Analyze Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory of Development LaQuintein Dinkins HS5002 Abstract Brofenbrenner’s ecological theory of development is relevant to state of all our lives. His research shows how our development is affected by the environment we are in. This is explained to us in five different parts. Urie Brofenbrenner (1917-2005) proposes an ecological theory that centers on the relationship between the developing individual and the changing environmental systems. (Crandell, Zanden, p 52) This theory is broken down into a model of five different relationships of development.
He suggests that the environment has an effect on the behavior and how it is expressed. The model that Brofenbrenner breaks down five systems called the microystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosytem. The microystem deals with inner relationships, relationships that are close and are interacted on a daily basis. These relationships consist of mother, father, siblings and neighbors, etc. The mesosystem explores the interrelationships of the developing person. This part of Brofenbrenner’s model deals with how the person develops consciously and unconsciously deals with a situation.
The exosystem deals with the external development and relationship of the person environment. This takes form of activities such as work and the workplace, schooling, media influences, the government, and other social networks. This model explains how outside social factors can play a role on the behavior and development. The macrosystem of the model deals with the cultural aspect of how your relationship between behavior development and the environment. This consists of how the society in your environment views family, education, economics, politics, and religion.
The last system Brofenbrenner decided to add to the previous four parts of has ecological theory model is the chronosytem. This study shows how there is constant change in the person as well as the society and environment. Brofenbrenner’s theory sheds light on what some of the influences that determine our behavior. Brofenbrenner’s ecological theory of development can easily used in the development and our behavior of my life. Each step of his model I can say has been a strong influence on my decisions in the life choices I made today for the betterment of my education.
I can also say that each part of his model has a strong choice of furthering my education. In each model system of his model, I can relate to the life choices I made in furthering my education. The microystem role plays a part in my development because my parents, siblings, family, and peers played a role on my behavior. My parents reared me to be a good child, a good student, and to set an example for my siblings. That was embedded into me, especially since I was the oldest of my siblings. Unlike most families we were blessed with all our needs.
We may not have been rich and could not have everything we wanted, but we had everything that we needed. This curtails a lot of mischief that is associated with broken homes. Most bad behavior acts, such as crime of violence in order to have their needs met. Most kids that do not have their needs met will usually commit bad behavior acts, such as crime of violence in order to meet their needs and wants. My parents and many of their sisters and brothers do not have a college education. Even though they did not have one, they distilled how important a college education is in order to obtain a better and decent life.
It was also taught to me that my drive towards excellence will also affected others around me in hopes to set off a positive reaction in making others want to achieve higher goals for themselves. I do find it that the developments at a young age around my peers were not easily strayed as in my teenage and young adult years. As a child I had consequences to my actions. My peers could not influence me at all because I knew that if my behavior were to get out of line, that my backside will be met with a belt. As I got older, my behavior changed because of the peers I wanted to be around.
I was never pushed past the point to disappoint and forget my parents and family values and teachings. Though my behavior was changed by the environment of my peers, school was still embedded in me. This lead to the inner struggle I was dealing with. This also leads into the next part of Brofenbrenner’s model, the mesosystem. My behavior has change but the need to go to school and have a better life was a battle hard fought within side me. Both consciously and unconsciously, the problem I face was to either please my peers or myself.
In the end I chose to continue my education because the peers I was surrounding by was not of the positive group. So the environment I was in was not of a motivational one. My internal need for motivation had to be fed in order for me to continue on my road of higher learning. Until I found and surrounded myself with positive peers and influences, it was in me that I had to use what I was taught to continue my education. Once I made it to the point that I did not need anyone to help motivate me but me. I then continued my education to higher learning on my own accord.
The macrosystem development stage of my life is surrounded by all its factors on a daily base. My cultural environment does not see higher education as a number one priority. By being a black American, the culture of education is only push as far as high school. Coming up in school the thing that was stressed the most was trying to graduate from high school. By the high school dropout level being so high in my city amongst the blacks, that became the first priority on the list of the educators. This affected the ones who did excel and were thinking about higher learning.
It was hard to get guidance because it was all exalted to all who needed to exceed in getting their high school diploma. I did not want to be a statistic, nor did not want my environment to dictate how far in life that I am expected to succeed. In this level of my development, it shows how my outside factors gave me a reason to prove all the stereotypes wrong. The exosystem of Brofenbrenner’s development theory explain how outside factors influence my behavior. It does have a huge affect on my decisions to get my masters.
The media would be the biggest factor of this outside source. By the economy being as bad as the media portrays it, it is pushing a lot of people back to school to get their college education. Since high quality jobs are very scarce at this time it is a very competitive job market for the average college graduate with a bachelor’s degree. A bachelor’s degree in this day and age is becoming more common to have amongst the new generation of workers. By choosing to get my masters it will help me to have an upper hand in this troubling economy and job market.
The final development stage Brofenbrenner later added to his theory was the chronosytem. There is change every day in me and my surrounding environment. I also think that it is not just change in me but also adaptation. It is very hard to control an environment that changes. Sometimes you have to adapt your behavior with your surroundings in order to proceed forward. After analyzing Urie Brofenbrenner’s ecological development, it help put in perspective how my behavior is affected by the environment I am in.
These environments consist of everything that has affected my life personally. That includes my family, peers, work, school, economy, media, my inner self, etc. His model shows how that this will be a constant change in me as well as my environment. While also analyzing his theory, it shed light on some of the reasons I have chosen to further my education. References Thomas L. Crandell, Corinne Haines Crandell, James W. Vander Zanden. (2009). Urie Brofenbrenner’s Ecological Theory. Human Development Ninth Edition (pg 52-53).
