2022

ASSESSMENT 2

SOPHIE’S CASE STUDY

STUDENT ID: ____________________________

1. Introduction............................................................................................................................2

2. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological perspective applied to Sophie...............................................3

2.1. Microsystem.....................................................................................................................3

2.2. Exosystem........................................................................................................................4

2.3. Macrosystem....................................................................................................................5

3. Summary.................................................................................................................................6

4. References...............................................................................................................................6

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 ASSESSMENT 2- SOPHIE’S CASE STUDY

1. Introduction

Urie Bronfenbrenner was an American development psychologist, whose most significant

research work was his proposing a new model of child development that expands on various

aspects of child psychology studies, which were negated and yet, according to Bronfenbrenner,

played a crucial part in a child’s development. He puts forward an ‘ecological perspective’ when

explaining various relationship that a child has with her immediate relationships and institutions,

and also broadens and expands the dynamics of various relationships, i.e. how these relations and

institutions impact the child and what the child does initially or in response to alter a particular

relationship dynamics (Guy-Evans, 2020).

The environment, or according to Bronfenbrenner, ‘ecological environment’ of a human being is

a series of nested arrangement of structures, where each level of influencing factors (grouped as

one) are embedded within the next, and larger level. Many compare it with the analogy of

Russian dolls, where the smaller doll is present within the larger; and the human being (present

at any stage of his/her life) is at the core of it (Destin et al., 2019).

The environment, which is the closest to an individual, is called as ‘microsystem’, and may

include home, school or workplace where the individual takes up different activities and roles.

The next ‘mesosystem’ is the environment where the microsystems aggregate and influence each

other and the person, either directly or indirectly. The ‘exosystem’ may not involve the person

directly, but still has the tendency to induce changes in the development and behavior of an

individual. Mostly, this sphere of influence incorporates formal and informal social structures.

The fourth ecological environment is the ‘macrosystem’, which include the cultural and

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subcultural elements, such as socioeconomic status or ethnicity. Lastly, ‘chronosystem’ files the

evolution or disruption that occurs over the course of life and enlists all the life changing

influences and transitions (Bronfenbrenner, 1977; Guy-Evans, 2020).

The ecological perspective provides a conceptual framework within which complex interactions

occurring between a child, adolescent or adult and their respective environment can be studied.

And using this particular framework, we can understand the changes happened in Sophie’s life

and their ramifications within her various socio-ecological spheres.

2. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological perspective applied to Sophie

2.1. Microsystem

The core of Bronfenbrenner’s theory is the ‘microsystem’, which as aforementioned, is the series

of complex relationships between the developing individual and her immediate environment or

setting (Rus et al.). In Sophie’s case, this setting would include her family members; her father,

her step-mother, step-sister and her school friends. Sophie has described her relationship with her

birth mother as ‘superficial’, which was like this even before her mother moved to Canada.

Sophie’s birth mother would not be included in her microsystem, as Bronfenbenner’s theory

states that this innermost environment includes those with whom the individual is intimate or has

a face-to-face relationship.

Her relationship with her step-mother and step-sister has become more challenging for her since

they moved with her in her father’s house. She and her step-sister are school mates and their

relationship faces tension over the use of a shared bathroom while getting ready for school.

From the above situation, it is clear that Sophie does not have an especially intimate relationship

with the people who are the most near her. She likes her step-mother and sister, but the

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relationship dynamics have changed over the time. The scenario does not shed light on her

relationship with her father, which may be a representative of a gap within the father-daughter

relationship.

But she clearly feels disturbed when her father and step-mother decide to move from Perth as she

is more attached with her school friends and life at Perth. The thought of leaving her friends

behind distresses her the most as she considers long-distance relationships challenging and this

particular factor can be considered as a major one to cause disruptive changes in her behavior.

2.2. Exosystem

Surrounding the microsystem is the exosystem; external networks surrounding the development

of a person and includes the community, educational institutions or living arrangements, i.e. the

socio-economic status of the family (Rus et al.).

In Sophie’s scenario, it is clear that she is dearly attached with her school life, friends and

teachers. She is distressed by the thought that she would have to leave all her life at Perth behind

her and start anew. The thought of leaving one’s home and the place where one has spent all her

childhood and is living presently is always hard to accept. It is not easy to leave all that has been

built over the years by the individual’s personal efforts and experiences in a sudden move. The

emotional state of a person’s mind suffers and so is Sophie suffering. She may never be able to

accept the change, due to which her emotional state and the overall behavior suffers.

Sophie might also consider abandoning her life at Perth harder due to her past experiences with

her mother. Her mother left her and moved to Canada. Even if the relationship was not a deep or

intimate one, her mother leaving would have left a huge gap for her to fill in. She has built a life

of her own in Perth and now once again she stands at the edge of being torn apart from all that

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she considers her own, like her mother, who is a child’s very own and the very best. Her

childhood trauma may be affecting her mental state and causing changes in her attitude.

2.3. Macrosystem

The condition due to which the Sophie suffers is her father losing her job due to sharp downturn

in economy and housing market. A 14-year old teenage school age girl might not be able to

understand the dynamics of the economy, but it is included in her macrosystem and so are the

government policies that have caused this sudden downturn. The influence factors of

macrosystems do not always explicitly impact on the development of the child, but in some

cases, which also includes Sophie’s case, the changes in the macrosystem has directly affected

her life. For example, there would be many other girls of Sophie’s age that will not be affected

due to this change in economy, but her father losing his job has put her in direct link to

fluctuations of her country’s economy.

Another factor that may or may not be distressing Sophie is the change that will be induced in

her life, in her family’s social status, her education, her travel, once she moves to rural Australia.

Once the family makes the move to rural Tasmania all the aforementioned things will be

affected.

People living in rural Australia experience higher rates of poverty than those who live in

metropolitan areas (NRHA, 2017). A lower economic status affects access to quality healthcare,

education and travel. Rural areas of Australia are socioeconomically disadvantaged which may

affect teenage Sophie in multiple ways who is more used to metropolitan suburb of Perth, which

is a socially and culturally diverse community, in comparison to the rural areas, which are less

culturally diverse and have a greater population of ageing residents (Fisher, 2017). The

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employment rates are also low in rural Australia, which predicts that the family economic status

may continue to fall.

3. Summary

Sophie stands at yet another turning point of her life. The notion of her family moving to rural

Tasmania with her father’s parents have unfolded a series of changes that might take place, with

Sophie being at the center. Using Bronfenbrenner’s ecological perspective in context to the

development of Sophie, various factor that may directly or indirectly affect her present and

future; her behavior in various social circles and her life in general have been discussed in the

above briefing. The ecological concentric circles of Sophie have been revealed and

comprehended by the use of Bronfenbrenner’s theory. The disruptive changes in usually polite

Sophie have been made easier to be understood with this particular theory and provides a certain

level of surety that these changes can be reversed through communication and mutual support.

4. References

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American

psychologist, 32(7), 513.

Destin, M., Rheinschmidt-Same, M., & Richeson, J. A. (2019). Implications of intersecting

socioeconomic and racial-ethnic identities for academic achievement and well-being. In

Advances in child development and behavior (Vol. 57, pp. 149-167). Elsevier.

Fisher, V. (2017). How to categorise local areas in Australia. .id informed decisions.

https://blog.id.com.au/2017/location-analysis/how-to-categorise-local-areas-in-australia/

Guy-Evans, O. (2020). Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. Simple Psychology.

Retrieved January 17th from https://www.simplypsychology.org/Bronfenbrenner.html

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NRHA, N. R. H. A. I. (2017). POVERTY IN RURAL & REMOTE AUSTRALIA. NRHA.

Retrieved January 17 from https://ruralhealth.org.au/sites/default/files/publications/nrha-

factsheet-povertynov2017.pdf

Rus, A. V., Lee, W. C., Salas, D. B. B., Parris, S. R., Webster, R. D., Lobo, A. R., Ecaterina, S.,

& Popa, C. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory and the Experience of

Institutionalization of Romanian Children1.