Understanding Child Development: Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model

This essay delves into Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, a crucial framework in child psychology, exploring how a child's development is shaped by various environmental factors. It examines the four key levels: microsystem (immediate surroundings like family and school), mesosystem (interactions between microsystems, such as parent-teacher relationships), exosystem (external environments indirectly affecting the child, like parents' workplaces), and macrosystem (cultural values and societal influences). The essay discusses how parenting styles, family dynamics, and broader societal contexts impact a child's behavior and well-being, providing examples to illustrate these concepts. It highlights the importance of supportive environments and the long-term effects of these systems on a child's development, emphasizing the interconnectedness of these factors in shaping a child's life. The essay also explores how the author's personal experiences in a loving and supportive environment, influenced by permissive parenting, contributed to their optimistic nature and decision-making abilities. It emphasizes the critical role of the family in the child's development.

Psychology Ecology of
Children & Families

Table of Contents
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

Illustration Index
Illustration 1: Four levels of Bronfenbrenner's theory.....................................................................2

MAIN BODY
The surroundings of a child has a direct impact on his development and growth. A
healthy and positive environment given to a child leads to bring optimism in his life ( Bumett,
2001). There are various aspects which directly contributes to it. It includes, behaviour of the
parents, peer groups, culture and beliefs followed by the family, atmosphere of the schools etc. A
specific theory was given by Bronfenbrenner, known as, ecological systems' theory, assessing
various factors which acts as contributors or obstructions in the growth and development of a kid
(Etaugh and Rsthus, 1995).
Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems' theory is an important part of educational
psychology which deals in studying the factors that contributes to development of human over
time. The model explains that there are various inherent qualities and environmental factors that
affect its growth escalation (Perron, 2017). It focusses on studying multiple domains in which a
child is dwelling known as ecological systems. The experience of the child differ when he moves
outside the house and take admission in the school and then move to a high school. It not only
develops knowledge of the child but also change perspective of an individual towards life. The
behaviour of the child may be different in various environment and it gets influenced as well.
There are various factors that affect his behaviour. It includes, peer group, society, culture,
family structure, beliefs etc.
There are four main levels that are involved in Bronfenbrenner's theory (Neal and Neal,
2013). These are listed below from closest to the person to the furthest:
 Microsystem
 Mesosystem
 Exosystem
 Macrosystem
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Microsystem
Micro system refereed to the small environment where the child lives in his immediate
years of life. It has a direct impact on the behaviour of the child as these are the direct
contributing factor of his development and growth (Paat, 2013). It includes, relationship of a
child with his family, classmates, teachers, at care homes etc. Moreover, a kid's reaction to these
people also helps in assessing the nurture and care being provided to him. A nurturing and caring
relationship with the family members, siblings and peers helps in better development. It also
reflects in his growth as well (Hong and Espelage, 2012). For instance, if I have troubled
relationship with my parents I will be more cranky and irritated. It will be reflected in my
behaviour at school and at home as well. It will affect my development to the core. To the
contrary, If I have a very loving and caring relationship with my parents, leading me to develop
in better way in comparison to the other children in the society.
One significant aspect of micro-system is that it is not important that the two siblings got
to have same micro environment. A child may carry different personality trait which demands
different care from the parents in comparison to the other child. Further, a kid may have different
temperament level which is due genetic and biological factors. Hence, every child is not the
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Illustration 1: Four levels of Bronfenbrenner's theory
Source: Individual within social context, 2017

same and have to be handled differently in his initial years by the immediate people playing an
important role in his life (Hong and Eamon, 2012). The siblings living in the same environment
may have different behaviour and development factors as well.
Another significant factor is the parenting style. There are three major types of parenting
styles which includes, authoritarian, permissive and neglectful. Authoritarian parenting make
strict rules to for their child and show love and affection at the same time. Permissive parenting
give their child full independence and show love as well. Neglectful parents give their child full
independence but do not show love and affection. It has been found that the children of
neglectful parents show low growth and development in comparison to that of permissive
parents. It affects the child's home life and his behaviour as well (Boon and et.al, 2012).
Mesosystem
These are the second closest aspect with whom the child comes in contact in his growth
cycle. It has direct impact on kid's grow and development; however, he does not come in the
direct contact of the situation. It is the next level of microsystems where the interrelationship
between different people in the first system acts an important part. The most important example
of mesosystem is the relationship between teacher and family. Attentiveness of parents where
they take part in all the activities of the school such as, attending parents' teacher meets
organized by the school time to time (Hong and Garbarino, 2012). Moreover, taking part in the
competitions that are solely meant for parents helps in encouraging the development of a child. It
reflects positiveness in the kid which is transferred by the parents through their active
participation in school activities. Another instance can be, if my parents are having troubled
relationship or have already gone separated; it will create a stressed environment affecting my
growth in the initial years only. It will also encourage cranky and irritated behaviour in me.
When I was 6 year old, a parent teacher conference was organised in the school. A parent
and teacher, individually, are part of microsystems. The interaction between the parents and
teacher was related to my performance in the class in last semester. Although, I was not involved
in the interaction directly but it affected me as I was the core subject of the talk. The teacher
appreciated my performance which indirectly motivated me to do better in the next exams as
well giving me a chance to develop and grow. It also inculcated positivism in me. It shows that
the relationship between the parents and teacher must not be troubled as it can affect the child
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progress. Hence, it can be interpreted that relationship between the students immediate
connection plays an important role in the behaviour of the child.
Exosystem
It is the next stage of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems' theory after Mesosytem.
There are few environmental factors that affects the growth of the child even if he is not directly
involved in it. The participation of the child is nil but have a significant impact on the
development (Ushioda, 2015). This is the environment in which the child is not involved but his
immediate connections are. For instance, the atmosphere of the workplace of a father affects his
mood. If he had a bad day, good day or promoted the impact will be directly be seen in the way
in which he behaves at home. The child may have never visited the workplace or have any role
there; but the events occurring there will affect his life. It can give financial stress which leads to
problems in parenting as well.
One important aspect of exosystem is neighbourhood as well. The type of neighbours the
family owns also affect the development of the child. For instance, if the neighbourhood is
complaining, the child tends to adopt in his own behaviour as well. However, if they are loving
and caring, the child will get attracted towards it and will try to include it in his own behaviour as
well. Another significant aspects of exosystem includes social settings as well. Parents arriving
late at home delays the sleeping and eating cycle of the kid leading to degradation in
development.
My parents are doctors and they have to work in different shifts during the day and at
night as well. When I was 8 years old, I used to wait for them so that we can have a family
dinner together daily. It made me a bit lethargic and my sleeping time shifted from 9.00 PM to
11.00 PM. It affected my health and I used to be lazy in the school hours as well. It compelled
my parents to come home early so that my daily life is not affected due to their late arrivals at
home. Some parents also have lot of travelling involved in their jobs due to which they are not
able to give proper time to their child. It also has indirect impact on the behaviour of the child.
He may not feel that love and affection from his parents. It fuels the development of a child he
may feel positive or negative force from them.
Macrosystems
It is the outermost layer of child's development. The environment affects the development
and behaviour of the kid. It includes, cultural values, beliefs, customs and laws. It can have a
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cascading effect with the other layers as well. For instance, the beliefs or customs followed by
the parents can be included in microsystems as well. It can also relate to the other two layers, that
is, mesosystems and exosystems as well (Espelage, 2014). For instance, the belief that the
parents themselves should take care of their child without any help of other people. It increases
their responsibility and they are not able to give enough financial stability to their child. The
inability and ability of the parents affects the microsystems which ultimately shows its cascading
effect to macrosystem.
Another significant impact is due to wars in the country in which the child is living. It
may affect the well being, thinking ability and behaviour of the child as well. Parents do not have
any control over these factors however, can decrease its impact with proper nurturing (Ungar,
Ghazinour and Richter, 2013). Moreover, religious and gender norms also act as a driving force
in the development of the child. The values, morales and beliefs owned by the parents are also
reflected in the child as well as they are influenced by it.
The above systems have high impact on Children are highly influenced by the
environment in which they live. The living conditions have direct impact on the growth and
development. Any change in the biology and sorroundings will change the behaviour as well.
Different layers in Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems' theory helps in assessing the impacts on
ongoing development of a kid. The set world surrounded to the child helps or hinders the
development.
There are greater short-term and long-term impact of these systems on the development
of a child. The level of support being granted by the family decides the success and failure of a
child in various aspects. Relationship of a child with his parents assess his morale values and
beliefs. A loving and affectionate nature of parents stimulates the child to love them back. It also
decided the intensity of happiness in his life leading to develop a sense of positivism as well.
I was born and brought up in Australia, where I used to live with my parents and two
siblings. One is older to me and other is younger to me. I always got much care and affection
from the side of the parents. It helped me to be a good human being and develop an optimistic
nature in me. They always supported in my studies and whatever career field I wanted to choose.
It pushed me to get a stabilised career. The years between 4-12 years of age are considered to be
an important part of a child's life (Lejano and Stokols, 2013). It is developing phase which
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demand support from the side of parents. Moreover, a sense of love, care and nurture is also
important to develop an optimistic nature. As a long term development, I am doing quite well in
my life and able to keep myself and my family happy.
I, being in a permissive environment always got freedom from my parents. They always
considered my point of view and allowed me to take my own decisions. Being in such an
independent domain. It helped me to take risks and develop my own decision making power. A
child in authoritarian parenting do not tend to have decision making ability. However, the
opportunity is, he may be much more in discipline in comparison to the kids who live in
permissive and neglectful parenting (Martin and Vellar, 2012).
Neighbours and social life plays an important part in the life of a kid. I used to live in a
flat based system where 20 families used to live in one building. I used to have a sound social
life there with various friends. It helped me to get good educated neighbours as well. It helped
me grow and develop relationships with people. Regardless of having supportive parents, I did
not use to feel comfortable at school as my peers used to bully me. It led to drop my confidence
level. It has a great impact on me due to which I am still trying to cope up with low confidence
level issue. Hence, it has led to long term impact on me. It ascertains that any event that took
place in the childhood can lead to have a long term impact on the life of a person.
There is a great impact of parent's profession on the life of a child (Burns, Warmbold-
Brann and Zaslofsky, 2015). My parents are doctors which restricts them to spend much time
with me due to their engaged schedules. Moreover, extra hectic day used to affect their nature
whose consequences were required to be bore my me. A little clash at the workplace used to
affect the immediate surroundings of the family. Since, it was the most crucial age of my life, it
short-term impact on my own development. Moreover, being a child of doctors, I have always
open to risk and take riskier decisions in my life since childhood. It helped me to develop
prudent judgement behaviour and take decisions understanding its future consequences. The
quality of parents was inherited in me and I am able to develop it due to constant observation
since chilhood.
The concept of macrosystems plays an important role in the development of the child. Its
impact start with observation and finally ends with adoption of the activity (Csikszentmihalyi
and Rathunde, 2014). For instance, if he watches violence and war, he tends to become more
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violent aggressive. Hence, it s important the environment is positive and non violent so that its
adoption can be initiated by the parents. I have been brought up in Australia where I did not
come across with violence. It helped me to live a non violent life and have better temperament in
comparison to other children who have gone through this in their lives.
Based on the above essay, it can be concluded that, the situations and conditions of life
tend to decide the behaviour of a child. A kid who has difficult situations in life may have
different perspective towards life in comparison to the one who led an easier one. The act of
childhood have a direct impact on the decision making and risk taking behaviour of the child. A
child may not be comfortable in taking risks and take prudent decision if he has faced
authoritarian parenting from his parents. Moreover, the four main systems, that is, microsystems,
mesosystems, exosystems and macrosystems, have direct impact on the life of a child and on its
growth and development as well. Hence, it is important to dwell a child in a positive, nurturing,
loving and caring environment so it can act as a driving force in the development and growth of a
kid.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Boon, H. J., Cottrell, A., King, D., Stevenson, R. B., & Millar, J. (2012). Bronfenbrenner’s
bioecological theory for modelling community resilience to natural disasters. Natural
Hazards. 60(2). 381-408.
Bumett, B. (2001). Coming to terms with culture and r*cism. Co*temporary Issues in Early
Childhood" .2 (1).105-109.
Burns, M. K., Warmbold-Brann, K., & Zaslofsky, A. F. (2015). Ecological systems theory in
school psychology review. School Psychology Review.44(3). 249-261.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Rathunde, K. (2014). The development of the person: An experiential
perspective on the ontogenesis of psychological complexity. In Applications of Flow in
Human Development and Education(pp. 7-79). Springer Netherlands.
Espelage, D. L. (2014). Ecological theory: Preventing youth bullying, aggression, and
victimization. Theory Into Practice. 53(4). 257-264.
Etaugh, C. & Rsthus, S. (1995). The world atehildren Fort Worth, TX; I{arcourt Brace.
Gilligan, C., Lyong N.P., & Hanmor, T. (Eds.)' (1990). hlaking connections, Cambridgc:
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Hong, J. S., & Eamon, M. K. (2012). Students’ perceptions of unsafe schools: An ecological
systems analysis. Journal of Child and Family Studies. 21(3). 428-438.
Hong, J. S., & Espelage, D. L. (2012). A review of research on bullying and peer victimization in
school: An ecological system analysis. Aggression and violent behavior. 17(4). 311-322.
Hong, J. S., & Garbarino, J. (2012). Risk and protective factors for homophobic bullying in
schools: An application of the social–ecological framework. Educational Psychology
Review. 24(2). 271-285.
Lejano, R. P., & Stokols, D. (2013). Social ecology, sustainability, and economics. Ecological
economics. 89. 1-6.
Martin, A. J., Anderson, J., Bobis, J., Way, J., & Vellar, R. (2012). Switching on and switching
off in mathematics: An ecological study of future intent and disengagement among
middle school students. Journal of Educational Psychology. 104(1). 1.
Neal, J. W., & Neal, Z. P. (2013). Nested or networked? Future directions for ecological systems
theory. Social Development. 22(4). 722-737.
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Paat, Y. F. (2013). Working with immigrant children and their families: An application of
Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social
Environment. 23(8). 954-966.
Perron, N. C. (2017). BRONFENBRENNER’S ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY. College
Student Development: Applying Theory to Practice on the Diverse Campus, 197.
Ungar, M., Ghazinour, M., & Richter, J. (2013). Annual research review: What is resilience
within the social ecology of human development?. Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry. 54(4). 348-366.
Ushioda, E. (2015). Context and complex dynamic systems theory.Motivational dynamics in
language learning, 47-54.
Online
Individual within social context. 2017. [Online]. Available through
<https://www.nap.edu/read/23482/chapter/5#112>. [Accessed on 11th September 2017].
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