Foundations of Human Development in the Social Environment

Human Development

There are a number of different concepts that form the foundations of human development in the social environment. One of these is the bio-psycho-social dimensions of development. Essentially, this concept holds that there are biological, psychological and social factors that all contribute to human development. Hoermann, Zupanick and Dombeck (2013) note that there are complex linkages between nature (biology, psychology) and nurture (social factors) that contribute to the formation of personality. Each person is born with a set of traits, including biological ones and will develop psychologically with the influence of these traits. These traits present constraints on the individual's development potential, and guide the individual to develop in particular ways. Social factors in the environment then contribute to the growth of the human development, bringing out some traits more than others. The biology comes embedded with specific potential, the psychology influences how the biology is used, and then development is in turn affected throughout life by social influential factors.

Another concept in human development in the social environment is the concept of human diversity and cultural competence. Humans have developed thousands of different societies. Given the role of society in the "nurture" side of human development, it is only reasonable that different societies will develop their children in different ways, given the same biology and psychology.

Cultural competence is "understanding the specific cultural, language, social and economic nuances of a particular people and families" (NASW, 2013). In the course of human development, part of functionality is defined in the context of the culture in which one exists. Thus, a human may be fully developed in terms of one culture, but less so in terms of another. The ability to recognize the differences between different cultures is an important part of human development, and individuals who are able to work across different cultures are said to have a high degree of cultural competence. The social environment is at least in part defined by the culture in which the person is.

A third important concept in the sphere of human development in the social environment is the connection between general systems theory and social order. General systems theory is considered to be the skeleton of science, holding that everything that exists does so within the context of a system. The social order is a system that has developed to help a given society achieve a certain set of objectives. The society therefore has embedded it in codes, rules, norms and mores to which its members must adhere. This is what creates the social order. In each society, these factors are different, so that the social order might look a little bit different in each place. With many unique definitions of social order, a human being will need to understand the basic premises of the different systems in order to be culturally competent.