Human Development and Family Science (B.A.)

Program Overview

The Human Development and Family Science Major focuses on the development of the individual in the context of family and society with particular attention to interpersonal interaction. Key content areas include human development (child development through aging), sexuality, interpersonal relationships, courtship and marriage, parenting, internal dynamics of families, ethics, family diversity, family resource management, family services, and family life education. In addition, courses in methods of social research, statistics, community services, and family intervention provide the knowledge and skills necessary to either seek employment immediately following graduation or to continue study in graduate school.

Human development and family science majors focus on the study of relationships, particularly those within families. HDFS students adopt a family systems understanding (one affects the whole), a family strengths philosophy (as opposed to pathology, deviance, and anomaly), and lifespan and ecosystems perspectives (individual and family life cycle). HDFS is an application-based discipline which emphasizes practical skill development via internships, service-learning, and other forms of experiential education. Human development and family science students learn a variety of professional skills including, but not limited to, child observation, listening, interviewing, genogram construction, agency analysis, family life education assessment and program development, as well as conducting and writing literature reviews and research reports. While HDFS prepares students for intervention jobs which help individuals and families deal with crises and hardships after things happen, a major thrust of HDFS is prevention. Thus, throughout the curriculum, students learn how to provide information and skills to individuals and families during critical transitions across the life cycle so that they can avoid crises and the need for intervention.

Human development and family science majors may choose from a wide range of minors within the department such as children and youth services, disability and family wellness, gerontology, multicultural families, and pre-counseling and therapy, or minors outside the department such as Bible, business, communication, early childhood education, music, criminal justice, foods and nutrition, and Christian ministries. Students are encouraged to participate in off-campus practica or internships and will find opportunities for professionally supervised participation in family agencies, community mental health centers, adoption and foster care agencies, retirement facilities, hospitals, prisons, crisis pregnancy centers, schools, drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities, and other service agencies in the area.

Career Opportunities

Students graduating with a major in human development and family science who do not go on to graduate school typically seek employment as youth services workers, program directors, family life educators, child life specialists, foster care or adoption case managers, activities therapists, residential counselors, family services coordinators, family preservation workers, crisis intervention specialists, parent mentors, therapeutic support specialists, preschool teachers, and counselors in public and private agencies dealing with family issues. For more career information, visit http://www.messiah.edu/info/20406/our_alumni.

With careful planning, graduates of the Human Development and Family Science Major, can meet all the standards and criteria needed for the Provisional Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) designation from the National Council on Family Relations, the premier professional organization for family scientists and practitioners. Professionals certified as Family Life Educators are nationally recognized as having knowledge and skills in each of the ten family life substance areas (e.g., ethics, internal dynamics of families, family life education methodology). See www.ncfr.org/cfle-certification.

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates from Messiah’s Human Development and Family Science program can:

  1. Articulate foundational concepts and apply theory related to:
    1. Families in Society
    2. Internal Dynamics of Families
    3. Human Growth & Development over the Life Span
    4. Human Sexuality
    5. Interpersonal Relationships
    6. Family Resource Management
    7. Parent Education and Guidance
    8. Family Law & Public Policy
    9. Professional Ethics and Practice
    10. Family Life Education Methodology
  2. Conduct, analyze and apply empirically based research.

  3. Reflect on how their personal attributes and Christian convictions impact their vocational pursuits.
  4. Engage in experiential learning opportunities with individuals, couples and/or families.
  5. Demonstrate their awareness and knowledge related to multicultural and diverse individual, couple and family experiences (e.g., socioeconomic, rural-urban, various family structures).

Major Requirements

Complete the following for your major:

HDFS 101Foundations of Marriage & Family

3

HDFS 142Introduction to Interpersonal Relations

3

HDFS 210Child Development

3

HDFS 244Human Sexuality

3

HDFS 253Community Services for Individuals and Families

3

HDFS 272Research Methods and Analysis in HDFS

3

HDFS 311Adolescent Development

3

HDFS 312Adult Development

3

HDFS 339Dynamics of Family Interaction

3

HDFS 345Parenting

3

HDFS 355Marital Relationships

3

HDFS 442Strategies of Family Life Education

3

HDFS 494Human Development & Family Science Seminar

3

HDFS
One HDFS elective (HDFS 245 or HDFS 391 recommended)

3

STAT 269Introductory Statistics

3

HDFS 245: Courses required for CFLE, but not required for HDFS major.

HDFS 422: Fulfills writing enriched course requirement for the major.

Three credits from the following:

HDFS 378Latino Families

3

HDFS 383Topics in Multicultural Family Studies

3

HDFS 386Family Ethnicity & Human Services

3

Three credits from the following:

GERO 231Psychology of Aging

3

GERO 232Sociology of Aging

3

GERO 251Biology, Nutrition, and Healthy Aging

3

Recommended for first-year students: HDFS 099 Opportunities in Human Development and Family Sciences (1)

QuEST Requirements

Experiential Learning requirement 0
QuEST requirements Credits
First Year Seminar 3
Oral Communication 3
Created and Called for Community (W) 3
Mathematical Sciences (STAT 269) met/major
Laboratory Science (NUTR 110 or BIOL 258 recommended) 3 or 4
Science, Technology & the World 3
Social Science (HDFS 101) met/major
European History or United States History 3
Literature 3
Philosophy and Religion 3
Arts 3
First Semester of Language 3
Second Semester of Language 3
Third Semester of Language or Cross Cultural 3
Non-Western Studies 2 or 3
Bible 3
Christian Beliefs 3
Wellness course 1
Ethics (PHIL 382 or PHIL 325, or HDFS 340 recommended)*, Worldviews or Pluralism (HDFS 383 or 386) met/major
Major requirements 51
QuEST requirements 45-47
Free electives 27-25
Total credits 123