Social Workers’ Perceived Knowledge and Use of Human Behavior Theory

Human behavior curricula have reflected prevailing social and political contexts. They have been accompanied by changes in instructional emphases and have predicted changes in the theories used in practice. This article describes the results of a 1991 study of 225 social work practitioners that examined the trends in human behavior theories taught to master of social work students. The authors explored educational histories by surveying the practitioners’ current use of human behavior theory, including theoretical orientation, perceived competence, and effectiveness in cross-cultural social work practice. There were significant relationships between theories learned as well as current theory used and the decade in which the social worker received his or her master’s degree.