Ecological Systems Theory
The Ecological Systems Theory was developed to illustrate how children’s development is affected by their surroundings and social relationships. Urie Bronfenbrenner developed this Theory with the belief that individuals’ growth and behaviors are affected by the different environments they experience throughout their lives. He divided this surrounding environment into five levels. These levels include the chronosystem, the macrosystem, the exosystem, the mesosystem, and the microsystem.
The Microsystem.
This is the level of the ecological systems with an enormous influence on any individual. This is the system is closest to the individual, in which direct relationships with the surroundings. Typically, the microsystem includes caregivers, peers, and family. In this level, relationships are two-way. This means that people treat you depending on how you react towards them.
The Mesosystem
This level comprises interactions between different parts of an individual’s microsystem. Communications, at this level, have an indirect impact on the person. This is because the mesosystem is a level where an individual’s microsystem work dependently by asserting influence upon one another. For instance, the relationship between a child’s parents and teachers can positively or negatively influence the child, depending on the nature of their interactions.
The Exosystem
In this level, the individual is not involved actively but gets affected either way. The exosystem is a level in which decisions affect the individual even though they are not included in the decision-making process. For instance, when a parent gets the next job or gets fired, the child is affected by something he has nothing to do with.
The Macrosystem.
This level involves the individual’s culture, which includes their family’s socioeconomic status. The ethnicity, race, and social status of the individual or that of his relatives directly affect the individual. For instance, an individual born to a low-income family in a developing country has to work hard each day to earn a living, as opposed to an individual born to a wealthy family.
The Chronosystem
In this level, changes and transitions taking place in a person’s lifetime, are seen to influence their behavior. For instance, if parents get divorced, children are affected negatively at first, but get used to it later on in life.
Research studies related to the Ecological Systems Theory
‘At-risk’ or school-based risk? Testing a model of school-based stressors, coping responses, and academic self -concept for same-sex attracted youth, Jacqueline (2014)
This study focuses on examining the perceptions of SSA students about their school environment. A phenomenological variant of this Theory was used to investigate the relationships between students and teachers, the students’ coping mechanisms, and the effects of these environmental interactions on the development of an academic identity by the SSA students. The relationship between SSA students and their teachers in their school environment had the most significant impact on their self-confidence and drove them to study. This study’s findings show how the school-based stresses and the interactions between the SSA students and their teachers and the entire school environment impacted their academic outcomes.
The Perfect Game: An Ecological Systems Approach to the influence of Elite Youth and High School Baseball Socialization.
This study was conducted by Charles Macaulay, Joseph Cooper, and Max Klein. This study aimed to investigate the elite youth and high school baseball socialization process holistically and the role of corporatization and professionalization in this process. This was to understand the players’ experiences, semi-structured interviews are conducted, which involve four former elite players. Macaulay and his colleagues employ the Ecological Systems Theory by Bronfenbrenner (1977) to investigate how sociological factors in different levels influenced the players’ social life. This study’s findings show that various levels of sociological factors had a strong influence on the way the baseball players socialized. These factors included corporate by-laws and the basketball’s CBA.
I am drowning in the Shallows: an Australian study of the Ph.D. experience of wellbeing.
This study was conducted to investigate the challenges experienced by Ph.D. students during their candidature. Typically, doctoral studies require thorough engagement and dedication for the student to contribute to their scholarly field effectively. According to the study’s findings, the learners were unable to meet their needs due to the shallow support they received. According to Bronfenbrenner (1977), an individual is an integral part of the environment-the microsystem, in which they are influenced and get to influence others within their surroundings. The authors employed this Theory in their discipline to show hos Ph.D. students needed support from their surrounding relationships for them to perform their scholarly contributions effectively.
Strengths and weaknesses
The most outstanding strength of the Theory is that it deals with living organisms in their natural habitat rather than in a simulation.
The Theory also accounts for evolution, which is best described through the interrelations of living organisms within their natural environment.
This Theory has, however, been criticized for being diffuse, mainly because most of the scientists and researchers are promoting specialization.
Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
This Theory was developed by Erik Erikson and Joan Erikson to identify the eight stages that characterize the steps that a healthy individual ought to pass through from childhood to adulthood. These eight life stages are characterized by sociocultural and biological forces that continuously conflict with each other. An individual gets to acquire a virtual at the end of each step if they manage to reconcile the two conflicting factors. Unresolved issues in one stage may pose a problem in the future, although the outcome from a level can be modified by experiences of the other steps later in life. These stages include:
Trust vs. Mistrust (0-1yr)
Virtue: Hope
An infant has basic needs that are to be satisfied by their caregivers or parents. If the infant is crying out of hunger, the mother will breastfeed him to please him. The infant develops trust by relying on the mother for support and sustenance. He can hope for someone reliable to tend to his needs. The infant, however, develops Mistrust if the mother fails to respond positively to the needs of the infant. As a result, the infant sees everyone around him as unreliable.
Autonomy vs. Shame and doubt (2-4yrs)
Virtue: Will
Between the ages of 2 to 4 years, the child learns to explore their environment. When the caregiver encourages them to do so by supporting them and protecting them from any danger, the child develops a sense of autonomy. On the other hand, if the caregivers restrict the child from exploring their environment and learning new things, the child feels ashamed to try new things and becomes doubtful.
Initiative vs. Guilt (4 to 6 yrs.)
Virtue: Purpose
At this age, the child feels the need to accomplish certain things on his own, for reasons well known to him. Parents are expected to promote the sense of initiative in the child. For instance, parents should allow the child to lead a group of children. Children can develop an understanding of Guilt for his needs and want if the caregivers deny him the chance to do things on his own.
Industry vs. Inferiority (7 to 12 years)
Virtue: Competence
These are the ages between which children become more eager to master skills such as writing and reading and learning more things to compete with their age mates. Caregivers and educators need to encourage the kids by applauding them for their achievements. Children develop the feeling of being productive, and in so doing, they become more industrious by being diligent and patient. On the other hand, if the children are punished for making efforts, they suffer from low self-esteem and end up feeling inferior among their age mates.
Identity vs. Role Confusion (13 to 19 years)
Virtue: Fidelity
Being an adolescent involves experiencing mixed emotions, which can be confusing. At this age, a person develops the need to get some sort of identity concerning their role in society. Failure to resolve the identity crisis results in role confusion, which affects their adult lives if not addressed in the subsequent stages.
Intimacy vs. isolation (20 to 40 years)
Virtue: love
This is the age in which a person may feel wanted and loved, especially when they meet someone they can share the rest of their lives. If the people around the person settle with their own families, the person is left without people to hang around. The person gets isolated and feels withdrawn as a result.
Generativity vs. Stagnation (45 to 65 years)
Virtue: Care
At this age, a person desires to impact the younger generation by producing something of importance. Failure to do so results in the person feeling unproductive.
Ego Integrity vs. Despair (65 years and above)
Virtue: Wisdom
This is the climax of a person’s life where they pause and look back at the past. If the person gets satisfied by the life he has led, he develops a sense of ego integrity. On the other hand, the person may create a feeling of despair if their experience was unproductive, and they failed to achieve their goals in life.
Research studies related to Erickson’s Psychosocial Theory.
Eriksonian Personality Research and its Implications for Psychotherapy
This study conducted in 2012 by personality researchers focuses on the adult stages of Erickson’s Theory; identity, intimacy, Generativity, and integrity. The understanding of these stages has psychotherapeutic implications. This study links the Theory and the research which uses the Theory as an intervention as a language that individuals with psychological problems may understand. Most seem to be stuck in some stage of their life.
Links of Adolescents Identity Development and relationship with Peers: a Systematic Literature Review.
This study was conducted to try to link the development of identity in adolescents and their relationships with their peers. Erickson’s Theory is used to support claims that the development of a person’s character is crucial in the social relations that a person develops amongst peers. According to Erickson (1968), it is during the teenage that a person builds their identity. He also argues that life is a cycle characterized by stages; therefore, in each step, a person acquires a virtue that determines their character development. The findings of this study are seen in the accomplishments one makes in their lifetime. The nature of the relationships with peers is as a result of the virtues gained along these stages of life.
Psychosocial Development factors Associated with Occupational and Vocational Identity between Infancy and adolescence.
This study’s main goal was to examine the vocational literature to identify the various factors relevant in the psychosocial development stage between childhood (infancy) and adolescence. This study argues that occupational identity cannot be described as a virtue someone achieves at teenagehood, but as one a person accumulates over the years since infancy (Kroger and Marcia 2001).
The arguments of this study are valid, but I support Erickson’s original argument since he acknowledges that some virtues and abilities can be picked later in life.
Strengths and weaknesses
One of Erickson’s psychosocial Theory’s strengths is that it provides a detailed framework from which people can view the development of the entire life.
Secondly, this Theory emphasizes the importance of social relationships and the impact of human social nature on development.
The weakness of this Theory is in its vagueness, which causes difficulty in rigorous testing.
Compare and contrast between the Ecological systems theory and Erickson’s psychosocial Theory
In Erickson’s psychosocial Theory, character or personality develop in eight predetermined stages of a person’s lifespan. In contrast, in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, human development is only influenced by the person’s natural surroundings. The environment shapes the development of the person.
Psychosocial Theory by Erickson describes the development as a discontinuous process since there are different stages of development. In contrast, in the Ecological systems theory, development is both continuous and intermittent since the influences each system can be either continuous or discontinuous.
The Psychosocial Theory is one course of development as all the stages are similar for everyone. Simultaneously, the Ecological systems theory offers many courses of growth as each individual is influenced by a different combination of environmental and human interactions.
Both theories support the influence of both nature and nurture. This implies that both the natural and social relations influence the development of a person.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the two theories discussed in this paper, that is, Erickson’s psychosocial Theory and the Ecological systems theory by Urie Bronfenbrenner, are a clear indication that development is not static but dynamic. This is seen with the developmental changes adopted in every stage or depending on the current environmental surroundings and interactions. These theories can conclusively prove that external factors highly influence human development. A child’s development is influenced by how a caregiver responds to their need in the psychosocial Theory. Similarly, a child’s development is influenced by its parents, who are the microsystem. It is, therefore, important for caregivers to understand their role in their children’s development.
References
Beasy, Kim & Emery, Sherridan & Crawford, Joseph. (2019). Drowning in the shallows: an Australian study of the Ph.D. experience of wellbeing. Teaching in Higher Education. 1-17. 10.1080/13562517.2019.1669014.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1992). Ecological systems theory. In R. Vasta (Ed.), Six methods of child development: Revised formulations and current issues (p. 187–249). Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Sarah Mae Sincero (Mar 14, 2012). Ecological Systems Theory. Retrieved Jun 24, 2020, from Explorable.com: https://explorable.com/ecological-systems-theory
Klein, Max & Macaulay, Charles & Cooper, Joseph. (2020). The Perfect Game: An Ecological Systems Approach to the Influences of Elite Youth and High School Baseball Socialization. Journal of Athlete Development and Experience. 2. 10.25035/jade.02.01.02.
Marcia, James & Josselson, Ruthellen. (2012). Eriksonian Personality Research and Its Implications for Psychotherapy. Journal of personality. 81. 10.1111/jopy.12014.
Ragelienė T. (2016). Links of Adolescents Identity Development and Relationship with Peers: A Systematic Literature Review. Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry = Journal de l’Academie canadienne de psychiatrie de l’enfant et de l’adolescent, 25(2), 97–105.
Ullman, Jacqueline. (2014). ‘At-risk’ or school-based risk? Testing a model of school-based stressors, coping responses, and academic self-concept for same-sex attracted youth. Journal of Youth Studies. 17. 10.1080/13676261.2014.963539.