Bronfenbrenner Essay

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Feb 20, 2024

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P a g e | 1 Applying Theoretical Perspectives Essay College of Humanities and Social Science, Grand Canyon University UNV-516: Human Behavior in the Social Environment I Sondra Le McKenzie January 31, 2024

P a g e | 2 From the moment of conception, human development begins; the womb becomes a gestational environment that takes the fertilized egg through the germinal, embryonic, and fetal stages of development ending in birth. Although one my not necessarily consider how the environment outside the womb impacts a child in utero, recent studies claim otherwise. According to the “fetal origins hypothesis”, the environment(s) which a pregnant woman is exposed to, as well as her psychological state, can potentially have an impact on fetal neurobehavioral development, and in turn, result in sustained effects across the lifespan of that child ( Kinsella & Monk, 2009). As such, social workers should not only recognize the client as both a person and the environment in which (s)he inhabits, also referred to as a multidimensional approach (Hutchison, 2019, p.4), but also take into consideration the environment(s) the mother of the client may have been exposed to as well as her overall mental health while pregnant. It is no secret that a person’s environment influences his or her behavior. How a person is raised, the things (s)he experiences, his or her religious beliefs, etc. all play a role in their development as a human being and the way(s) in which (s)he behaves. For instance, I am a 39- year-old, Caucasian female, who experienced several demographics and socioeconomic backgrounds from third grade to fifth grade before my mother moved me and my brother in with my grandparents so we could have a more stabilized living environment. During this same period, I had the pleasure of attending several educational institutions, some of which the student populace had been predominately Latin American and African American leaving me and my brother as part of the one percent Caucasian minority. Similar to Joshua’s life in Uvira at the age of 10, I can recollect my typical day living at my grandparent’s house including waking up for breakfast, spending the majority of my day in school, coming home to do chores before going outside to play until it was time to come home for dinner, a bath, and then bed just to wake up

P a g e | 3 and do it all over again (Hutchison, 2019, p.3). However, unlike Joshua who grew up being one of 10 children in a single parent household, I only had to contend with my brother, and later my younger cousin, for the attention and affections of my mother and grandparents. Dissimilar to Joshua who grew up during a period of social upheaval and had to put his education on hold in efforts to escape the tragedies of the Congo civil war (Hutchison, 2019, p. 3), I was fortunate enough to receive an uninterrupted education aside from having to move from one city to the next. My educational advantage, and to having attended several ethnically diverse educational institutions, is a major contributing factor to several of my current behaviors, one of which is resiliency. Like Joshua who, through his less-than-ideal life’s experiences and traumas, became resilient and self-assured to persevere thus becoming a victor rather than a victim, I too chose to conquer life and what it has to offer rather than let life conquer me. There is no realistic comparison between Joshua’s and me other than we both have suffered some form of adolescent trauma and being the minority amongst our peers. However, as a social worker who may have to interact with a client like Joshua, our similarities and differences can potentially bridge some of the cultural gaps that are likely to be encountered provided a sort of “common ground” in establishing report. Because the micro-level “represents individual needs… (and) explores aspects related to biology, psychological needs, social (peer) and interpersonal (family) relationships or supports, and spiritual beliefs” (Tyler, 2020, p.13), I would first need to learn Joshua’s biological makeup, specifically his age and overall physical health. Knowing whether Joshua is of the age which his body continues to experience hormonal and physical changes could have an impact on his current behavior(s) (Tyler, 2020, p.13). Furthermore, I would want to determine if Joshua, or members of his family, have a reported history of substance abuse or are struggling with any mental health issues since the later

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