BEHAVIORAL SYSTEM

MODEL

DOROTHY E.
JOHNSON
 OBJECTIVES
 At the end of the lecture, the students will be able
to:
a. determine the life and works of Dorothy
Johnson.
b. comprehend the Behavioral System Model.
c. scrutinize Johnson’s Behavioral System Model
in relation to Nursing's Metaparadigm.
d. verify the application of the theory to the nursing
process
e. summarize Johnson’s Behavioral System Model
DOROTHY E. JOHNSON
 DOROTHY E. JOHNSON
 Born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1919
 Finish BSN at Vanderbilt University,
Nashville, Tennessee
 MPH from Harvard
 Most of her teaching career was in
Pediatric Nursing at the UCLA
 She retired as Professor Emeritus,
January 1978
 DOROTHY E. JOHNSON
 She believed nursing had a body of
knowledge reflecting both the science
and art
 1959 – proposed that knowledge of the
science of nursing necessary for
effective nursing can included a
synthesis of key concepts drawn from
basic and applied sciences.
 DOROTHY E. JOHNSON
1961 – Johnson proposed that
nursing care facilitated the client’s
maintenance of a state of
equilibrium
She proposed that client’s were
“stressed” by a stimulus of either
an external or internal nature.
DOROTHY E. JOHNSON

1968 – Johnson first proposed

her model of nursing care as the
fostering of the “efficient way and
effective behavioral functioning in
the patient to present illness”
 DEFINITION OF NURSING
 1980 – developed her Behavioral System Model
for nursing from a philosophical perspective
“supported by a rich, sound, and rapidly
expanding body of empirical and theoretical
knowledge”
 She defined nursing as “an external regulatory
force which acts to preserve the organization
and integration of the patient’s behavior at an
optimal level under those conditions in which the
behavior constitutes a threat to physical or social
health or in which illness is found”
 4 GOALS OF NURSING
1. Whose behavior is commensurate with
social demands
2. Who is able to modify his behavior in ways
that support biologic imperatives
3. Who is able to benefit to the fullest extent
during illness from the physician’s
knowledge and skill
4. Whose behavior does not give evidence of
unnecessary trauma
 ASSUMPTIONS OF THE
BEHAVIORAL SYSTEM
MODEL

 1stAssumption
– In constructing a behavioral
system, the assumption is made
that there is “organization,
interaction, interdependency, and
integration of the parts and
elements of behavior that go to
make up the system”
 ASSUMPTIONS OF THE
BEHAVIORAL SYSTEM
MODEL

 2nd Assumption
– A system “tends to achieve a balance
among the various forces operating
within and upon it, and that man strives
continually to maintain a behavioral
system balance and steady states by
more or less automatic adjustments and
adaptations to the natural forces
impinging upon him”
 ASSUMPTIONS OF THE
BEHAVIORAL SYSTEM
MODEL

3rd Assumption
– A behavioral system , “which
both requires and results in some
degree of regularity and
constancy in behavior, is
essential to man”
 ASSUMPTIONS OF THE
BEHAVIORAL SYSTEM
MODEL

4th Assumption
– The behavioral system is that the
“system balance reflects
adjustments and adaptations that
are successful in some way and
to some degree”
JOHNSON’S 7 BEHAVIORAL
SUBSYSTEM

 Attachment – or affiliative is identified as

the first response system to develop in
the individual.

allows “social inclusion, intimacy and the

formation and maintenance of a strong
social bond”
JOHNSON’S 7 BEHAVIORAL
SUBSYSTEM

2. Dependency –are “succoring”

behaviors that precipitate murturing
behaviors from other individuals in the
environment

result: “approval, attention or

recognition, and physical assistance”
 JOHNSON’S 7 BEHAVIORAL
SUBSYSTEM

3. Ingestive – relates to the behaviors

surrounding the intake of food
-related to the biological system

4. Eliminative – relates to behaviors

surrounding the excretion of waste products
from the body
 JOHNSON’S 7 BEHAVIORAL
SUBSYSTEM

5. Sexual – reflects behaviors relate to

procreation

6. Aggressive – relates to behaviors

concerned with protection and self-
preservation
-as one that generates defensive
responses from the individual when life or
territory is threatened.
JOHNSON’S 7 BEHAVIORAL
SUBSYSTEM

7. Achievement – provokes behavior that

attempt to control the environment.

- recognizes intellectual, physical,

creative, mechanically and social skills
 JOHNSON’S BEHAVIORAL
SYSTEM MODEL

Attachment &
affiliation

Forces Effective
Dependency Elimination
Behavioral and functioning
disorder sress and
adaptation
Sexuality Ingestion

Aggression Achievement Ineffective

Feedback
 3 FUNCTIONAL
REQUIREMENT
 “Protected from noxious influences with
which the system cannot cope”

 “Nurtured through the input of appropriate

supplies from the environment”

 “Stimulated for use to enhance growth and

prevent stagnation”
 NURSING’S
METAPARADIGM

HUMAN BEINGS
Two major systems:
– Biological System –
medicine’s focus
– Behavioral System –
nursing’s focus
 NURSING’S
METAPARADIGM

 SOCIETY
– Relates to the environment in which the
individual exists.
– Influenced by all events in the environment

HEALTH – supports the idea that the

individual is attempting to maintain some
balance or equilibrium.
 NURSING’S
METAPARADIGM

 NURSING
– Primary goal is to foster equilibrium
within the individual, which allows
for the practice with individuals at
any point in the health-illness
continuum
 JOHNSON’S BEHAVIORAL
SYSTEM AND THE
NURSING PROCESS

Johnson’s Behavioral System

easily fits the nursing process
model.
Grubbs developed an assessment
tool based on Johnson’s seven
subsystem, plus a subsystem she
labeled “restorative”
 JOHNSON’S BEHAVIORAL
SYSTEM AND THE NURSING
PROCESS

 In assessment phase, questions are

related to specific subsystems are
developed.

 An assessment based on the

behavioral subsystems does not easily
permit the nurse to gather detailed
information about the biological system.
JOHNSON’S BEHAVIORAL
SYSTEM AND THE
NURSING PROCESS

A diagnosis can be made

related to insufficiencies or
discrepancies within a
subsystems or between
subsystems.
 JOHNSON’S BEHAVIORAL
SYSTEM AND THE
NURSING PROCESS

 Diagnosis
– Insufficiency – a state which exists
when a particular subsystem is not
functioning or developed to its
fullest capacity due to inadequacy.
– Discrepancy – a behavior that does
not meet the intended goal.
JOHNSON’S BEHAVIORAL
SYSTEM AND THE
NURSING PROCESS

– Incompatibility– the goals or

behaviors of two subsystem
in the same situation conflict
with each other to the
detriment of the individual.
JOHNSON’S BEHAVIORAL
SYSTEM AND THE
NURSING PROCESS

– Dominance – the behavior in

one subsystem is used more
than any other subsystem
regardless of the situation or
to the detriment of the other
subsystems.
JOHNSON’S BEHAVIORAL
SYSTEM AND THE
NURSING PROCESS

Planning for the

implementation of nursing care
should start at the subsystem
level with the ultimate outcome
of effective behavioral
functioning of the entire
system.
JOHNSON’S BEHAVIORAL
SYSTEM AND THE
NURSING PROCESS

Implementations by the nurse

present to the client an external
force for the manipulation of the
subsystem to the state of
equilibrium.
 JOHNSON’S BEHAVIORAL
SYSTEM AND THE
NURSING PROCESS

Evaluation of the result of this

implementation is readily
possible if the state of balance
that is the outcome has been
defined during the planning
phase before the implementation.
 CRITIQUE
1. What is the historical context of the theory?
-Past observational studies and general
system theory influenced Dorothy Johnson
in the development of her Behavioral
System Model.
3. What are the basic concepts and
relationships presented by the theory?
-7 behavioral subsystem
-3 functional requirements
 CRITIQUE
3. What major phenomena of concern to
nursing are presented?
-The major phenomenon of concern in
Johnson’s work is behavior.

4. To whom does this theory apply? In what

situations? In what way?
-can be generalized across the lifespan and
across cultures
 CRITIQUE
5. By what method or methods can this theory be
tested?
-It is difficult to test Johnson’s model by the
development of hypotheses

6. Does this theory direct critical thinking in nursing

practice?
-Decision making for nursing practice using the
Johnson’s model would involve critical thinking.
 CRITIQUE
7. Does this theory direct therapeutic nursing
interventions?
-does not clearly define the expected outcomes
when one of the subsystems is being affected by
nursing interventions.

8. Does this theory direct communication in nursing

practice?
-refers to communication rather than directing
 CRITIQUE
9. How contagious is this theory?
-has limited following when compared to
Callista Roy and Martha Rogers.
-there is a limited body of literature on the
use of the Behavioral System Model in the
clinical practice or to provide framework for
nursing research.
 REFERENCES

-Nursing theories: The Base for Professional

Nursing Practice, 5th Edition by Julia George

-Nursing Theorist and Their Work by Aligood

-www.nursingtheory.net