Psychology many times takes us beyond just the definition of words. It expands our
minds and makes us think of the second step right after we’ve just learned the first.
Bronfenbrenner is a guy who can exercise our minds to the fullest. A good example would be
his ecological theory. His ecological model involves how a person responds to their
surroundings. Bronfenbrenner’s model is based on nurture and the environment. It takes both
concepts and builds on them to develop and adapt the individual to society. There are four main
levels of Bronfenbrenner’s model. I’ll explain what each four consist of and give examples of
how each level plays a role in my life.
The first one would be microsystems that is the everyday contact you encounter, such as
family and church. Family is where your comfort and support come in effect. They are the only
people who stay by your side during the good and bad times you encounter. Church is the place
where you can confess all your wrongs and church can help you turn them into rights.
Microsystems can help us give us a positive attitude and feel for life. Mesosystems are like the
middle of the pack, it’s like the microsystem plus the microsystem. For example it would be the
coach and parent or like a parent teacher conference. It’s like a guide to help you achieve a
certain goal. Coach’s guide us to develop team skills and work with others to win. Parent’s
teach us values in a similar way but in a more important game called life. Parent teacher
conferences are just one way to judge these values by school work and behavior conduct.
Exosystems are societal institutions that get us aware of what’s going on in our society. Such as
School systems and the community in general. Exosystems can shape our behaviors by
observing others interacting and listening to their views. Macrosystems are the overall state of
society, like the big picture. Like political, economic and social philosophies. Their like beliefs
and social conditions involving the government. These beliefs carry on and effect ordinary
people like us to vote for or simply make judgments and beliefs on or about situations.
Here are some of the ways Bronfenbrenner’s model fit in my life. While I was a
freshman my family played a key role in my life. I was a pretty good student back then and my
mom kept close contact with my teacher’s to keep me on track. I was also a very good athlete
back then I was a good basketball and football player. My parent’s made all the teacher
conferences and told all my teacher’s to keep an extra eye on me. They also made all of my
games and usually talked with my coach on my potential and where it could lead me. My family
gave me lots of support and help with sports and school. My church was also involved by
sponsoring me for certain basketball tournaments which made me very proud.
My School was a very good one and I tried to be a good student and gave them
something to cheer for on the basketball court. The community also showed support by putting
me in the paper for honor roll and basketball recognitions. I felt the overall state of society was
good to me by offering me a great school and sports team to represent. The government had a
big impact on me as well. During Kuwait it brought out the ugly in the world and let me get a
real sense of what war was. I got a feel of what those people in war must be thinking and how
sad the whole situation was. OJ Simpson also brought in the whole race issue in effect and how
maybe the jury couldn’t allow a guilty verdict because of all the possible riots. It was just a
messy situation, but it gave me the sense of how a superstar athlete or big name person can
actually do such a thing and then get away with it. Overall I made my own thoughts and actions
and only let the people I trust influence my actions such as my family, church and friends.
