SOCIAL CULTURAL PORTRAIT

Social Cultural Portrait Essay

Lulu Steele
Cal State Dominguez Hills
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Introduction
I was born in Los Angeles, July 24, 1983. Since day one my mom has told me how much of a

miracle I am since, I was in coma after birth with the chances of dying being pretty high. I was

given a chance to live even though throughout my teen and adult years at times I felt that it was

probably better if I would have died. As humans, we are given one life and in this life everything

that we come across intersects with past events of leads us to future events. Theorist

Bronfenbrenner explains it is best in his ecological model. As individuals we have different

systems that makes us who we are, whether that be the microsystem that involves those things at

our reach, or the exosystem that is not in our reach. These systems all come back to us, and help

make us who we are, who I am today. Thirty four years later I can find a connection between my

life and how all of the systems surrounding me have had an influence in how I raise my children,

choose to live a sober life, and feel like living more than ever before.

Keywords: Bronfenbrenner, ecological system, ecological model.

Microsystem
(Family)

Since the day that we were born we were born with a system that surrounded us, this is our

microsystem. This system includes those who are closest to us. As newborns and well into our

first year of life our microsystem can consist of our family, (mom, dad, siblings…), after a

couple of years the microsystem will grow and we will have more interactions. These

interactions can consist of relationships we make at school and relationships we make along the

way. My mom was born in Honduras and my father was born in Ensenada, Mx. They both
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migrated at a young age to California and met in high school. Growing up I was very sheltered

by my mother since she was raped crossing the border. I was not allowed to play with male

cousins or be in rooms with my father if she was not around. I grew up in a household that had

some turmoil throughout my childhood years and into my adulthood years. My father being an

alcoholic, walked in and out of me and my sisters life constantly. Many nights as a kid I can

remember having to stay awake all night because he would fight with my mom and at times

threaten to hit her. There were also many nights that I had to call the cops in order for my dad to

be removed from the house. This all affected my school years. In ​Con Respeto​ by Guadalupe

Valdez, Valdez introduces us the reader to different families that reside in Las Fuentes after

migrating from different parts of Mexico. I was able to relate to many of these families because

of their lifestyles after leaving their native country. I saw my mom for years pay our groceries

with food stamps because it was hard to find work. I was able to connect with these families due

to our microsystem.

Mesosystem
(Family, School)

The mesosystem is the links between systems and the microsystem. The linkage between family

and school is my mesosystem, and they both link together because due to my childhood

experience with my parents fighting, my academics were affected, which led me to failing in

school. My school years were not fun due to lack of sleep and concentration. In class I was

usually disruptive and learning did not come easy to me. I can remember spending most of my

class time, daydreaming of positive things or remembering the negative ones. Growing up

having to call the police on your my own father was very hard to deal with, it was something that
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haunted me for many years as a child and leading up to my adulthood. Having a mother who

spoke fluent spanish and only a small amount of English was difficult because it kept me from

receiving the proper help when it came to schoolwork. I had an older sister but she became a

mother at a young age and had a family of her own to care for. I do not like to blame stuff on my

parents since I believe that they did the best they can but, I believe that my academics would not

have suffered as bad if I had more support.

​ acrosystem
M
(Family, School,Beliefs)

The macrosystem is where all of the systems link together and make a person who they are. This

system can have to do with religion, beliefs, and can influence our lifestyle. My mother played a

big role in my religious beliefs as a child. I was brought up believing in god but it was more of a

punishing god and that belief installed in me by my mother, kept me away from religion as an

adult. My father being someone that walked in and out of my life gave me the belief that all men

would do the same and that I never had to take responsibility for any of my actions. As an adult I

never respected any of my relationships and every time that I did something wrong, I expected to

be let back in. I never knew how to be held accountable since my father modeled this so well.

When it came to my education my experiences in school as a child kept me from ever wanting to

return. I thought of teachers as authoritative figures and school had way to many rules for me.

That irresponsibility that I learned from my father followed me all throughout my school years,

leading me to fail and get kicked out of every school I went to. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological

system starts with us as an individual but, it is easy to see how everything else such as our

family, or those that surround us have a connection to who we become. The systems all link
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together eventually. “The macrosystem may be thought of as a societal blueprint for a particular

culture or subculture”(Bronfenbrenner, 1994, p.40).

Conclusion

Bronfenbrenner's ecological system theory tells us that as individuals we have people, places,

and experiences that can be a blueprint of who we eventually become as human beings. Taking

the time to draft my own personal experiences in the micro and mesosystem, has shown me just

how much has influenced me to becoming who I am today. There are events that took place in

life that I had no control over but yet, it affected me in many ways. This has helped me

understand that my children have the same systems around them and keeping that in mind will

help me make better choices than the ones my parents made. Understanding how much can

influence us as individuals will help me better understand both my students and their parents

when I become a teacher. It will help me understand that the child at times might not have

control of what is going on in his or her household and with their family. I will better understand

the parent and know that what is visible to the eye, is only a tiny piece of a big system that is not

visible. This can help me gain patience and understand that in order to connect with the child I

must first know what and who makes them who they are at that moment.
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References

Brofenbrenner, U. (1994). Ecological Models of Human Development.

Valdes, G. (2017). ​Con Respeto​. Teachers College Press.