The Bronfenbrenner ecological system model was developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner to study the process of human growth and socialization. According to Eriksson et al. (2018), Bronfenbrenner argues that to comprehend social development better, the whole ecological system in which a person grows must be taken into consideration. The case study chosen for discussion is Dylan (age 45, Caucasian). The paper aims at incorporating the description provided on Dylan into the Urie Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model to understand the mistakes that occurred in Dylan's course of life. Also, using the model, the paper will examine the genetic/environmental elements that can be linked to the decisions Dylan made in his path of life.
According to the Ecological Concept by Bronfenbrenner, human development is reflected by the influence of various environmental systems (Eriksson et al. 2018). The ecological system is comprised of five socially arranged subsystems, which include microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and lastly, chronosystem (Eriksson et al. 2018). All these subsystems have been used to assess various problems in human lifespan growth and development. If changes or conflict occur in one component, the inconsistencies or variation will similarly lead to alterations in the rest of the system.
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A microsystem is a framework of roles, activities, and interpersonal associations experienced by a developing individual in a particular face-to-face environment with specific physical and material characteristics (Eriksson et al. 2018). Also, the microsystem contains people with distinctive features of personality, anger, and structure of belief. Hence, the microsystem is the environment in which a person dwells in; however, it is not confined to the individual's family, friends, school, and community. The microsystem is the region where a more significant effect, whether negative or positive, is learned. Although the actions of a child may be influenced by the parents, sometimes a child can influence the actions of a parent, a phenomenon termed as bi-directional interactions. Bi-directional interactions have an extreme influence on a child. Throughout Dylan's early childhood development, his microsystem comprised of Harriet, Dylan's mother, who was unemployed. Dylan's microsystem also included William, Dylan's father, who worked from as his children grew up, and Daniel, Dylan's twin sibling. Though little information is provided on what home life was for Dylan, one can speculate the home as a family where issues of substance abuse and addiction were non-existence. Besides, Dylan went to school up to the age of seventeen; hence it is likely he had numerous interactions with teachers and students he came into direct connection with every day of school. During this phase, the growth of Dylan depended directly on his microsystems interactions. Rejection among peers is a common occurrence; hence if this could have happened to Dylan, it may have contributed to his inability to acclimatize to different scenarios in life.
The mesosystem entails the relationship amongst microsystems. The interaction within and between the subsystem layers is a cornerstone for the Ecological Model (McGinnis & Ostrom, 2015). For example, the association of family encounters to the encounters at school and family occurrences to occurrences from peers. Therefore, based on Dylan's case, this is the level that answers the questions on why he struggled to adapt and was often anxious with any novel occurrence. It is possible to suggest that Dylan experienced rejection from his peers, his brother Daniel excelled both academically and socially; therefore, Dylan was left feeling incompetent and anxious. The association between Dylan, Daniel, and friends forms a component of the mesosystem. Moreover, the interaction between teachers at school and Dylan's father and mother could have contributed to Dylan's anxious nature. Unreported school conflicts or behavioural changes to parents by teachers may lead to unresolved issues leading to feelings of insecurity.
The exosystem comprises relationships between a social environment in which a person does not play a leading role and the immediate context of a person. According to McGinnis & Ostrom (2015), the exosystem is, therefore, an outside group of individuals who indirectly are included in the development of a child, for example, family healthcare providers, employers of the parents, or school administrators. For instance, Dylan's father may miss an important school event, sports activity, or presentation at school due to commitment at work, while the parents of other kids have attended. Dylan may feel left out, and in turn, this can result in feelings of insecurity and may be detrimental to Dylan's growth progress if it frequently occurs.
The macrosystem consists of a culture that an individual lives or was raised. Culture is the behavioral pattern or beliefs channeled from one generation to the other (Eriksson et al. 2018). The description of Dylan does not point to any religious background during his childhood. If Dylan's family was not founded on religious values or lacked strict cultural principles, one can argue or conclude that this was probably the reason why Dylan had a child outside of marriage. Likewise, his poor behavioral habits further prohibited him from seeing his daughter. Alternatively, one can argue that some families have strict cultural principles or religious principles, and Dylan's family could have been an example of such families. Probably, Dylan could not live with these beliefs, and the pressure was too much; hence he decided to rebel. Usually, when you are surrounded by a group of people who you do not share the same beliefs, you will automatically feel like an outcast.
Besides, a macrosystem may also consist of popular culture, poverty, and racism (Defoe et al. 2016). In the above description, Dylan's household is from a middle-class suburban community with a neighborhood watch. Hence, this implies the family was relatively secure financial-wise, which many points towards the perceptions concerning Dylan from his friends and also influence how he perceives himself. Dylan may be troubled to understand the social class that he fits in, or if he is unable to maintain his social level in adulthood, he may have a feeling of underachievement.
The chronosystem comprises the patterning of environmental occurrences, transitions throughout life, and sociohistorical events (Defoe et al. 2016). About the age of Dylan, Dylan perhaps was raised during the time where substance abuse was a chronic societal problem. Based on Dylan's underlying indications of maladaptation and anxiety, he may have resorted to alcohol and drugs for leisure. Besides, going by the multiple adverse events over the course of Dylan's life, he may not be in the right mental state to handle issues in life and turns to a subpar way of living just to get through with life.
In conclusion, the ecological system theory by Bronfenbrenner is one of the most acknowledged explanations concerning the effects of social environments on human development. Through the model, we can see how the environmental factors and the context of Dylan's surroundings affected his upbringing and Dylan interactions from childhood to his adult life.
Reference(s)
Defoe, I. N., Semon Dubas, J., Somerville, L. H., Lugtig, P., & van Aken, M. A. (2016). The unique roles of intrapersonal and social factors in adolescent smoking development. Developmental psychology , 52 (12), 2044.
Eriksson, M., Ghazinour, M., & Hammarström, A. (2018). Different uses of Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory in public mental health research: what is their value for guiding public mental health policy and practice?. Social Theory & Health , 16 (4), 414-433.
McGinnis, M. D., & Ostrom, E. (2015). Social-ecological system framework: initial changes and continuing challenges. Ecology and Society , 19 (2).
