Bronfenbrenners bioecological theory of human development is the idea that a person is
made up of their biological chemistry and the many systems of their environment that they have social, emotional, and physical interactions with every day. These interactions influence the development of a child, and it continues as they mature into their adult life. Bronfenbrenners bioecological model consists of five systems: the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and the chronosystem. Each of these systems are very unique to every individual in how they influence their development. By using Bronfenbrenners model, I am going to be able to trace back my relationships with the people and the world around me, and I will be able to decipher how my environments impacted who I am now and why I have the tendencies and relationships that I do at the age of nineteen. The microsystem is the first of the five systems. To be a part of my microsystem, something has to have immediate interaction with me in my environment. On my web, I placed my family (mom, dad, brother, and stepmom) because they are people that have a direct impact on my daily life and decisions. My family is very important to me because I value and respect each of their opinions, so they belong in my microsystem because our relationships surround me daily. Youll also notice that I placed a solid, two-way line between me and each of them. That is because nearly every interaction I have with them is positive. Now, my family is not perfect, and there have been disconnects between family members, but in hind sight, I personally have a positive relationship with each member. I also placed my roommates and boyfriend as a part of my immediate environment because these are relationships that I interact with daily. You will see these relationships are positive as well because obviously I have great connections with each of these individuals since I choose to date or live with them. Lastly the University of South Carolina and my religion, Christianity, are immediate relationships and they are also positive. I love the University with all my heart, hence why I am a student here. I am also confident in my relationship with God, therefore I put a positive arrow connecting us. Next we have the mesosystem. This system connects two or more microsystems together. For this system I have meeting girls in my sorority and meeting people in the classroom because these are interactions that connect me with school and peers. These environments link two or more microsystems by interacting on a daily basis together. I also have parents believe school is important because I was always raised to believe that an education is the gateway to a successful, happy, and enlightened lifestyle. My parents raising me this way connects family with school. I also have my mothers relationship with my boyfriend and his family because these are important relationships to me, therefore they have to be intertwined. Luckily they all have positive relationships, so there is a positive arrow connecting the two. Lastly I have my mom and dads interactions with one another. My parents have a dotted line between them because their relationship has not always been positive nor stable in my life, and therefore I have experienced quite a bit of stress, not making this a positive interaction. The orange/yellow boxes represent the exosystem: or the interaction between two environments, but one does not directly include me. In this category I have placed my brothers behavior at home. Because I dont live at home anymore, I am not there to experience his misbehavior and it does not directly affect me, but when I call my mom, I can hear the stress and anger in her voice as she tries to vent about him. His behavior is not directly in my environment, but when I do learn of it, it puts a negative atmosphere around me as I hear my mom struggle to handle him. Next, I know my parents struggle with their jobs. They constantly assure me that we are financially stable, but I can see that they work extremely hard, and yet they still arent fully satisfied with their work environments. I know there will always be food on the table, but Id love to see my parents enjoy their work so that causes a tenuous relationship. My friends academic success also belongs in the exosystem because if they are stressed through school, I can sense their unhappiness, or if they get a good grade we can celebrate together. This is also similar with my teachers because students often can sense their teachers personal struggles or triumphs. Therefore, they belong in my exosystem. In my macrosystem are the customs and beliefs that I was raised on. These beliefs affect who I am/who I will be. Being raised in the south has shaped my personal views on family, marriage, and basic southern traditions. I was always raised that family comes first, so in return that is something that I will naturally side with. Also being Christians, we celebrate Christmas and Easter every year. These customs will always be a prominent factor in my life. Lastly, there is the chronosystem, or the chronological nature of development within the individual, as well as the history of the surrounding environment. My great-grandparents moved from Italy, so naturally few of those customs were passed down the family line, for example we are Roman Catholic because my Italian family has always been Catholic. Another thing that has affected how Ive grown up is the death of my moms parents. They died before I was born, and their death took a toll on my mom. Without her closest family members, my mom didnt have a support system. My mom did her best for us, but I do always wonder how different it would be if they were around. On my dads side, there is a history of alcoholism, so in return many of my family members have issues or resentment with alcohol or each other because of what happened in the past. Those things dont directly affect my life, but they definitely have an influence on my family. And their perception of alcohol and each other. Lastly, my parents divorced when I was just three years old. My parents are amazing and did the best they could, but this is a factor that has and will forever affect my life and my perception of love and happiness.