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Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory Explained

Urie Bronfenbrenner developed the ecological systems theory to understand how environmental systems influence human development. The theory proposes that a child's development is shaped by interactions within multiple environmental systems, ranging from immediate relationships (microsystem) to broad societal influences (macrosystem). Key systems include the microsystem of family and friends, mesosystem of connections between microsystems, exosystem of social structures like parents' work, macrosystem of encompassing culture, and chronosystem of environmental changes over time. Bronfenbrenner's contextual framework explores how different layers of environment interact to impact a child's growth, behavior, and development.

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52 views11 pages

Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory Explained

Urie Bronfenbrenner developed the ecological systems theory to understand how environmental systems influence human development. The theory proposes that a child's development is shaped by interactions within multiple environmental systems, ranging from immediate relationships (microsystem) to broad societal influences (macrosystem). Key systems include the microsystem of family and friends, mesosystem of connections between microsystems, exosystem of social structures like parents' work, macrosystem of encompassing culture, and chronosystem of environmental changes over time. Bronfenbrenner's contextual framework explores how different layers of environment interact to impact a child's growth, behavior, and development.

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Bronfenbrenner’s ecological

system theory

By- Jeevisha Gangwar


MSc Clinical Psychology
NFSU, Gandhinagar Gujarat
Biography of Bronfenbrenner

▪ Full name: Urie Bronfenbrenner


▪ Russian-American Psychologist.
▪ Famous for using a contextual framework to better understand
human development- Ecological system theory
▪ Born: 29 April 1917, Moscow, Russia.
▪ Died: 25 September 2005, Ithaca, New York, USA.
▪ Education: Harvard University, Cornell University, University of
Michigan
Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory

▪ Bronfenbrenner saw the process of human development as being


shaped by interaction between individual and their environment.
▪ Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theory is a framework that
explores how different environmental systems influence child’s
development, growth and behavior in direct and indirect ways.
▪ It emphasizes the interconnectedness between a child and their
environment, ranging from the immediate surrounding (e.g. family)
to broad societal structure (e.g. culture)
Components of the theory

▪ Microsystem
▪ Mesosystem
▪ Exosystem
▪ Macrosystem
▪ Chronosystem
Microsystem

▪ First level of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory.


▪ Microsystem have direct contact with the child in their immediate
environment.
▪ It include child’s most immediate relationship with the environment.
For example, their friends, parents, siblings would be the part of their
microsystem.
▪ Relationships in microsystem are bi-directional, meaning other
people can influence a child in their environment and change other
people’s belief and action. The interactions the child has with these
people and environment directly impact the development of child.
Mesosystem

▪ It is a system where a person’s individual microsystems do not


function independently but are interconnected an assert influence
upon one another.
▪ The mesosystem involves interaction between different
microsystems in child’s/individual’s life. For example, an open
communication between child and parent provide consistency across
both environment
▪ Mesosystem also involves interactions between family and peers. For
example, if a child’s friend uses drugs, it might introduce substance
abuse in the family microsystem.
Exosystem

▪ Exosystem embrace other formal and informal social structures. It


does not directly interact with the child, rather it influences the
microsystem.
▪ For instance, a parent’s stressful job and work schedule affects their
availability, resources, and mood at home with their child. Local
school board decisions about funding and programs impact the
quality of education the child receives.
▪ Even broader influences like government policies, mass media, and
community resources shape the child’s microsystems.
Macrosystem

▪ The main focus of macrosystem is, the influence of cultural system


on the development of child, consistency of culture, ideologies,
attitudes, and social condition that children are immense in.
▪ Macrosystem is different from others systems, because it does not
refer to the specific environments of one developing child but it
already established society and culture in which the child is
developing.
▪ Beliefs about gender roles, individualism, family structures, and
social issues establish norms and values that saturate child’s
microsystem.
Chronosystem

▪ The fifth and final level of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems


theory is known as the chronosystem.
▪ The chronosystem relates to shifts and transitions over the child’s
lifetime. These environmental changes can be predicted, like starting
school, or unpredicted, like parental divorce or changing schools
when parents relocate for work, which may cause stress.
▪ Historical events also fall within the chronosystem, like how growing
up during a recession may limit family resources or growing up
during war versus peacetime also fall in this system.
References

▪ Bronfenbrenner U. (1979), The ecology of human development,


Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.

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