Bronfenbrenner's Theory in Action
Bronfenbrenner’s Theory of Human Development
In Human Development Psychology, there are different theories on how an individual grows and develops. One of the most well-known theories is the Ecological Theory of Urie Bronfenbrenner. Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005) is today credited and known in the psychology development field for the development of the ecological systems theory. The theory explains the way everything in a child and their environment affects the child development. It emphasises the importance of the relationships between the social contexts in which the child lives and the people who influence their development (Paquette & Ryan, 2001). In early childhood, a child’s development is influenced by various factors, thus Bronfenbenner’s Ecological Theory shows how a child grows and matures. There are four different levels that influence a child to develop in life as a person as shown in Fig 1. The first level begins with the child and their immediate environment than move on to larger environment, showing that the immediate and the outside are as important in the development of a child. The first level is the microsystem (immediate environment that a child lives or contacts such as parents, teachers and neighbours), then mesosystem (linkage between microsystems) such as connections between family and school, thirdly the exosystem (environment in which a child is not involved, such as parents workplace) and the fourth level is the macrosystem (involve the society, cultures and government). According to Bronfenbenner family plays the most crucial part in the development of a child’s abilities. A family influence a child’s resilience to adversities and also provides different levels of risk factors as family functioning changes (Oswalt, 2008). The Microsystem is the smallest setting in which the, child spends considerable time. It is made up of the immediate environment where the child lives and moves. The people and the institutions the child
In Human Development Psychology, there are different theories on how an individual grows and develops. One of the most well-known theories is the Ecological Theory of Urie Bronfenbrenner. Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005) is today credited and known in the psychology development field for the development of the ecological systems theory. The theory explains the way everything in a child and their environment affects the child development. It emphasises the importance of the relationships between the social contexts in which the child lives and the people who influence their development (Paquette & Ryan, 2001). In early childhood, a child’s development is influenced by various factors, thus Bronfenbenner’s Ecological Theory shows how a child grows and matures. There are four different levels that influence a child to develop in life as a person as shown in Fig 1. The first level begins with the child and their immediate environment than move on to larger environment, showing that the immediate and the outside are as important in the development of a child. The first level is the microsystem (immediate environment that a child lives or contacts such as parents, teachers and neighbours), then mesosystem (linkage between microsystems) such as connections between family and school, thirdly the exosystem (environment in which a child is not involved, such as parents workplace) and the fourth level is the macrosystem (involve the society, cultures and government). According to Bronfenbenner family plays the most crucial part in the development of a child’s abilities. A family influence a child’s resilience to adversities and also provides different levels of risk factors as family functioning changes (Oswalt, 2008). The Microsystem is the smallest setting in which the, child spends considerable time. It is made up of the immediate environment where the child lives and moves. The people and the institutions the child
References: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2002, Child Protection Australia 2000-2001, Child Welfare Series, Cat. No. CWS16, AIHW, Canberra, viewed 12 May 2011, http://aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=6442467327 Garbarino, J 2009, Children and Families in the Social Environment, 2nd edition, Walter de Gruyter Inc., New York. Harms, L 2005, Understanding human development, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne. Oswalt, A 2008, Urie Bronfenbrenner and child development, mental help.net, January 2008, viewed 12 May 2011, http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=7930&cn=28 Paquette, D & Ryan, J 2001, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, National-Louis University, viewed 12 May 2011, http://pt3.nl.edu/paquetteryanwebquest.pdf Wise, S 2003, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Family structure, child outcomes and environmental mediators: an overview of the Development in Diverse Family Study,2008 research paper no. 30, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Canberra, viewed 12 May 2011, http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/RP 30.pdf