Bronfenbrenner

Ecological Theory Builds on systems theory.  Development is a series of interactions between the individual and the environment.   Emphasizes reciprocity.  Human beings are purposeful and goal-seeking.  Mismatch between person and environment results in stress.

THE CHRONOSYSTEM: 5 LEVELS1.Microsystem – Individual and groups most directly impact the individual’s development: peers, family, school, religious institutions, neighborhood. These relationships are bidirectional.2. Mesosystem – The interconnections between two microsystems. I.e., parents and teachers. 3.Exosystem – Environmental setting not actively involved but impact the individual. I.e., father’s job loss, mother in the military.  4.Macrosystem – The cultural environment – societal values, government, educational institutions, economic structures.  5.Chronosystem – Zeitgeist, the historical times and events over a lifetime.

Development is affected by everything in our environment

Bronfenbrenner named his original model "Ecological Systems Theory". Through this framework, Bronfenbrenner identified the need to understand individuals’ development within their environments. In order to conceptualize environmental contexts, Bronfenbrenner described four ecological systems:Bronfenbrenner suggested that individuals constantly interact with these systems. He also stated that both individuals and their environments constantly affect one another.[3] However, in this original model, Bronfenbrenner recognized there was not enough focus on individuals’ own role in their development,[4] and thus began further developing this model.The history of bioecological systems theory is divided into two periods. The first period resulted in the publication of Bronfenbrenner's theory of ecological systems theory, titled The Ecology of Human Development, in 1979.[10] Bronfenbrenner described the second period as a time of criticism and evaluation of his original work.[4]The development of ecological systems theory arose because Bronfenbrenner noted a lack of focus on the role of context in terms of development. He argued the environment in which children operate is important because development may be shaped by their interactions with the specific environment. He urged his colleagues to study development in terms of ecological contexts, that is the normal environments of children (schools, homes, daycares). Researchers heeded his advice and a great deal of research flourished in the early 1980s that focused on context.However, where prior research was ignoring context, Bronfenbrenner felt current research focused too much on context and ignored development. In his justification for a new theory, Bronfenbrenner wrote he was not pleased with the direction of research in the mid 1980s and that he felt there were other realms of development that were overlooked.[5]In comparison to the original theory, bioecological systems theory adds more emphasis to the person in the context of development. Additionally, Bronfenbrenner chose to leave out key features of the ecological systems theory (e.g., ecological validity and ecological experiments) during his development of bioecological systems theory. As a whole, Bronfenbrenner’s new theory continued to go through a series of transformations as he continuously analyzed different factors in human development. Critical components of bioecological systems theory did not emerge all at once. Instead, his ideas evolved and adapted to the research and ideas of the times. For example, the role of proximal processes, which is now recognized as a key feature of bioecological systems theory, did not emerge until the 1990s.[4] This theory went through a series of transformations and elaborations until 2005 when Bronfenbrenner died.[6]

Main justification for bioecological model:The bioecological model is a theoretical model of gene–environment interactions in human development. This model, first proposed byUrie Bronfenbrenner and Stephen J. Ceci,[1] in 1994, is an extension of Bronfenbrenner's original theoretical model of human development, called ecological systems theory. Bronfenbrenner developed the bioecological model after recognizing that the individual was overlooked in other theories of human development, which were largely focused on the context of development (e.g., the environment).The bioecological model of human development can be applied to both children and maturing adults, and is thus a lifespan approach to development. The framework emphasizes the importance of understanding bidirectional influences between individuals’ development and their surrounding environmental contexts.In the bioecological model, in contrast to his earlier models, Bronfenbrenner also includes time (known as the chronosystem in his model) as an important component in the way that people and environments change. The bioecological model proposed a new method of conducting research which was heavily influential in developmental psychology and is still considered relevant today.

ec. sys. theory

bronfenbrenner