Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model Research Articles

The Role of Schools in Outcomes for Youth: Implications for Children's Mental Health Services Research

We explore the role of schools in children's mental health services research. Recent literature has suggested that schools play an important role in delivering services to children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral problems. Research in services research, though, has taken a fairly narrow view of which dimensions of school environments are relevant for inclusion in studies. We suggest that a broader view of school environments is appropriate and potentially beneficial to the field. Using Bronfenbrenner's ecological model as a guide, we conceptualize schools as microsystems. Such an approach suggests that all aspects of school environments (treatment as well as non-treatment) are likely to influence many of the outcomes that children's mental health services research frequently targets (e.g., behavioral problems, problematic peer relationships, academic achievement, school attendance). We review literature from a variety of disciplines to suggest relevant features of schools, with particular attention to the role of peer dynamics within schools. We conclude with implications of this expanded conceptualization of schools for children's mental health services research.

Self-Regulation in Democratic Communities

In this article we examine self-regulation as a nonacademic outcome of schooling and assess school- and community-based programs and practices that aim to promote it. From Deweyan and Vygotskian perspectives, self-regulation is conceived broadly as the product of reciprocal person-context relations. It is defined as the planful pursuit of goals that is flexible and promotes individual growth and social change. Self-regulation is characterized by 3 types and levels of person-context interactions: (1) internalization and close personal relations, (2) empowerment and contingent environments, and (3) future orientation and social capital. We examine how self-regulation develops and is supported within and across these types of person-context interactions using Bronfenbrenner's ecological model of human development. Implications for 2 aspects of social change-cultural enrichment and social transformation for the promotion of democratic communities-are explored.

History and Contribution of Organizational Behavior Management to Services for Persons with Developmental Disabilities

ABSTRACT This article traces the development of the field of organizational behavior management (OBM) from its origins in early behavior modification studies, the development of a technology for modifying staff behavior, to recent developments in the evolution of cultures. An ecological model of staff behavior is outlined using Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model of human development. The technology used to modify staff behavior is briefly reviewed. In the final section recommendations for managers and researchers are made. Managers should be aware that there is an effective technology for modifying a wide range of staff behaviors that can be implemented both in response to crises and during routine management. Future research on OBM should address three major concerns. First, OBM should broaden the scope of its enquiry beyond the immediate staff and consumer dyad to include analysis of and intervention upon the entire ecosystem within which the consumer's behavior occurs. Second, the issue of integrating theory with practice should be pursued more vigorously through fundamental research on supervisor behavior and through basing interventions on an analysis of the variables maintaining current supervisory behavior. Third, greater attention should be paid to developing training for middle managers as general ist users of the principles of OBM.

Family Stories: A Qualitative Collaborative Study

This Paper is based on a qualitative, collaborative study which explored the experiences of ten New Zealand families of children with visual impairment The research process demonstrates a way in which the parent/professional relationship might be effected. Designed around a narrative life history model, stories were accessed through the triangulation of focus group exploration, questionnaire and face-to-face family interviews. Excerpts from the stories in which participants speak directly include aspects which played a prominent part in the lives of the families. The framework within which the findings were examined - Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model - is outlined. Issues relating to the education and health needs of children predominate, with educators the professionals parents most expect to support them. The study's families speak to other families, professionals, service providers and policy makers and bring each the opportunity to listen, understand and integrate what is relevant to their own life experiences.

A Collaborative Assignment on the Role of Culture in Child Development and Education

In this article, I describe a collaborative project that helps students understand the role of culture in child development and education through an in-depth study of math education in the United States and Asia. Students use Bronfenbrenner's (1979, 1994) ecological model of development as a theoretical framework. The project entails independent and collaborative work outside of class and 2 class sessions. Evaluation data indicate that the assignment, especially the collaborative element, was highly effective in helping students understand how culture influences child development and education. The assignment also helped students understand Bronfenbrenner's ecological model and its applicability to child development topics.

Caseworkers' perceptions of protective services clients' parental functioning: Toward an ecological integration

Bronfenbrenner's ecological model (1979; 1989) can provide caseworkers hope for client change with the use of this framework to order data, thus bridging research and practice. The ecological model was used to design this study of relationships between caseworkers, mothers and their children. Caseworkers' perceptions of mothers with whom they were working, the mothers' perceptions of their own parental functioning and their preschoolers' competence, and the preschoolers' self-esteem and cognitive functioning were examined. Caseworkers and 18 mother-child dyads were measured. Caseworkers' initial impressions of the mothers were correlated with positive developments in the relationship and more effective casework. Mothers, whose caseworkers reported them as less responsible for their children, perceived themselves as more severely controlling, irritable, avoidant of communication, and more dependent. The children's standard scores were congruent with the mothers' estimates of the children's cognitive and physical competence, thus suggesting these mothers were knowledgeable about two domains of their children's functioning. The ecological model requires the examination of interactions at different levels, and the inherent reciprocity of relationships. This perspective may contribute to training in child welfare, thus extending the potential effectiveness of caseworkers.

If you don't know where you are, how can you get where you're going?: A contextual examination of professional development in the early childhood field

Professional development systems for early childhood teachers will be effective only if they participate in its construction. Currently, teachers are not participating in the development of such a system. This article uses contextual theory to examine reasons why current early childhood teachers may not be embracing and guiding the creation of a viable model of professional development. Using Bronfenbrenner's ecological model and examining micro, meso, exo, macro, and chrono level issues illuminates the barriers to teacher participation in and access to professional development systems. Examples of mechanisms to address these barriers are also examined.

Parents, infants, and day-care teachers: Interrelations and implications for better child care

Many young children are reared today in both family and child-care settings. The relation that exists between these two settings has important implications for child care. Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model is used as a way to view the interrelations among children, families, and child-care programs. Data from a study of infants in day care provide information on the time infants spend in family and day-care contexts, how parents and caregivers view children's behavior in these two settings, and rates of otitis media (ear infections) and other illnesses for these children. Results show that infants spend about twice as many hours per day awake with parents as in day care. Regarding child behaviors, parents and caregivers seem to have similar behaviors they like and dislike, but they each see particular children quite differently with respect to these behaviors. Finally, infants in this sample were diagnosed with illnesses 60% to 70% of the time. Findings are discussed in terms of the ecological model with particular attention given to relations between parents and caregivers.

Network structure, network support and the marital satisfaction of husbands and wives

This study investigated the relationships between husbands' and wives' marital satisfaction, wives' labour force participation, and various aspects of the couples' social networks and social support in a sample of 166 families with at least one preschool-aged child. Wives experienced greater marital satisfaction when more of their own network members were related to each other, when they were friends with their husbands' network members and when their husbands nominated more relatives in their networks. For women with moderate labour force participation only, marital satisfaction decreased when the couple's network was less dense. Husbands experienced higher marital satisfaction when their wives had high or low rather than just moderate participation in the labour force. However, after adjusting for this, they also had higher marital satisfaction when they had more reciprocal relationships with their own network members, when more of their network members were related to their wives' network members, and when they considered more of their wives' network members to be their own friends. The results provided support for Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model.

Ecological transition: using Bronfenbrenner's model to study sexual identity change.

Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological transition model provides a framework to study coming out in lesbians. The model takes into account activities such as sexual behavior, perceptions of the behavior, and social context in which behavior takes place. The importance of context makes this model useful in identifying possible connections between sexual identity alterations and larger social forces. Interventions based on this framework can reduce stress and promote health during coming out.

Adolescents' orientation toward the future: Sex role differentiation in a sociocultural context

The present study examines sociocultural variations of gender differences reflected in the future orientation of Israeli Jews and Arabs as cases of modernity vs. transition to modernity, respectively. One hundred and twelve Jewish adolescents (61 males and 51 females) and 116 Arab adolescents (67 males and 49 females), all high school seniors in a college-bound program, responded to an open-ended future orientation questionnaire and listed their hopes and fears for the future. These responses were categorized into eight life domains (school and matriculation, military service, higher education, work and career, marriage and family, self, others, collective issues) and each domain was analyzed in terms of salience (i.e., importance and interest, assessed by number of pertinent statements) and specificity (i.e., extent of detail and concreteness, rated on a 1–3 scale). Results supported the hopothesized instrumental-expressive division between Jewish males and females and the primacy of higher education for Arab females. Analysis employing U. Bronfenbrenner's (The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979) ecological model of development suggests that these gender differences are sustained by the developmental settings of Jewish and Arab adolescents.

Maladaptive parent-infant relationships

This paper critically reviews the literature on maladaptive parent-infant relationships, and analyzes it in terms of Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model of development. Types of maladaptive relationships are explored as well as the etiology of the problem in terms of Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model of development. Types of maladaptive relationships are explored as well as the etiology of the problem in terms of the macro, exo, meso, and microsystems involved. The consequences of these relationships for the physical/motor, social/personality, and cognitive development of infants are described. Finally, existing intervention and prevention efforts are presented, with suggestions for further work in the area.

Career development of adolescents: An ecological perspective

Bronfenbrenner's ecological model of human development is used as a framework for examining the research on the career development of adolescents. The examination of the four contexts - the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, and the macrosystem - provides an additionalperspective to the ontogenic (individual) approach that has predominated the research literature in this field. Among the four contexts examined, some research on the influence of microsystem, including family, school,peer group, and workplace is identified. The amount of developmentally based research drops off quickly for the other systems, although there are other pertinent research and social issues for each system. Research and intervention implications of this perspective are indicated.

Long-term effects of two interventions with the aged: An ecological analysis

The short- and long-term results of two intervention programs (Longer & Rodin, 1976; Schulz, 1976), conducted independently with the institutionalized aged, were reviewed. Short-term results were highly similar and positive in direction, but the long-term results diverged markedly. Critical differences between the programs are identified in an attempt to account for this divergence. These differences are then viewed from an ecological perspective. It is shown that enduring intervention effects are associated with systematic alterations in the social ecology of aged residents, whereas short-lived effects result from manipulations by which the social ecology is affected only minimally. An application of Bronfenbrenner's ecological model of human development suggests some directions in which progress can be made by both researchers and policymakers concerned with development among high-risk populations.

Applying BronfenBrenner 's ecological model to identify the negative influences facing children with physical disabilities in rural areas in Kwa-Zulu Natal

Children with visible physical disabilities (CWPDs) living in rural areas of South Africa are a matter of particular concern. While all children living in rural areas face negative influences such as poverty and the high incidence of HIV/AIDS, this situation is exacerbated for CWPDs who are more vulnerable to these influences (Human Sciences Research Council). The aim of this research was to explore and describe the negative influences facing children with physical disabilities in rural South Africa utilising Bronfenbrenner's ecological model as a theoretical point of departure. A purposeful sampling strategy was used to select forty participants for a critical ethnographic study. Data were gathered through multiple strategies: interviews, observations, photos and drawings and analysed using a thematic approach. The findings indicated that children with physical disabilities experience negative influences in many domains of their everyday life: lack of resources, poverty, cultural beliefs and personal factors are a few of these domains that were identified. The complexity of the lack of resources for this marginalised group of children emerges from the interplay of these domains rather than a single domain.