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Bronfenbrenner Theory Essay

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3. Theoretical Framework: Bronfenbrenner’s Theory

A Russian born psychologist, Urie Bronfenbrenner, established a groundbreaking theory regarding child development and functioning. Bronfenbrenner’s theory is based on a child’s development within the context of the system of relationships that form his or her environment.
Before Bronfenbrenner’s theory radically changed the way psychologists explained and studied human development, it was said that social scientists often only focused on the “narrow aspects of a child’s world” (Swick & Williams, 2006). Bronfenbrenner believed that all of these “narrow” theories could be used together to create a new field of study, which he called the “ecology of human development”.
Bronfenbrenner was a very …show more content…

In the context of this study, the two main influencers of the microsystem in this context seems to be peer pressure and inadequate role modeling by parents and significant others. With regards to adolsecents peers, many qualitative and quantitative studies have been done to illuminate the significance of peer pressure as a reason for adolescent alcohol abuse, as it was found that youth value the opinions of their peers as very important to their social standing (Hoberg, 2003). A study undertaken by Perry et al, found that 88,9 percent of youths who reported life time drunkenness were significantly likely to have friends who use alcohol. In a study done by Parry et al (2004), it was found that youths who abuse alcohol were significantly likely to have friends who use alcohol. Furthermore, Ghuman et al (2012) also found that adolescents were 3,6 times more likely to have participated in heavy drinking within the last month were if they had friends who use alcohol. In light of all these studies it is clear that peer groups play a cardinal role in cultivating adolescent drinking. Family and inadequate role modeling by parents also plays an important part in the alcohol abuse of adolescents. Ghuman et al (2012), found that adolescents named their parents and guardians as people who influenced their lives the most. Furthermore, the study concluded that adolescents are 1,9 times more likely to have used alcohol, or participated in binge drinking, if they had seen their parents severely

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