Applying Bronfenbrenner's Theory in Ecological Systems

Introduction

The Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner, examines the influence of multiple environmental systems on human development. These systems, including the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem, are all examined individually, as applied in the case of Pumi, a young girl whose situation and character help us understand how these systems interact and impact her growth and well-being. By applying Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory examples to Pumi's case, we can see how these systems affect her development.

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory

Microsystem: “the immediate situation that directly affects the developing person” and has the most influence. The building blocks it is made up of are roles, activities and relationships. There is also a bi-directional relationship, which means that the developing child has an effect on those closest to them and in the same way they also affect the child’s development. An example in this system would be the family; if the child is brought up in a home where their parents are in an abusive relationship, it would affect the development of the child in a negative way. This is because children generally learn from the actions of their parents and can later imitate those same actions.

Mesosystem: “involves the relationships between the microsystems in one’s life”. It shows how the surrounding extended environments also have an influence on the development of the child. For example, the interaction of the home and school. This can happen in the case of a parent teacher conference; where the teacher would have a discussion with the child’s parent on the progress and behaviour of the child as well as give some advice on certain practices that should be done at home. The effect on the child’s development will be positive as it improves their education because of the positive working environment that has been created both at home and at school.

Exosystem: involves other systems in which a child is not an active participant, but is still affected by them because it involves the people in their immediate relations. Example, the work place of the child’s father. If the company decides to transfer the father out of town then he will be spending less time at home. The child would not have a proper father figure and could develop anxiety from the irregular short visits of their father, which will have a negative impact on the development of the child.

Macrosystem: is where the dominant structures of social and economics are found, alongside all the other systems and their influences such as values, beliefs, and practices. An example would be religion; there are certain values and behaviours attached to different religions, and generally they are positive influences. So for the child who’s brought up to follow those laws of that religion, they can develop into a person with good morals – having a positive effect on their development.

Chronosystem: the last system is the dimension of time which has an effect on the way the other systems interact, or change and develop, and on the child. Example, the development of a black child born in South Africa during apartheid would be affected negatively because the society at that time treated black people as inferior.

What Do We Read About Pumi and What Are Her Challenges

We read that Pumi is an eleven year old girl in grade five who lives with her single HIV positive mother in an informal settlement outside of Cape Town. She is the second born out of four children and has had to take up the role of taking care of her siblings when her mother is unwell. Some of the challenges she faces are that she is unable to attend school frequently, she has a lot of responsibility at such a young age, their extended family and other friends have refused to help them because of her mothers’ status, she has no father figure role in her life because he had passed away, and she is living in an informal settlement where she is not safe because of the amount of crime and poverty.

System Application

Microsystem

In this case, Pumi’s microsystem would be her family. The effect they have on her development is that she has had to develop quite quickly in order to take care of her family and also learn how to cope without having a father figure.

Mesosystem Her mesosystem would be her school. Although she has been able to keep good grades in the classroom, her situation at home is affecting her ability to attend all her lessons which could later possibly affect her marks or result in her dropping out of school.

Exosystem

The mothers’ family and friends would be her exosystem. Their decision to abandon her mother has an effect on their whole family because they are all on their own with no one to call for help.

Macrosystem

The macrosystem would be the socioeconomic status of the area in which Pumi lives in. in this area there is a high unemployment level which has led to poverty and then to crime as people do anything they can to find the means to survive. Pumi’s development could be affected negatively as she has to be alert and could be anxious that anything can happen at any minute.

Chronosystem

What is affecting her from the chronosystem is that HIV has been given such a negative connotation that people are reluctant and normally don’t help those that are affected by it or they view those people in a negative way.

Support and Practical Suggestions

Microsystem – Pumi’s older sibling could help with taking care of the younger siblings and their mother, so that she has a chance to attend more classes and has less pressure on her.

Mesosystem – the school could acknowledge her academic excellence as well as her situation at home and offer her a bursary; or create a booklet with all the work that she can take home and learn from and do activities in, a teacher can check and correct as well as answer questions she might have at the end of every week.

Exosystem – it can just take even one person from her mothers’ family of friends to just reach out to them and offer to bring food once in a while and check up on them or even just to keep their mother company.

Macrosystem – her community could develop a security watch group or create a system where a few adults will walk a group of kids from home to school and back.

Chronosystem – HIV awareness groups should go out to informal settlements such as Pumi’s to educate people more about it as well as offer counselling sessions for those who have it or are affected by it.

Pumi’s Positive Characteristics

The positive characteristics that Pumi has are that she is very hardworking and determined. She cares for her family and stepped up to take responsibility when her mother fell ill. Despite her challenges and circumstance, she has still been able to have a dream of becoming a nurse and not let her situation make her feel like there is no hope for her future, and she hasn’t given up on making an effort to go to school when she is able to even though she could have many excuses. These are good characteristics to have because to be successful in life you need to understand that not everything goes according to plan or the way you think it should, but if you keep a positive attitude and outlook on life you can end up where you want to be by pushing through and always giving your best. Another thing is that good deeds are like a boomerang, and what she is doing for her family will one day return back to her.

Conclusion

In conclusion, by gaining a thorough understanding of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory (microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem) and being able to apply it to the case of young Pumi, we can see the truth to his theory and even use it to find support for the young girl in the different systems. All in all it has shown how “the external environment can affect our internal experiences in everyday life”.