Book Description

Using a personal writing style, the authors show students why people behave the way they do and prepare them for situations they will encounter on the job and in daily living. The book focuses on the family, group, organization, and community influences on human development, with explicit attention paid to the patterns and consequences of discrimination and oppression. Coverage includes: diverse family lifestyles (two-parent families, single-parent families, gay and lesbian families, ethnic and racial backgrounds, and class differences); various types of group membership (norms, group conformity, group goals, and leadership and power issues); social welfare organizations (goals of organizations, the bureaucratic environment, and communication processes); and concept, function, and structure of a community as a system (racial and ethnic communities).