The Effects Of Environment On Human Behavior

At the start of the semester we learned that one’s environment influences how they behave. Through the variety of dimensions listed in the multidimensional framework, we learned that “people confront biophysical, psychological and social demands that require effective human responses (Ashford & LeCroy, 2010, p.9)”. Through Erikson’s psychosocial theory we learned that there are several stages during one’s development must be completed in order to move on to the other stage. That is that each individual must master the first stage and all its tasks in order to proceed to the next stage. Failure to master the stage and its tasks determines how they will succeed in the next stage. For example, Raul Salazar, a case study listed in the text, entails a story of a boy in the fourth grade, who due to his chaotic environment is unable to thrive in his environment. An anxiety disorder that could have either been passed down from his mother or created directly from his social environment, has affected his social functioning. Due to his anxious nature Raul, was labeled as having a learning disability.

Prochaska and DiClemente(1984)  deals with intentional behavioural change and views change as a process rather than an event.The change process is characterised by six stages of change.These include the precontemplation,contemplation,preparation,action,maintenance and relapse which can occur at any stage in any part of the cycle.

Human development perspective examines the biological, psychological and social development of individuals pertaining to behavior (Hutchison, 2015). The ecological system is a theoretical perspective that examines the individual within the environment that it lives (Garbarino, 1992). There are five subsystems to consider when examining this the individual subject within this perspective; microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem and chronosystem. According to Garbarino (1992) the ecological perspective tries to explain how the environment effects the development of the individual. The ecological perspective also explores the risks and opportunities in the social environment that affect the subject within each sub-systems (Garbarino, 1992). Risk can be described as any thing that threatens development of the individual, while opportunities support and assist in the development. This paper will review the effects of the environment on an individual by applying the ecological perspective to the life and experiences main character in the film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.

Social work has long recognized the relationship between the behavior of an individual and the environment in which the individual interacts (Hutchison, 2008). Human behavior theories offer a framework to organize, interpret and understand this relationship (Hutchison, 2008). For this case study, the following three theories will be examined for relevancy: Life cycle theory, role theory and resiliency theory.

Ecosystems is the dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment that work together to form a functional unit and they are constantly changing due to the fluctuating equilibrium from natural stress and human action which has had adversarial impacts on ecosystems. This is evident in Minnamurra rainforest as human induced modifications and environmental stresses had resulted in a vulnerable ecosystem. Furthermore, the removal of factors that contribute to the vulnerability of an ecosystem is important as it affect the functioning of the ecosystem as processes are accelerated, biodiversity is decreased which greatly affects humans. Despite the negative effects caused by humans, they have discovered that ecosystems are susceptible from harm caused by natural environmental factors or human impacts and realised the importance of protecting and managing ecosystems therefore have implemented management strategies that are supposed to prevent further detriment and as a consequence may induce resiliency.

step, relapse, but for the sake of this assignment, five will be used as per the text. During the pre-contemplation stage the client is not thinking about change; they are unaware or under-aware that there is a problem. At the contemplation stage the client is ambivalent about change, and not likely considering making a change within the next thirty days. The preparation stage is when the client has made some progress with change and attempting to change further. The action stage is when the client has been performing a new behavior from ninety days to six months. The maintenance stage in involves the client making a commitment to achieving the desired change, and typically takes place after six months and up to five years (University of Arizona C.A.T.S. Life Skills Program, 2016).

In approving healthy behaviors or removing unhealthy ones, people progress through five levels linked to their readiness to changes. These five stages are in the Transtheoretical Model of Change are pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. At each stage, different intervention strategies will help people progress to the next stage. The Transtheoretical Model of Change draws from a number of different theories. It was first used in psychotherapy by Prochaska in 1979.

The five Stages of Change are identified as: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance. A client in the precontemplation stage doesn 't believe that her or his current behavior is a significant problem and doesn 't intend to change the behavior anytime in the near future. In the contemplation stage, a client begins to see that the behavior is a problem and considers making a change but is ambivalent about doing so because she or he also sees reason to keep things as they are. A client in the preparation stage has decided to make a behavioral change and has a specific plan for doing so in the near future. In the action stage, a client carries out a behavioral change plan and begins making the desired change. Finally, in the maintenance stage, a client has made the behavioral change and works to avoid relapsing into the original behavior. Throughout all stages, motivational

To pick up where we left off with Joe’s behavioral change, Joe has now completed 6 months of pure devotion to his study goals and habits he set for himself. Joe is at a better frame of mind with his renown commitment to his education. It is no longer a temptation when his friends ask him to play basketball and he has studying to do. “Hit me up next time, boys,” he says confidently, knowing he made the right call. Joe now finds himself in the maintenance stage. The last stage of the transtheoretical model, the maintenance stage includes the solidarity and foundation of the behavioral change. Struggle ceases to exist and the change of behavior is now intertwined in the individual’s life. This stage is an ongoing stage since there is never an extent the individual should go in achieving a positive change in their life. Once one goal is achieved, another should be pursued. Constantly setting goals and finding accountability groups will reinforce the change and exponentially enlarge the benefits of the positive change. In conclusion, the transtheoretical model is one that takes time and effort to complete, but the achievements yielded are limitless. As we saw through our example of Joe’s questionable study habits, Joe had some major obstacles to face. From the poor study habits implemented in high school, to his contemplation of whether or not to ditch his friends periodically to study brought him many obstacles in his life. However, Joe sought help from others and crutched on their support to help is case. Let us now transition to a real world application of the Trantheoretical Model of Behavior Change in my own life. A personal, real-life example will display the ease at which this model is able to be

The Transtheoretical Model is a theory of health behavior that suggests that behavior change is a process, not an event. There are five stages of change someone can go through while attempting to engage in positive behavior: precontemplation, no intention to act within six months; contemplation, intention to act within six months; preparation, intention to act within the next thirty days along with some behavioral steps; action, changed behavior for less than six months, maintenance, changed behavior for more than six months; termination, end of the behavior. These stages are not linear, so an individual can move up and down the stages of change indiscriminately.

This model consists of five different stages that include the following: Precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance (DiClemente, Schlundt, & Gemmell, 2004).The main tenant of this model’s theory is that at any point in time, an individual is in a specific stage in relation to behavioral change (Prochaska and DiClemente, 1982). This model also suggests that there will always be continuity and discontinuity throughout the process of change and that the progression of stages is not always linear. In fact, it is possible for a person to go from stage one to stage three, and then back to stage one, depending on the individual’s willingness and readiness to change (DiClemente, Schlundt, & Gemmell, 2004). Therefore it is fundamental to keep in mind that although these stages of recovery are listed as numbers one through five, not all individuals going through recovery will go through these stages linearly.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. Actually, I am familiar with the stages of change as I have personally applied it, about four years ago, to break some bad health habits caused by difficult life circumstances. Although the term transtheoretical model is new to me, perhaps at that moment, I was more focused on how to take “action”, a behavior that can be identified to belong to the preparation stage. After several unused gym memberships, and the feeling of being eternally stuck in the preparation stage, but with a lot of determination, I was able to progress to my current stage of change, which is the maintenance change.

The theory has 5 stages of behavior change: pre-contemplations, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. The stages of change explain when and why people change.

The Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Change) was developed in the late 1970s by Prochaska and DiClemente. The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) focuses on the decision-making of individuals and is a six-stage model of intentional change. The TTM suggests that people do not change behaviors quickly and decisively, but continuously through a cyclical process. The six stages of the TTM model include: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and termination. During each stage, different intervention strategies are most effective at moving a person to the next stage of change, eventually to the ideal stage, maintenance. Although not a part of the original model, the termination stage was added and is less often used in stages of change for health-related behaviors.

Why do individuals act differently in different social settings? Environmental Psychology is the field of psychology which studies the way human behavior is affected by their environment. Environment refers to an individual’s social setting, which can change consistently.