Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory is one of the most accepted explanations regarding the influence of social environments on human development. This theory argues that the environment you grow up in affects every facet of your life. Social factors determine your way of thinking, the emotions you feel, and your likes and dislikes.
Índice
- SCU’s Application of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory Model
- Want To Learn More? Check Out The Videos Below!
- The Microsystem
- The Mesosystem
- The Exosystem
- The Macrosystem
- The Chronosystem
- Application of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory
If you change your environment, you’ll change. If you move to another country with a different culture, your identity will certainly change. The same can happen if your social role within one of the five systems changes.
The five systems include:
- Microsystem: Made up of the groups that have direct contact with the
- Mesosystem: The relationships between the groups from the first system.
- Exosystem: Factors that affect an individual’s life but, the elements of this system don’t have a direct relationship with the individual.
- Macrosystem: Contains those cultural elements that affect the individual and everyone around them.
- Chronosystem: The stage of life that the individual is in regarding the situations they’re going through.
Renn, K. A., & Arnold, K. D. (2003). Reconceptualizing Research on College Student Peer Culture. The
Journal of Higher Education, 74(3), 261–293.
What is Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory? (2019, May 3). Retrieved August 6, 2019,
from //www.psychologynoteshq.com/bronfenbrenner-ecological-theory/.
SCU’s Application of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory Model
Through OML's values (Celebrate, Contemplate, and Commit) we look at each individual student and how their environment impacts them. OML’s programs and services are intended to help students understand themselves and others around them on campus. OML considers the various aspects of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory as we discern what may be most helpful for SCU students and the SCU community. Specifically we examine the following:
- How do immediate relationships affect the individual student (microsystem)?
- What is the relationship and impact between a student’s immediate relationships and other external relationships that may have an effect on the student (mesosystem)?
- How do organizations/processes external to the student influence their decisions and direction (exosystem)?
- How does a student’s overarching values and beliefs leverage their decision making process (macrosystem)?
- What effect does a student’s year in school have on their growth and understanding of themselves and others around them (chronosystem)?
Want To Learn More? Check Out The Videos Below!
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American psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner formulated the Ecological Systems Theory to explain how social environments affect children’s development. This theory emphasizes the importance of studying children in multiple environments, known as ecological systems, in the attempt to understand
their development.
According to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, children typically find themselves enmeshed in various ecosystems, from the most intimate home ecological system to the larger school system, and then to the most expansive system which includes society and culture. Each of these ecological systems inevitably interact with and influence each other in all aspects of the children’s lives.
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model organizes contexts of development into five nested levels of external influence: Microsystem, Mesosystem, Ecosystem, Macrosystem, and Chronosystem. These levels are categorized from the most intimate level to the broadest.
The Microsystem
The Bronfenbrenner theory suggests that the microsystem is the smallest and most immediate environment in which children live. As such, the microsystem comprises the home, school or daycare, peer group and community environment of the children.
Interactions within the microsystem
typically involve personal relationships with family members, classmates, teachers and caregivers. How these groups or individuals interact with the children will affect how they develop. More nurturing and supportive interactions and relationships will likely to foster a better environment for development.
Bronfenbrenner proposed that many of these interactions are bi-directional: how children react to people in their microsystem will also affect how these people treat the children in return.
For example, a little boy playing alone in a room. This little boy suddenly bursts out crying for no apparent reason. His mother, who is making lunch in the kitchen, hears the boy crying. She comes into the room, picks the little boy up, and carries him to the living room.
In the above example, the little boy initiated the interaction (crying), and his mother responded. In a way, the little boy influenced his mother’s
behavior.
One of the most significant findings that Urie Bronfenbrenner unearthed in his study of ecological systems is that it is possible for siblings who find themselves in the same ecological system to experience very different environments.
Therefore, given two siblings experiencing the same microsystem, it is not impossible for the development of them to progress in different manners. Each child’s particular
personality traits, such as temperament, which is influenced by unique genetic and biological factors, ultimately have a hand in how he/she is treated by others.
The Mesosystem
The mesosystem encompasses the interaction of the different microsystems which children find themselves in. It is, in essence, a system of microsystems and as such, involves linkages between home and school, between peer group and family, and between family and community.
According to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory, if a child’s parents are actively involved in the friendships of their child, for example they invite their child’s friends over to their house from time to time and spend time with them, then the child’s development is affected positively through harmony and like-mindedness.
However, if the child’s parents dislike their child’s peers and openly criticize them, the child will experience
disequilibrium and conflicting emotions, which will likely lead to negative development.
The Exosystem
The exosystem in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model pertains to the linkages that may exist between two or more settings, one of which may not contain the developing children but affect them indirectly nonetheless.
Based on Bronfenbrenner’s findings, people and places that children may not directly interact with may still have an impact on their lives. Such places and people may include the parents’ workplaces, extended family members, and the neighborhood the children live in.
For example, a father who is continually passed up for promotion by an indifferent boss at the workplace may take it out on his children and mistreat them at home. This will have a negative impact on the child’s development.
The Macrosystem
The macrosystem in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model is the largest and most distant collection of people and places to the children that still have significant influences on them. This ecological system is composed of the children’s cultural patterns and values, specifically their dominant beliefs and ideas, as well as political and economic systems.
For example, children in war-torn areas will experience a different kind of development than children in a peaceful environment.
The Chronosystem
The chronosystem adds the useful dimension of time to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. It demonstrates the influence of both change and constancy in the children’s environments. The chronosystem may include a change in family structure, address, parents’ employment status, as well as immense society changes such as economic cycles and wars.
Application of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory
Through the various ecological systems, Bronfenbrenner’s theory demonstrates the diversity of interrelated influences on child development. Awareness of the contexts that children are in can sensitize us to variations in the way children may act in
different settings.
For example, a child who frequently bullies smaller children at school may portray the role of a terrified victim at home. Due to these variations, adults who are concerned with the care of a particular child should pay close attention to his/her behavior in different settings, as well as to the quality and type of connections that exist between these settings.
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