Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment by Charles Zastrow, Karen K. Kirst-Ashman

Synopsis

Help your students understand the mysteries of human behavior with Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman's text. Now available with a personalized online learning plan, this social work-specific book looks at lifespan through the lens of social work theory and practice. The authors use an empowerment approach to cover human development and behavior theories within the context of family, organizational, and community systems. Using a chronological lifespan approach, the authors present separate chapters on biological, psychological, and social impacts at the different lifespan stages with an emphasis on strengths and empowerment.

Biography

Charles Zastrow, MSW and Ph.D., is a Professor in the MSW program at George Williams College in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, and previously taught in the Social Work Department of the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater. A Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the State of Wisconsin, he worked as a practitioner for various agencies, chaired social work accreditation site visit teams for the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), and served on the Commission on Accreditation of CSWE. Dr. Zastrow is currently a member of the Council on Publications of CSWE and a member of the BPD board. Widely published, he has written four other textbooks: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL WORK AND SOCIAL WELFARE, SOCIAL WORK WITH GROUPS, SOCIAL PROBLEMS: ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS, and UNDERSTANDING HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT (with Dr. Karen Kirst-Ashman).

Karen K. Kirst-Ashman is a professor and former chairperson in the Social Work Department at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She has written six social work textbooks and numerous publications, articles, and reviews on social work and women's issues. She also has served as a consulting editor on many social work journals. Dr. Kirst-Ashman was a board member of the CSWE from 1998 through 2001 and has served as a member of several CSWE accreditation site teams. She is certified as a licensed clinical social worker in the state of Wisconsin and has been the recipient of the University Of Wisconsin-Whitewater Roseman Award for Excellence in Teaching. She earned her BSW degree in 1972 and MSSW degree in 1973 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Ph.D. in Social Work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.