Human Behavior in the Macro Social Environment: An Empowerment Approach to Understanding Communities, Organizations, and Groups

HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN THE MACRO SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT: AN EMPOWERMENT APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITIES, ORGANIZATIONS, AND GROUPS offers a solid foundation for assessment of human behavior in macro settings. Best-selling author Karen Kirst-Ashman provides readers with practical and concrete ways of thinking about how macro systems affect human behavior, and how these influences have implications for macro social work practice. The book focuses on empowerment, building on the strengths of communities, organizations, and groups to promote change -- which lies at the heart of social work?s goals and central philosophies.

Karen K. Kirst-Ashman is Professor Emerita and former chairperson in the Social Work Department at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where she taught for 28 years. She has written six social work textbooks in multiple editions and numerous publications, articles, and reviews on social work and women's issues. She also has served on the Editorial Board of AFFILIA: Journal of Women and Social Work, and as a consulting editor for many social work journals including the Journal of Social Work Education. Dr. Kirst-Ashman has been a member on the Board of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and has served as a CSWE accreditation site visitor on various occasions. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of Wisconsin. She has been the recipient of both the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Roseman Award for Excellence in Teaching and the University Outstanding Teaching Award. She earned her BSW degree and MSSW degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Ph.D. in social work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has worked as a practitioner and administrator in child welfare and mental health agencies.