DOROTHY JOHNSON

Dorothy Johnson was born on August 21, 1919, in Savannah, Georgia.
She received her associate of arts degree from Armstrong Junior College in Savannah, Georgia, in 1938 and her bachelor of science in nursing degree from Vanderbilt University in 1942. She attended Harvard University, where she received her master of public health (MPH) in 1948.
She began her academic career at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing.
In 1949 she served in the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) as an assistant, associate, and professor of pediatric nursing until her retirement in 1978. She passed away in 1999.
Dorothy Johnson began her work on the Behavioral System Model in the late 1950s and wrote into the 1990s.
The focus of her model is on needs, the human as a behavioral system, and relief of stress as nursing care.
She wanted the curricula to be focused on nursing rather than derived from the knowledge bases of other health care disciplines (Johnson). Indeed, she believed that nursing, although relying on the contributions of other sciences, is a discrete science and a unique discipline.

Behavioral System Model

Johnson believed each individual has a patterned, purposeful, repetitive ways of acting that compromise a behavioral system specific to that individual. These behaviors form an “organized and integrated functional unit that determines and limits the interaction between the person to the objects, events, and situations in his environment.” These behaviors are “orderly, purposeful and predictable.

Major Concepts

KEY CONCEPTS

Subsystems

(Torres, 1986)

Johnson (1980) delineated seven subsystems to which the model applied. Each of these subsystems has a set of behavioral responses that is developed and modified through motivation, experience, and learning. Johnson noted that these subsystems are found cross-culturally and across a broad range of the phylogenetic scale.

She did not consider the seven subsystems as complete, because there’s a change in response systems in the behavioral system as research reveals new subsystems or indicated changes in the structure, functions, or behavioral groupings in the original set.

1. ACHIEVEMENT SUBSYSTEM

The goal is the mastery or control of self or the environment. Johnson recognized intellectual, physical, creative, mechanical and social skills areas.

2. AFFILIATIVE/ATTACHMENT SUBSYSTEM

It’s identified as the first response system to develop in an individual. This subsystem’s optimal functioning allows social inclusion, intimacy, and the formation and maintenance of a strong social bond. Its goal is to relate or belong to someone or something other than oneself; to achieve intimacy and inclusion.

3. AGGRESSIVE/PROTECTIVE SUBSYSTEM

The goal is to protect self or others from real or imagined threatening objects, persons, or ideas; to achieve self- protection, self-preservation and self-assertion.

4. DEPENDENCY SUBSYSTEM

Dependency behaviors are “succoring” behaviors that precipitate nurturing behaviors from other individuals in the environment. Its goal is to obtain focused attention, approval, nurturance, and physical assistance; to maintain the environmental resources needed for assistance; to gain trust and reliance.

5. ELIMINATIVE SUBSYSTEM

The goal is to expel biological wastes or excrete waste products from the body; to externalize the internal biological environment.

6. INGESTIVE SUBSYSTEM

It is related to the behaviors surrounding the intake of food and its goal is to take in needed resources from the environment to maintain the integrity of the organism or to achieve a state of pleasure; to internalize the external environment.

7. SEXUAL SUBSYSTEM

The goal is to procreate, to gratify or attract; to fulfill expectations associated with one’s sex; to care for others and to be cared about by them.

Five Core Principles

Wholeness and Order

The developmental analogy of wholeness and order is continuity and identity. Johnson’s work infers that continuity is in the relationship of the parts rather than in their individuality.

Stabilization

Stabilization or behavioral system balance is another core principle of this model. Dynamic systems respond to contextual changes by either a homeostatic or homeorrhetic process. Systems have a set point (like a thermostat) that they try to maintain by altering internal conditions to compensate for changes in external conditions.

Reorganization

Adaptive reorganization occurs when the behavioral system encounters new experiences in the environment that cannot be balanced by existing system mechanisms. Adaptation is defined as change that permits the behavioral system to maintain its set points best in new situations. The difference between stabilization and reorganization is that the latter involves change or evolution.

Hierarchic Interaction

Each behavioral system exists in a context of hierarchical relationships and environmental relationships. Hierarchies, or a pattern of relying on particular subsystems, lead to a degree of stability.

Dialectical Contradiction

The last core principle is the motivational force for behavioral change. Johnson (1980) described these as drives and noted that these responses are developed and modified over time through maturation, experience, and learning.

References:

George, J. B. (2002). Nursing Theories: The Base for Professional Nursing Practice (5th ed.).Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Gonzalo (2011). Dorothy Johnson,The Behavioral System Model. Retrieved from http://nursingtheories.weebly.com/dorothy-johnson.html

McEwen, M. & Wills, E. (2011). Theoretical Basis for Nursing (3rded.). [PDF Version]. Retrieved fromhttp://www.rhc.ac.ir/Files/Download/pdf/nursingbooks/Theoretical%20Basis%20for%20 Nursing-2011%20-%20CD.pdf

Parker, M. (2005). Nursing Theories and Nursing Practice (2nded.). [PDF Version]. Retrieved from https://taskurun.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/nursing_theories_and_nursing_practice__second_edition.pdf

Wayne, G. (2014). Dorothy E. Johnson’s Behavioral System Mode. Retrieved from http://nurseslabs.com/dorothy-e-johnsons-behavioral-system-model/