Behavioral System Model: Dorothy Johnson

Behavioral System Model
Dorothy Johnson
Phoebe Lynn B. Calungsod

Born August 21st 1919 in Savannah, Georgia.
1938 – A.A. form Armstrong Junior College,

Savannah, Georgia.
1942 – B.S.N. from Vanderbilt University,

Nashville, Tennessee.
1948 – M.P.H. from Harvard University,

Boston, Mass. Massachusetts.
Death in February 1999 at the age of 80

Professional Background
Assistant professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University.
Assistant professor of pediatrics nursing, an associate

professor of nursing, and a professor of nursing at the
University of California.
Pediatric nursing advisor for the Christian Medical School

of Nursing in Vellore, South India.
Chairperson on the California’s Nurses Association that

developed a position statement for specifications for
clinical specialists.
Publications include four books, more than 30 articles, and

many other papers, reports, proceedings and monographs.
Theoretical Background
Influenced heavily by Florence Nightingale’s

book, Notes on Nursing.
Used the work of behavioral scientist, psychology,

sociology, and ethnology to form her seven
subsystems.
Also relied on the system theory and used concepts

and definitions from Rapport, Chin, von
Bertalanffy, and Buckley.
MAJOR CONCEPTS
Johnson (1980) views human

beings as having two major
systems:
the biological system and
the behavioral system.
The concept of human being
was defined as a behavioral
system that strives to make
continual adjustments to
achieve, maintain, or
regain balance to the steady-
state that is adaptation.
Behavioral system
Man is a system that indicates the state of the
system through behaviors.
System
That which functions as a whole by virtue of
organized independent interaction of its parts.
Subsystem
A minisystem maintained in relationship to
the entire system when it or the environment
is not disturbed.
Seven SUBSYSTEMS
1. Attachment or affiliative subsystem –
serves the need for security through social
inclusion or intimacy
2. Dependency subsystem – behaviors designed
to get attention, recognition, and physical
assistance
3. Ingestive subsystem – fulfills the need to
supply the biologic requirements for food and
fluids
4. Eliminative subsystem – functions to
excrete wastes
5. Sexual subsystem – serves the biologic
requirements of procreation and
reproduction
6. Aggressive subsystem – functions in
self and social protection and preservation
7. Achievement subsystem – functions
to master and control the self or the
environment
Achievement:
The patient has achieved many deve-
lopmental goals of adulthood.
He is relearning how to do activities of
daily living (ADLs), walk,and talk, as well
as other cognitive-motor skills such as
reading, writing, andspeaking.
Attachment-affiliative:
The patient is married with two

adult children who are
supportive and live in the same
city.
He has many friends and
social contacts who visit
frequently.
Aggressive-Proctective:
The patient worries

about his wife travelling to
the hospital at night, and he
worries that she doesn’t eat
well while staying with him
in the hospital.
Dependency:
His recent stroke, resulting in decreased use
of his right arm and leg, has affected his
mobility and independent completion
of ADLs.
His potential for falling, inability to feel

his arm or leg if injured, and weakness
are safety concerns.
His wife has taken on the financial and h
ome maintenance responsibilities.
Ingestive:
Since the stroke, the patient has had a

decreased appetite.
He has lost 20 pounds in 6 weeks.
Studies reveal no swallowing difficulties.
He is able to feed himself with his left hand
but needs assistance with cutting foods.
Eliminative:
The patient is able to urinate

without difficulty in urinal but
prefers to walk to the bathroom.
He becomes constipated easily
because of decreased fluid and food
intake.
Sexual:
There are changes in the

patient’s sexual relationship
with his wife caused by pain,
limited use of his right
side and fatigue.
Environmental Assessment
The assessment of internal and
external environmental factors
indicates that several are creating
tension and are threatening the
balance and stability
of the behavioral system.
Structural Components
1. Drive or Goal
2.Set
3.Choice
4.Actions
Drive or Goal
The patient seems motivated to complete the diagnostic

tests and return home.
He is eager to get back into his outpatient rehabilitation
program.
It seems equally important for him to decrease stress on
his wife.
His wife provides positive encouragement and support for
him.
He looks to her for assistance with decisions.
Set
It is evident that the patient is

accustomed to making his own
decisions and being a leader.
It is also evident that he
is accustomed to conferring with his
wife to ensure that she is comfortable
with decisions being made.
Choice
Although the patient agrees to the diagnostic

tests, he is no longer in pain and has had no
bleeding since his hospitalization.
Therefore, he is more focused on achieving his

rehabilitation goals.
He initiates activities and seeks assistance from

his family in walking to the bathroom, walking
in the hall, and competing his ADLs.
Actions
The patient socializes with visitors and fam
ily by actively participating in conversations.
He requests assistance as needed for
physical and cognitive needs.
He asks for prayers from his family and fri
ends for spiritual guidance in managing his
illness.
Three functional requirements
of humans (Johnson, 1980)
1.To be protected from noxious
influences with which the person
cannot cope
2.To be nurtured through the input of
supplies from the environment
3.To be stimulated to enhance growth
and prevent stagnation
Functional requirements
The patient needs outside
assistance for all three
functional requirement,in-
cluding protection,
nurturance, and stimulation.
ASSUMPTIONS
OF THE
BEHAVIORAL SYSTEM
Johnson cites Chin (1961) as the
source for her first assumption.
There is “organization,
interaction, interdependency, and
integration of the parts and
elements of behavior that go to
make up the system.”
The individual is continually presented
with situations in everyday life that
require adaptation and adjustment.
The third assumption about a behavioral
system is that a behavioral system, which
both requires and results in some degree
of regularity and constancy in
behavior, is essential to man
The system balance reflects adjustments
and adaptations that are successful in
some way and to some degree.
(Johnson, 1980)
Johnson acknowledges that the
achievement of this balance may and
will vary from individual to individual.
Assumptions
on the Structure and Function of
Subsystems
“From the form the behavior takes and
the consequences it achieves can be
inferred what drive has been stimulated
or what goal is being sought.”
The ultimate goal for each subsystem is
expected to be the same for all
individuals.
However, the methods of
achieving the goal may vary
depending on the culture or other
individual variations.
Each individual has a
“predisposition to act”, with
reference to the goal, in certain ways
rather than in any other ways.
Each subsystem has available
repertoire of choices or “scope of
action” alternatives from which
choices can be made.
Behavioral subsystems produce
observable outcomes – that is,
the individual’s behavior.
The observable behaviors allow
an outsider – in this case the
nurse – to note the actions the
individual is taking to reach a
goal related to a specified
subsystem.
STRENGTH
She provided a frame of

reference for nurses concerned
with specific client behaviors.
Johnson’s behavioral model
can be generalized across the
lifespan and across cultures.
WEAKNESSES
Johnsons does not clearly interrelate her concepts

of subsystems.
Lack of clear definitions for the interrelationships
among and between the subsystems makes it
difficult to view the entire behavioral system as an
entity.
The lack of clear interrelationships among the
concepts creates difficulty in following the logic of
Johnson’s work.
ANALYSIS
Johnson’s behavioral model is clearly an

Individual-oriented framework. Its extent
to consider families, groups and
communities was not considered.
In her model, the focus is with what the
behavior the person is presenting making
the concept more attuned with the
psychological aspect of care in.
Categorizing different behaviors in
seven subsystems divided the focus
of nursing interventions.
A lack of an authenticated schematic
diagram by Johnson which is seen
necessary was not presented..
The nurse should advocate for inpatient physical and
speech therapy to stimulate functional
abilities and reinforce the patient’s achievement be-
haviors to decrease dependency requirements.
It will be equally important to encourage ongoing

socialization with friends and family.
The patient and his wife will need support

and teaching to identify methods of adapting to and man
aging system imbalance and instability and to identify
actions that will enhance behaviors to create system
balance and stability
THANK YOU!!!

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Behavioral System Model

Phoebe Lynn B. Calungsod

1938 – A.A. form Armstrong Junior College,

1942 – B.S.N. from Vanderbilt University,

1948 – M.P.H. from Harvard University,

Death in February 1999 at the age of 80

Assistant professor of pediatrics nursing, an associate

Pediatric nursing advisor for the Christian Medical School

Chairperson on the California’s Nurses Association that

Publications include four books, more than 30 articles, and

Influenced heavily by Florence Nightingale’s

Used the work of behavioral scientist, psychology,

Also relied on the system theory and used concepts

Johnson (1980) views human

The patient is married with two

The patient worries

His potential for falling, inability to feel

Since the stroke, the patient has had a

The patient is able to urinate

There are changes in the

The patient seems motivated to complete the diagnostic

It is evident that the patient is

Although the patient agrees to the diagnostic

Therefore, he is more focused on achieving his

He initiates activities and seeks assistance from

She provided a frame of

Johnsons does not clearly interrelate her concepts

Johnson’s behavioral model is clearly an

It will be equally important to encourage ongoing

The patient and his wife will need support

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