Bronfenbrenner’s structure of environment:
The microsystem –
this is the layer closest to the child and contains the structures with which
the child has direct contact. The microsystem encompasses the relationships and
interactions a child has with her immediate surroundings (Berk, 2000).
Structures in the microsystem include family, school, neighborhood, or
childcare environments. At this level, relationships have impact in two
directions - both away from the child and toward the child. For example, a child’s
parents may affect his beliefs and behavior; however, the child also affects
the behavior and beliefs of the parent. Bronfenbrenner calls these
bi-directional influences, and he shows how they occur among all levels of
environment. The interaction of structures within a layer and interactions of
structures between layers is key to this theory. At the microsystem level,
bi-directional influences are strongest and have the greatest impact on the
child. However, interactions at outer levels can still impact the inner
structures.
The mesosystem –
this layer provides the connection between the structures of the child’s
microsystem (Berk, 2000). Examples: the connection between the child’s teacher
and his parents, between his church and his neighborhood, etc.
The exosystem –
this layer defines the larger social system in which the child does not
function directly. The structures in this layer impact the child’s development
by interacting with some structure in her microsystem (Berk, 2000). Parent
workplace schedules or community-based family resources are examples. The child
may not be directly involved at this level, but he does feel the positive or
negative force involved with the interaction with his own system.
The macrosystem –
this layer may be considered the outermost layer in the child’s environment.
While not being a specific framework, this layer is comprised of cultural
values, customs, and laws (Berk, 2000). The effects of larger principles
defined by the macrosystem have a cascading influence throughout the
interactions of all other layers. For example, if it is the belief of the
culture that parents should be solely responsible for raising their children,
that culture is less likely to provide resources to help parents. This, in
turn, affects the structures in which the parents function. The parents’
ability or inability to carry out that responsibility toward their child within
the context of the child’s microsystem is likewise affected.
The chronosystem
– this system encompasses the dimension of time as it relates to a child’s
environments. Elements within this system can be either external, such as the
timing of a parent’s death, or internal, such as the physiological changes that
occur with the aging of a child. As children get older, they may react
differently to environmental changes and may be more able to determine more how
that change will influence them.
