, economic class, home environment, and other factors all influence how a person thinks and acts. A social worker must observe and assess all of the systems a person experiences, as they contribute to their behavior and well-being, and work to strengthen those systems as they are connected and influence one another. This is used to develop a holistic view of individuals within their environment, which is then used to lead to the most appropriate practice intervention.

Within Systems Theory we will also explore roles (routine tasks and behaviors of people within a system). We all have roles and engage in them whether we recognize it or not. Some examples of roles are leader, caretaker, parent, child, sibling, enabler, scapegoat, citizen, spouse, and worker. Many people feel their roles identify them. This may reinforce behaviors when positive feelings or experiences are associated with the role(s) or maybe a motivator for change when the role(s) are connected to more negative feelings or experiences. Knowing what roles a person is engaged in, and how they perceive each role, will support your work in understanding their experiences and what needs are presenting.

Ecological Theory

Ecological Theory focuses on the interaction between the individual and their environment. It discusses the active involvement of people with their environments and development as well as both (environment/development) continuously changing.

“Thoughts become perception, Perception becomes reality. Alter your thoughts, Alter your reality.” ~ William James

An important reminder of this theory is to remember the importance of perception – how people perceive or interpret their environment and experiences influences their overall functioning or well-being. This is also regardless of how problems or concerns may appear to the social worker. You will need to explore how the client views their situation before assuming certain situations are problematic. We need to try and see it through their eyes and get an understanding of how they were feeling. It is their story and their reality. In social work practice, this can best be understood by looking at individuals, families, policies, communities, and cultures and identifying strengths and weaknesses in the transactional processes between the systems.

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Model used to explore Ecosystems Theory :

https://www.slideshare.net/CLMontecarlo/bronfenbrenner-ecological-theory-54149823

Bronfenbrenner believed an individual’s development was affected by everything in their surrounding environment and divided the environment into five different levels: the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystem.

The microsystem is the system closest to the individual and the one in which they have direct interactions. Some examples include home, school, or work. A microsystem typically includes family, peers, or caregivers. Relationships in a microsystem are bi-directional, meaning, how you respond and react to the people will affect their response and reaction to you. This is the most influential level within the theory.

The mesosystem is where a person’s individual microsystems are interconnected and influence one another. These interactions have an indirect impact on the individual, which can be positive or negative depending on the elements of the system working together (positive) or working against each other (negative).

The exosystem refers to a setting in which the person is not an active participant, but still affects them. This includes decisions that affect a person, but they have no decision-making abilities. An example of this would be a child affected by a parent losing a job.

The macrosystem is the cultural environment in which the person lives and all other systems that affect them such as economy, cultural values, and political systems.

The chronosystem encompasses transitions and shifts throughout a person’s life. It looks at the timing of the event in relation to a person’s development, such as how death affects children of different ages. Historical events that occur during a person’s life are also explored such as the impacts of the September 11th attacks.

Jason’s story – With use of Systems Theory, we will want to look at aspects of micro, mezzo, and macro levels as well as bio-psycho-social-spiritual dimensions above and how they interact and influence one another. Here we will also explore what roles Jason feels he engages in (son, brother, student, friend) as well as roles he may not recognize or identify (leader, caretaker (if he is asked to help with caring for younger siblings), or role model). We will also want to explore how Jason perceives each role (positive or negative) to gain a better understanding of his experience and work in supporting his needs. With use of Ecological Theory, we add the addition of looking at how development and environment continue to grow and change, and how this continues to impact our clients as they engage within their systems.  Ecosystems Theory takes from both Systems Theory and Ecological Theory, combining major tenets from each and providing us the opportunity to look deeper into the complexity of each network a client experiences and gain a better understanding of how they interact and impact one another. 

Strengths Perspective

A foundational perspective of Social Work is the Strengths Perspective . All people have strengths and abilities that allow them to grow and adapt. This perspective takes the focus off the problem and allows us to identify ways for clients to use their strengths in achieving their goals. Clients are seen as the experts of their experiences. We utilize their insights to explore times of resiliency and partner with them to identify supports and solutions and help support their ability to grow. It is also important to remember to evaluate the environment for possible barriers and impacts while assessing needs and strengths.

https://youtu.be/KCPC6BSSIX4

Jason’s Strengths – Family support, both biological parents in home and still together, awareness of family history, school supports, able bodied, no developmental delays reported (but should be explored if any concerns connected to this), has found a coping skills (even if it is not the most appropriate way, he is engaging in some self regulation work), and was able to engage with the school Social Worker during their meeting instead of remaining closed off and refusing to speak.

What other strengths can you identify? 

How would you work to explore and identify strengths with Jason?

Exploration of Strengths : The following link will discuss strengths based practice values and explore the 5 types of questions Dennis Saleebey (University of Kansas, a pioneer in developing and promoting Strengths Based Practice)  suggests to use to help assess strengths of our clients. The example questions have a focus on parental interactions but the examples and ideas can be expanded to working with any client population.

http://www.preventconnect.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Strength-based-questions.pdf

Please continue on to Chapter 1: How We Use Our Expectations to explore more about our expectations, judgments, responses, and biases.

Key Takeaways:

• Think about a person’s whole experience. What does that encompass? Childhood? Family? Friends? What else comes to mind?
• We need to look at their experiences at each level and within different systems, as well as how they interact, to get the whole picture (Person in Environment).
• The Strength’s Perspective is a foundational perspective in the field of Social Work. It states all people have strengths and often times these strengths can be found within their struggles.

References:

The Audiopedia. (2017, May 1).  What is STRENGTH-BASED PRACTICE? What does STRENGTH-BASED PRACTICE mean? [Video file]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCPC6BSSIX4

Human Behavior and the Social Environment I Copyright © 2020 by Susan Tyler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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The Impact of the Social Environment on Self-Identity Essay

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By definition, sociology is the study of society, its processes, foundations, components, and other aspects. However, this simple understanding of the term is not enough: after all, society is also studied by other sciences, such as history, law, demography. The chapter shows that, in contrast to them, sociology considers society as an integral system of the functioning of social communities. It studies the relations that exist between these communities, and also investigates and explains the behavior of people in society. Sociology explores social norms, values, roles, statuses, preferences, public opinion, and many other phenomena that make up what people call social life.

On the other hand, society should be understood not simply as a mechanical sum of people but as a form of their association, suggesting that they have common interests and values. Moreover, society defines and reflects our life experiences – especially our experiences with the people around us. It manifests itself in the decisions and choices we make, in our actions and inactions, in the rules that govern our behavior at school, home, and work. We all live in society but at the same time society lives in us in the form of ideas about how everyday life works, what is a fair social order, how to treat inequalities. It manifests in our minds in the form of expectations about how others around us will behave and in the form of our own supposed reactions to their behavior.

The society around me influenced my development heavily, especially my formative years. For example, I grew up around people who strongly upheld gender stereotypes, allocating certain characteristics to being a boy or being a girl. They viewed those who did not fit their “assigned” gender image as deviants and “people who are violating the laws of nature.” This has influenced my views on non-binary and transgendered people, and for a long time, I did not understand them at all. Only when I left my childhood circle and began meeting new people, some of which were gender-non-conforming, I started to question my views and reshaping them using new knowledge from the internet and my friends. Moreover, I also reflected a lot on my own gender identity, becoming more comfortable with parts of me I previously denied or resented.

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IvyPanda. (2023, November 23). The Impact of the Social Environment on Self-Identity. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-impact-of-the-social-environment-on-self-identity/

"The Impact of the Social Environment on Self-Identity." IvyPanda , 23 Nov. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/the-impact-of-the-social-environment-on-self-identity/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'The Impact of the Social Environment on Self-Identity'. 23 November.

IvyPanda . 2023. "The Impact of the Social Environment on Self-Identity." November 23, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-impact-of-the-social-environment-on-self-identity/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Impact of the Social Environment on Self-Identity." November 23, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-impact-of-the-social-environment-on-self-identity/.

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IvyPanda . "The Impact of the Social Environment on Self-Identity." November 23, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-impact-of-the-social-environment-on-self-identity/.

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Human behavior as a complex phenomenon

Human behavior is a complex phenomenon that is shaped by a variety of factors, including genetics, culture, and individual experiences. However, one of the most significant influences on human behavior is the social environment in which individuals live. The social environment refers to the conditions, circumstances, and interactions that individuals experience within their social context, including their family, community, and broader society.

The social environment has a profound impact on human behavior, as it shapes the way that individuals think, feel, and act in social situations. For example, individuals who grow up in supportive and nurturing families are more likely to develop positive social skills and relationships, while those who experience neglect or abuse may struggle with social interactions and have difficulty forming healthy relationships.

Similarly, the social environment can influence the way that individuals view themselves and others. For instance, individuals who grow up in communities that value diversity and inclusivity are more likely to develop positive attitudes towards people from different backgrounds, while those who live in communities that are more homogenous may be more likely to hold negative stereotypes and biases.

The social environment can also impact human behavior through the norms and expectations that are established within a given community. These norms and expectations can influence the way that individuals perceive and respond to different situations, as well as the values and beliefs that they hold. For example, individuals who grow up in communities that prioritize academic achievement may be more motivated to excel in school, while those who live in communities that prioritize athletic ability may be more likely to pursue sports and physical activity.

In addition to shaping individual behavior, the social environment can also have broader societal impacts. For example, communities that prioritize social justice and equity may be more likely to advocate for policies and practices that promote equality and fairness, while those that prioritize individualism and competition may be more likely to support policies that benefit the wealthy and powerful.

Overall, the social environment is a critical factor in shaping human behavior and plays a central role in determining the attitudes, values, and behaviors that individuals develop over time. Understanding the ways in which the social environment impacts human behavior is essential for creating healthy and supportive communities that foster positive social interactions, promote social justice and equity, and enhance overall well-being.

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What is human behavior?

Human behavior refers to the range of actions, reactions, and interactions exhibited by individuals and groups in response to their environment and social context.

What factors influence human behavior?

Human behavior is influenced by a wide range of factors including genetics, upbringing, cultural norms, social structures, personal experiences, and environmental factors such as economic conditions and access to resources.

What is a social environment?

Social environment refers to the physical, cultural, and economic conditions in which people live and interact with one another. It includes factors such as social structures, cultural norms, and economic systems.

How does social environment impact human behavior?

Social environment plays a significant role in shaping human behavior by influencing the beliefs, values, and attitudes of individuals and groups. It can also affect access to resources, opportunities, and social support, which can impact behavior in a variety of ways.

What are some examples of social structures that impact human behavior?

Social structures such as family, religion, government, and economic systems can impact human behavior by shaping social norms, values, and expectations. For example, a culture that values individualism may encourage people to pursue personal success and achievement, while a culture that values collectivism may focus more on social harmony and cooperation.

What is the relationship between human behavior and social change?

Human behavior can both drive and respond to social change. Changes in social structures, norms, and values can impact behavior, while individual and collective actions can also shape the social environment and bring about change.

How can understanding human behavior and social environment help address social problems?

Understanding human behavior and social environment can help identify the root causes of social problems and inform effective strategies for addressing them. By considering the complex interplay between individual behavior and broader social structures, it is possible to develop more holistic and effective solutions to social challenges.

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How Social Environments Shape Behavior

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We live in a great moment in the history of social psychology, because we're discovering things every day about how our environments, our social environments, shape our behavior. And one thing you can do when you understand what's shaping your behavior is take control. Think about whether you really want to be shaped in those ways, and whether you can do something to stop yourself being pushed in directions you don't want to be pushed in.

So I think there's a huge amount to be learned by looking at modern social psychology. And one of the things about most of the great experiments about social psychology is actually they're designed by people with a great narrative imagination. They design these wonderful experiments, which make good stories.

One of my favorite is about students of the Princeton Theological Seminary. I believe this experiment was done by Danny Kahneman and some of his colleagues. And what they did was-- they had these students who were studying the story of the Good Samaritan, and they were preparing a sermon on it. And the path from where they were studying this to where they were going to give the sermon went by a derelict person lying in the doorway, looking as though he needed help.

A perfect Good Samaritan situation. Theological students. What happens? What predicts whether they'll stop? Turns out it's not whether they've been thinking about the Good Samaritan. What predicts whether they stop is whether you say to them before they leave, "You're late." If you tell them they're late, these theology students, these people who've been thinking about the Good Samaritan, don't do the Good Samaritan thing. And they go and give their sermon about the Good Samaritan, right?

If you tell them you're not in a hurry, then they stop, right? So they haven't, as it were-- it seems to me-- they haven't learned the moral lesson that they've been thinking deeply about and that they're professionally committed to. Well, once you know that whether you are going to do what you should for strangers can depend on something like whether you feel you're in a hurry, you can ask yourself the question when you see a stranger need of help, "Am I really in that much of a hurry?" And this sort of experiment shows you, teaches you, that sort of thing.

Here's a great experiment. You take two lots of people. One lot are standing outside a bakery with beautiful smells of croissants in the air. And the other lot are standing outside what in the literature is called a dry goods store. Something where there's no odors.

You go up to the people outside the bakery and you say, "I have a buck. I need some quarters to park my car." They give it to you. You go to people outside the dry goods store, they don't. And it's a huge difference. People are 10 times as likely to give it to you. The conclusion?

The thing that we think we should do, right? We all think that if you've got four quarters and a person needs four quarters, a decent person will give them the change. Whether you do the thing that you think, in theory, you ought to do just depends on whether you're in a good mood. If you're in a good mood, because you've got these pleasant smells in the air, you'll behave as you think you should.

And if you're in a normal mood, not a lousy mood, just a normal mood, you won't. I think that that experiment reminds us of our deep sensitivity to features of our environment that have nothing to do with what's morally important.

I don't want to be naive about the difficulty of taking these highly stylized results from carefully constructed experimental situations and applying them in the real world. Both for the reason that I've already said, which is that, as it were, if this is evidence about how we are, then knowing how we are doesn't stop us being that way. So we can't just change our natures because someone told us something about them. But also because the real world is extremely complicated. And the actual psychologies of actual people in actual circumstances of moral crisis are very complicated. And lots of things are going on. Not just one thing is going on.

So the genius of a great experiment is to abstract from the messy reality of our lives a sort of very abstractly characterized, simple situation, and study it. How you put the complexity back in? That's very, very hard. And I do not mean to think, to imply that it's easy, but I do think that we have to try.

How to Cite This Video

Facing History & Ourselves, “ How Social Environments Shape Behavior ”, video, last updated February 11, 2014.

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How Social Environment Influences People’s Behavior: A Critical Review

12 Pages Posted: 13 Apr 2023

Dr. Bharat Dhiman

J.C. Bose University of Science and Technology, YMCA, Faridabad, Haryana, India

Date Written: April 10, 2023

The social environment refers to individual’s social interactions and relationships with others in their communities. These interactions can significantly impact people's attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, and values. The social environment can include various factors such as friends, family, culture, education, religion, media, and community. Family is often considered the primary source of socialization and plays a crucial role in shaping people's behavior. The family is where people learn social norms and values, typically passed down from generation to generation. Family members serve as role models for each other, and they influence each other's behavior through direct and indirect means. This review paper highlights how the social environment influences people's behavior.

Keywords: Social Environment, Behaviour, Social Interaction, Relationship

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Dr. Bharat Dhiman (Contact Author)

J.c. bose university of science and technology, ymca, faridabad, haryana, india ( email ).

J.C. Bose University of Science and Technology, YM Faridabad India 9915605141 (Phone)

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