2. Systems Theory Interrelationships among systems shapes development.
The varied systems of the environment and the interrelationships among the systems shape a child's development.
Both the environment and biology influence the child's development.
The environment affects the child and the child influences the environment.

3. Urie Bronfenbrenner

4. Bronfenbrenner- Facts
Born in Moscow in 1917, moved to the US when he was six year old
Father worked for the New York Institute for the Developmentally Disabled. This had enormous influence on Bronfenbrenner’s career.
Earned Doctorate from Michigan University before beginning career as Army where he worked with a team of psychologists to evaluate candidates for secret duty.
1948- joined the faculty of Cornell University where he spent six decades working on the creation of the field of Ecological Human Development.
Wished to distance himself from Psychologists who studied behavior disorders and diagnosed diseases. Instead, he studied children in their natural life space- focusing on relationships.

5. Ecological Systems Theory
The varied systems of the environment and the interrelationships among the systems shape a child's development.
Both the environment and biology influence the child's development.
The environment affects the child and the child influences the environment.

6. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model

7. Bronfenbrenner’s Systems
Microsystem: Immediate environments (family, school, peer group, neighborhood, and childcare environments)
Mesosystem: A system comprised of connections between immediate environments (i.e., a child’s home and school)
Exosystem: External environmental settings which only indirectly affect development (such as parent's workplace)
Macrosystem: The larger cultural context (Eastern vs. Western culture, national economy, political culture, subculture)
Later a fifth system was added:
Chronosystem: The patterning of environmental events and transitions over the course of life.

8. Model- (including Chronosystem)
This model shows a series of systems – each contained within the other.
Children are affected by all systems but some are more immediate to the child.

9. Who or what is in each system?
Microsystem: Within this system the student has direct interactions with parents, teachers, peers, and others.
Mesosystem: This system involves the linkages between microsystems such as family and school, and relationships between students and peers.
Exosystem: This system works when settings in which a child does not have an active role influence the student’s experiences.

10. Who or what is in each system?
Macrosystem: This system involves the broader culture in which students and teachers live.
Chronosystem: The sociohistorical conditions of a student’s development

11. Meet Alex

12. The Microsystem
The microsystem - activities and interactions in the child's immediate surroundings: parents, school, friends, etc.
1st tier: immediate relationships (mom and child)
the intimate social and immediate physical environmental setting (home/family; school; peer group)
Healthy microsystems will enhancing learning and development
Poor relationships can lead to information-poor and exploration-inhibiting microsystems
NOTE: Microsystems can change as the child changes
(or goes to) school, joins play groups/sports

13. The Mesosystem
The mesosystem - relationships among the entities involved in the child's microsystem: parents' interactions with teachers, a school's interactions with the daycare provider
2nd tier: interaction or links between several Microsystems
looks at the individual roles one plays in Microsystems in terms of their interactions with each other (one can be a son, a brother, a friend, a first baseman; i.e., have different roles in different contexts)
EXAMPLE: if the links between the family microsystem and the school system breakdown, it has been shown that students are worse off in school academically and show less initiative and independence, whereas in families where the family and school share mutual communication systems, the child does better in the same areas
Best outcome when the Microsystems are congruent in terms of their values (so, family and peer group both encourage good grades and no smoking)

14. Risks within the Mesosystem
Areas of problems or risks within the mesosystem:
impoverished mesosystem – few or no meaningful linkages between existing Microsystems. Child is compartmentalized; no continuity between Microsystems (e.g. parents who don’t know the friends).
divergent values within mesosystem – so, family condemns playing video games, while friends condone playing them.

15. The Exosystem
The Exosystem- social institutions which affect children indirectly: the parents’ work settings and policies, extended family networks, mass media, community resources
3rd tier: larger community; neighborhood; local laws; (school boards – cut funding for play grounds)
Children have no direct influence on -OR- participation in the exosystem
THESE ARE NOT PLACES THE CHILD HAS INFLUENCE ON, BUT ARE PLACES THE PARENT COULD HAVE INFLUENCE OVER.
Important exosystems include:
parents and workplace
parent’s circle of friends
neighborhood/community
school and neighborhood groups
mass media
local government

16. The Exosystem can Impovrish or Enrich the quality of the micro and mesosystems
EXAMPLE: a parent’s work environment can affect a child’s home life (microsystem) and the interaction with other Microsystems (mesosystem)… the parent may become less involved in the child’s other Microsystems leading to an impoverished mesosystem
Can lead to parental stress & possibly child abuse or neglect – inadequate housing, unemployment, prolonged poverty. (note that protective factors like supportive families or church attendance can reduce the probability of abuse/neglect)

17. The Macrosystem
The Macrosystem- broader cultural values, laws and governmental resources
4th tier: Society/cultural norms; societal blueprint; public policy
Society’s views – not TRUTH, E.g., single-parenting is bad – so mom is wrong because she’s a single parent
E.g., social customs, fashionable wear: what’s “in” or “out”
Society’s views about, and definitions of appropriate and inappropriate behavior

18. The Chronosystem The 5th tier- added later
The Chronosystem- describes changes that occur during a child’s life, both personally, like the birth of a sibling and culturally, like the Iraqi war.

19. A Video Overview of Bronfenbrenner’s Theory Applied in Ireland

20. Work Cited
Power Point Presentation, Overview of Child Development. Retrieved from: on October 19, 2014 New World Encyclopedia, Urie Bronfenbrenner. Retrieved from on October 19,