Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory Analysis

* M1 Discuss the principal psychological perspectives applied to the understanding of the development of individuals

Development psychology has many ideas of how humans are influence during their development. The ones that this paper will be covering are the Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems, nature and nurture influences and cultural influences. I have also given my own personal influence to further demonstrate my understanding of each idea.

How does this bio-ecological systems theory apply to the children in this modern day European migrant crisis? As stated above, this theory has been developed to scientifically study the area of human development, an area which is central to children in particular. Bronfenbrenner argues that the environment around the individual is what

Everyday we are developing no matter our age, but it is how we develop children that will tell a tremendous amount an individual. How a child developments is fundamentally important at a young age as it affects all aspect of their lives once the child matures. Throughout the class, we looked at many theorists during the course of the semester as well as looked at many articles pertaining to the concepts of the development of children. The theorists and articles opened up our minds to a world that we have never seen before and concepts about child development we have never been taught but have seen in the practical work we do every week. What makes humans unique is the ability that we have to interpret the language being used, as Lois Bloom

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.

The Ecological Systems Theory was founded by Urie Bronfenbrenner. This theory focuses on the impact of the environment on a child’s overall development. The identifying characteristics of Bronfenbrenner’s theory are the five systems used to organize external influences within a child’s development. These systems are the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. Each system is aligned with specific interaction levels. The microsystem is considered to be the most intimate of the levels, in which development is dependent on the immediate environment. The immediate environment would include adults, peers, and siblings with influence to learning new behaviors and the environment in which the

The method in which children come into their development is a very significant procedure that every person should be able to recognize. Children are not all the same so their development is not the same either. In fact, most children cannot even be treated the same when in regards to their development. To get a better understanding that involves the way children and teenagers grow a person would need to really recognize and comprehend the model of human development. This essay will emphasis on the Bio ecological Model of Human development; the diverse systems that are within human development and also how each of the systems are different.

The ecological theory of development that was proposed by Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005), is relevant to state all of our lives. Bronfenbrenner’s research demonstrates how our development is affected by the environment in which we live. The model consist of five major systems; microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. "Ecological systems theory is an approach to study of human development that consists of the scientific study of the progressive, mutual accommodation, throughout the life course, between an active, growing human being, and the changing properties of the immediate settings in which the developing person lives, as this process is affected by the relations between these settings, and by the larger

This essay will endeavour to encompass my understanding of Bronfenbrenner’s theory by incorporating the effect of the theory in child development and the significance of the nested systems with the purpose of illustrating the importance for the development of secondary emotion and the development of the expression of emotion from

Crandell, T. L., Zanden, J. W. V., & Crandell, C. H. (2009). Human Development. New York City, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Development psychology refers to the scientific study of the systematic psychological changes that normally occur to human beings throughout their growth period from birth to old age. It was originally concerned with children and infants, but it has since expanded to include the entire life span of mankind including adolescence and adulthood. Development psychology covers the extent to which human development occurs through gradual accumulation of knowledge, and the extent to which children born with inmate mental structures learn through experience. Several psychological theories and approaches like the behavioral, humanistic, psychoanalytic, biological, and cognitive approaches have been developed to explain the

Bronfenbrenner (Sigelman & Rider, 2014) created an ecological system model which illustrates both direct and indirect influences (these influences are bi-directional) in an individual’s growth environment. This ecological system consists of five systems which all have an individual as their same centre and gradually extend from this individual to the last and largest system, including minute but immediate impacts like a bee in the garden that stung this individual and macroscopical but subtle impacts like global warming. Meanwhile, they are inclusive, as Te Whariki, the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum, describes it as “a set of nested Russian dolls” (The Ministry of Education, 1996, page.19), which means these in systems, one contains another.

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

I chose Urie Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of child development to reflect on my stages of development. In the microsystem of Bronfenbrenner’s model, my early childhood family structure included my uncle, his wife and their five children. I went to live with my uncle after my mother passed away. By middle childhood, my uncle and his wife migrated to the United Sates and I went to live with one of his daughters( Erica) and her two children. They became my construct of what a family represent. Although I was welcomed in Erica’s family, I felt as if I did not belong in their family. The only place I felt accepted was at school. The classroom represented a place where I expressed my feelings without being ignored or judged by my peers. Also, I had very observant and understanding teachers who had the best of my interest. I had one teacher , Mr. Francis, who believed that I was capable of improving academically. At the end of his class, he noted in my report card that I had potential to be academically competent, however, I needed to settle down and apply myself to learning. His comments motivated me to do my best throughout elementary school. During elementary school, I maintained healthy relationships with my peers. There were never any reports of misconduct of any misunderstanding amongst my peers. In fact, interactions with them thought me how to engage in fair play, wait my turn, build trust and explore my environment. In exploring my environment, I

Bronfenbrenner’s (1977, 1979, 1989, 1993, 1994) ecological theory suggested that child (human) development occurs for the child within the context of various environments. These environments, or systems, are influenced from within and between other environments. The individuals within each system influence each other through various transactions that occur between them.