Evolutionary psychology and social work

ABSTRACT

Evolutionary psychology (EP) has become an important metatheory over the past three decades. EP is centered upon Darwin’s theory of natural selection and how this process has played an important role in the development of the human brain and behavior. Evolutionary psychology attempts to explain biological phenomena in terms of evolutionary forces, in this case brain structure and function, which directly impacts human behavior. There has been a remarkable increase in empirical evidence in regards to the merits of this theory and it has been able to partially explain certain features of aggression, sexual behavior, anxiety, depression, and numerous other aspects of cognition, emotions, and psychopathology. This literature review examines the origins, actors, principles, and evidence in the development of this theory and how evolutionary psychology can be applied to the social work profession.

KEYWORDS:

• Evolutionary psychology
• evolution
• natural selection
• proximal and ultimate causation
• functionalism
• ethology
• sociobiology
• eusociality
• neuroscience

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.