Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory Essay

Some of the most painful situations in the book were when Dave seemed to be on the cusp of being saved from his terrifying home life, either by his father, school faculty, or a neighbor (Pelzer, 1995). There were too many times that someone knew of Dave’s condition and failed to protect him when they had the opportunity, due to fear, bureaucratic rules, or apathy. By using Urie Bronfenbrenner 's Ecological system’s model, a person can better understand the different ways David was helped or hurt. Dave was not only failed in his microsystem, but in his mesosystem as well. The school staff could clearly see

Urie Bronfenbrenner presented his theory of ecological systems in 1979. In his theory, Bronfenbrenner claims that there are four systems that work in concert with one another to affect the behavior of an individual (Lobb, 2016). The four systems that Bronfenbrenner posed were the microsystem, relatable to one’s home, the mesosystem, considered one’s home and school, the exosystem, which are organizations outside of school, and the macrosystem, which involves the government. While the fourth system is not quite present in Craig’s life, the other three are readily recognizable.

Developmental psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner first introduced the Ecologicial Systems model in the 1970’s. Bronfenbrenner argued that to understand human development, the environment in which the person belongs must be understood (Bronfenbrenner, U.1979). The Ecological Systems model concentrically depicts how a person’s development is influenced by their wider environment. In the original model there were four ecological levels in the system, however in 1979 Bronfenbrenner added an additional fifth level (Bronfenbrenner, U. 1994). With the developing person in the centre, the five progressive levels of environment include the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, marcosystem and the chronosystem.

Urie Bronfenbrenner developed the Social Ecological Model. This model has been used in the areas of bullying and peer victimization to better understand how individual characteristics intertwine and work with the environment (Hong & Espelage, 2012). Bronfenbrenner created five systems in which children develop; the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. For the purpose of this paper, the microsystem covers all the important factors that will be discussed regarding cyberbullying and its impact on adolescents. According to Berk (2007), the microsystem encompasses the adolescent’s immediate surroundings and includes individual and family characteristics, along with peer influence. Espelage (2014) included mental health

Furthermore, I prefer to consider Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory (as cited in Santrock, 2007) in order to gain an understanding of an individual’s

Many influences and interactions take part into human development. These influences are better understood by Urie Bronfrebrenner’s Ecological Systems Model. According to this model, individuals interact with five systems: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, chronosystem. I interviewed my Aunt Betty about her life to give me a better understanding of the Ecological Systems. This paper will describe how these systems apply to her life.

The old African proverb ‘it takes a whole village to raise a child’ (Mohamed, 1996, p. 57) rings significantly through Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner and Evans 2000); a theory which focuses on gaining insight into human development through identifying the circumstances and considering the environmental influences of which a child is raised not just the genetic components.

For instance, I learnt from a mother that their family is a newcomer family to Canada whom recently escaped the ongoing revolutions in their home country of Libya. Their first language is Arabic and are currently learning English informally through their daily interactions and environment in Toronto, and were also recently exposed to additional social support, care services, and financial grants. The mother shared the pressures that came along with moving, finding an affordable and nearby school for her children, employment, changing healthcare practices, and language barrier. All of these together are a part of the individuals interaction systems, which will in turn influence the child’s development in ways even without direct contact. This notion is supported by “the ecological theory” which “looks at the relationship of family and society” (Ward and Bélanger, 2011, p. 8). Urie Bronfenbrenner formed the theory, which consists of 5 different interconnected levels or subsystems, microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem (Shimoni & Baxter, 2011).

The microsystem we grow up with living with my parents who had 7 kids was a little firm cause, we had chores to make sure the house stays clean and we could never leave the apartment we stayed in. Coming up in an environment where there were two parents in a house where, things were always done right you were in trouble. We had to work for what we wanted, like clothes, shoes and things for our room. My grandparent’s environment with my parents were a little different both my parents were giving different jobs, after school they had to work to help around the neighborhood, like washing and ironing the neighbor’s clothes. My father said his daddy shown him how to work on cars at the age of 14

Bronfenbrenner: Bronfenbrenner developed the ecological system theory to explain how everything in a child and the child’s environment affects how a child grows and develops (Oswalt, A. 2008). As grandparents we are making sure our grandchildren is being raised with the same models as we raised our children

In this paper, I will be talking about how an individual develops throughout their life and the many changes they go through while still maintain the skills they’ve learned. Human Development is very important for a person’s emotional and physical growth. In this paper, I will be discussing Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Model, providing examples of Mesosystem, Ecosystem, and Microsystems. Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development and Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Reasoning will be addressed by giving examples of what stage of cognitive development Harry shows and what stages of Kohlberg’s theory he represents. This paper will further the understanding of the different developments a person goes through to reach their fullest potential of

One theory that relates to a child’s communication and social life is Psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner. His theory ‘The Ecology of Human Development’ clarifies that a child’s environment, interactions and relationships influence the child’s overall development. Urin Bronfenbrenner believed that an individual is affected by their social relationships and their world around them. His theory was broken up into five different levels including: the microsystem, which is the system, closet to an individual e.g. their home, school, day care work and family, how these groups interact with one another will have an effect on how the child grows; the mesosystem, which are the interactions between different parts of a microsystem e.g. how groups within the micro system work together to best raise the child; the exosystem refers to other people and places that the child may not interact with but has a large impact on them e.g. parents workplace and neighbourhood; the macrosystem, which is the largest and most remote systems to a child but has a great influence over the child e.g. government, cultural values and the economy; and lastly the chronosystem, which are the transitions and shifts in the lifespan e.g. parents divorce (Bronfenbrenner, 2009). This theory explores the different ways an individuals surrounding environment can

Bronfenbrenner U. (1977). Toward an Experimental Ecology of Human Development [Electronic version]. American Psychologist, 32, 513-531.

The social ecological perspective is seen as a dynamic process in the development of people. “The focus of the social ecological model is the interaction between the person and environment. The fundamental assumption is that behaviour is the result of the interaction between individuals and the contexts they are exposed to.” (Visser, 2007, p. 103) Personality characteristics and behaviour develop in that interaction process. However psychological and biological factors do play an important role in this process. The personality development is mainly determined by the interaction between psychological, biological and environmental factors. (Moen, Elder, & Luscher, 1995) There are various theories about the social ecological development of people. One of them is Urie Bronfenbrenner social ecological model. In this assessment I will be discussing Bronfenbrenners’ social ecological model and its relevance to my own life. I will explore the ecological model in terms of my own childhood and will discuss the impact it has on the distinctiveness in the South African context.

In ecological theory, these systems are nested with the child at the core, embedded within his/her immediate family environment. The system with the closest proximity to the child is the microsystem; this includes the child and family, peers, neighborhood and school. A critical impact on development occurs within the immediate environment of the child due to proximal