Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory is one of the most accepted explanations of the influence of the social environment on people’s development, this hypothesis holds that the environment in which we grow affects all the projects of our lives, therefore, our way of thinking, the emotions we feel or our tastes and preferences would be determined by various social factors.
Since its inception, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory has served as the basis for studies in many disciplines, for example, developmental psychology and sociology are a direct result of this, first created in 1979 in a book entitled The Ecology of Human Development. article, we will see exactly what it is and what its most important points are.
- Urie Bronfenbrenner.
- Creator of this theory.
- Observed that children’s way of being changes depending on the context in which they grew up.
- So she decided to study what was most affected by the child’s development about it.
- Environment as a set of systems linked to each other.
- It initially identified four.
- Although a fifth was included in later versions.
The five systems are linked to each other, so the influence of one of them on the child’s development depends on their relationship with others, and they are organized from those closest to the child, to those farthest from the child.
On the other hand, a change in the environment can influence the person. Thus, it is normal for it to change the way you move to another culture, the same can happen when someone changes their social role within one of the systems. From the closest to the person to the furthest, the five systems of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory are:
Let’s see how each one is defined
The microsystem is made up of groups that have direct contact with the child, although there may be many different possibilities, some of the most important are family and school, the relationship between this system and the development of the child is obvious, but it occurs in both ways.
Thus, the beliefs of the parents have a direct impact on how the child will end up being, however, she is also able to change her family’s vision, the same goes for the school and the other groups that are part of the microsystem.
The second system described by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory consists of the relationships between the elements of the first level, in this way the relationship between parents and teachers, for example, will have a direct impact on the child.
The third level also deals with the elements that affect the child’s life, however, it has no direct relationship with them. The influence on the development of the person is therefore done indirectly.
An example of an ex-system would be, for example, the company where the child’s relatives work, which would affect the reflection, free time or well-being of the parents, so it would also have a significant impact on the life of the person.
The last of the four systems originally described by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory is the macrosystem, which would be made up of the elements of the culture in which the person is immersed, affecting everyone, for example, their values or the existence of an official religion.
In this case, the influence would occur because these elements determine how other systems can be expressed, so this would not happen directly, but by changing the other groups that affect the life of the person.
This last system was included in later versions of the theory and refers to the moment of life in which the person finds himself in relation to the situations he lives, for example, the death of a loved one is interpreted differently depending on age. .
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory is not perfect, but it has applications in many disciplines and, although it does not take into account biological factors, it is one of the best explanations of how different social groups influence a person’s life.