Bronfenbrenner's Ecological System Theory of Individual & Social Development | Child Development and Pedagogy for CTET Preparation - CTET & State TET PDF Download

Introduction

Urie Bronfenbrenner proposed this theory of human social development in the year 1979. This theory has helped greatly in analysing and understanding a person and the effect of different environmental systems that he or she encounters. Though the theory has undergone many changes since its first publication, it became the foundation for many other theoretical works. The Ecological System theory explains the changes that happen in a child and how a child’s environment affects him as he grows and develops. The theory emphasises that environmental factors as playing the major role to development.

The below given figure depicts the ecological theory of human development.

An individual child is not an isolated being. He or she lives as part of a larger set-up. While the child’s relation with a few members of the set-up is direct, his or her interactions with others may be distant and not as evident. However, these interactions are consequential and have an effect on the child’s development. According to this theory, there are layers of ecological system and their interacting systems are not separated from one another. There is an interaction not only among systems but also between the system and the child, and the child’s own interaction with the systems. Earlier versions of this theory gave little agency to the child but in the later versions it accepts the agency on the part of child and held that child also interacts and modifies the systems.

Bronfenbrenner divided the ecological systems as different aspects and layers and called them the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem and the chronosystem.

Microsystem

Children’s microsystem includes any immediate relationships or organisation they interact with. Family, peers, siblings, friends and teachers, come under this system. They are immediate and directly connected with the child. How these institutions interact with the child will have an effect on how the child grows. With encouragement and better nutriment, the child will be able to grow better. Moreover, how a child acts and reacts to these people in the microsystem will, in turn, affect his or her behaviour. It is to be noted that the unique genetic makeup and biology of each child also influences his or her personality traits. 

Mesosystem

The mesosystem involves the relationship between the microsystem and one’s life. It connects two relationships, such as interaction between one’s family and teachers, relationship between the child’s peers and family and so on. This means that one relationship is related to the other and has an impact on one another. If the parents neglect a child, the probability is that a child will not develop positive attitude towards the teacher. In addition, it may be possible that in the presence of peers, this child may feel awkward and in the presence of classmates, he may resort to withdrawal. The conflicting environment of family might have a negative impact on the growth of a child. Parents need to take an active role to ensure proper growth of their child. Parents attending teacher-parents conferences and watching their child playing cricket or badminton games will help to ensure the child’s overall growth.

Exosystem

The exosystem is a setting where children do not play any active role but maintain a link in the context of the systems where they are actively participating. Thus, institutions have an effect on the child’s socialisation. In this system come the parents’ workplace, extended family members, the neighbourhood, school boards, and mass media. Children may not be directly associated with these institutions but they wield a large influence on their growth. For example, if one of the child’s parents is laid off from job and he is unable to pay rent or buy groceries that will affect the child negatively. If the child’s parent gets a promotion and a raise at work, this will have positive effect as the child will now be provided with better facilities. Take one more example: If a child’s father has to move to another city due to work, there may be a conflict between the mother’s and the child’s social relationship if this movement exposes them to an unfamiliar culture and environment posing serious adaptation problems. However, the opposite may also turn out to be true and the changed surroundings can help to bring about a tighter bond between the mother and the child. Nowadays, the media has tremendously penetrated into the setting of the child. Children are watching a lot of cartoon and entertainment programmes. These programmes have been showing a negative effect on the child’s overall development. Mass media restricts children’s involvement with context and increases their passivity. Children are also exposed to violent and sexually implicit material at a very early age, which has resulted in their show of aggression and disposition to unreal fantasies.

Macrosystem

The macrosystem describes the culture in which individuals live. Cultural contexts include the status of the country one lives in (developing or developed), socio-economic status, laws, history, and social condition. A child’s parent’s workplace, his school, his standing in society, regional history, family status and caste are all part of the large cultural and social context. Members of a culture share common cultural identity, values, and heritage. The macrosystem may evolve over time as each successive generation may change the macrosystem and lead to development in a unique fashion. The components of the macrosystem affect a child throughout his or her lifetime. For example, a child born in a poor family has to work harder than a financially well-off child. Social and economic hardship mostly follows the poor all their life. Much research has found that the macrosystem has tremendous impact on the child in terms of his or her overall development. A child’s destiny may well be written in advance by the fact of his birth in one macrosystem or the other.

Chronosystem

The chronosystem refers to the changes or transitions that happen over the course of one’s lifetime. It also includes changes in socio-historical circumstances. For example, divorce is one such transition. Researchers have found that children have peak negative experience during the first year of divorce. By the end of two years after parents’ divorce, its influence becomes less chaotic and more stable. An example of the significance of socio-historical circumstance in the chronosystem would the increase in opportunities for women to pursue a career during the last forty years.

Since its publication in 1979, the Bronfenbrenner model of human development has influenced psychologists over the years. His model, however, has been criticised for being too simplistic and lacking in detail. Its inability to explain complexity and focussing little on interaction has drawn huge criticism. Despite changes in the model over the years, it retains its overly environmentally deterministic outlook. It does not pay much attention to children’s action and their resistance. The levels have also been criticised for being too simplistic and for not addressing the fact of confluence of the micro and the macro in a child directly. The exosystem and the macrosystem have been merged over the years since it is hard to make a distinction between these two as they appear to blend at one time and converge at another.