Introduction
In his ecological systems theory, Urie Bronfenbrenner developed a framework that psychologists and other social workers could use to examine the quality of relationships people have with the outside work. In understanding Tim’s perspectives towards life, this case uses Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory to explore his interactions with his immediate family and other people in his surroundings.
Microsystems
When Kathy and Brian adopted Tim, he was withdrawn from his immediate environment because of the complete turn of events that hindered him from realizing his potential. In his first year of adoption, Tim isolated himself from his new family, a move that hindered the foster parents from establishing any meaningful relationship with him. However, he identified various interests similar to those of his brothers, a move that enabled him to enhance his relationship with his new family. Similarly, personal relationships played an important role in provoking Tim’s thought process and overcoming challenges in his immediate environment. Based on his new family’s efforts to support his potential, Tim gained a new identity that enabled him to move on with life and overcome issues, which affected his ability to emerge victorious in the learning environment.
Mesosystems
In this case, the attitude of Tim’s parents towards his friends is not indicated. From this realization, one cannot identify the nature of relations between Tim’s parents and his friends and teachers at school. However, given that Tim’s parents reported his slow speech problem, the foster parents engaged his instructors and advised them about his issues. Showing interest in building a healthy relationship with instructors makes it easier for the learning environment to modify the teaching methods to address the problems affecting a student’s learning problem (Hong, Hunter, Kim, Piquero, & Narvey, 2019). Hence, based on his school performance, there is a high likelihood that Tim’s parents created an enabling environment for him to overcome problems affecting his learning process and interactions with other people outside the family setting.
Exosystem
In Tim’s case, the exosystem is not highlighted, an aspect that makes it impossible for one to describe its impact on his perspectives towards life. However, the new way of life abroad must have exposed him to an enabling environment that influenced his unique experience. Based on the nature of approaches used to overcome people’s perspectives towards life, individuals’ ability to draw inspiration from their immediate environment contributes towards their growth and development (Velki, 2018). Notably, Kathy and Brian’s decision to adopt Tim changed his country of birth and exposed him to a new cultural setting that provoked his thought process. During his interactions with his new siblings, Tim joined a jazz and piano class, aspects he still embraces even in his adult phase.
Macrosystem
Having witnessed a civil war in his home country, Tim must have been traumatized by the outcomes of events that displaced his family. Sadly, Tim had seen his parents’ death, a move that must have affected him and his relations with other people. Even though Kathy and Brian created an enabling environment where Tim would fit in and explore his objectives, the traumatic experiences of death caused by civil war affected his life perspectives. Tim’s foster parents recorded his inability to communicate effectively because of his speech problems influenced by the events he witnessed in his home country. Tim experienced a different kind of growth from this realization because of war-torn cultural background compared to his new siblings, whose immediate environment was peaceful. Therefore, the events taking place in a child’s surroundings influence their growth and development because of their impact on various aspects of life.
Chronosystem
Change and constancy in a child’s immediate environment influence their growth and development because of the impact of the resulting events on their perspectives towards life. Society changes and cycles such as war play a significant role in the child’s social interactions and engagements because of their lack of trust during the conversations (Keating, Stephenson, Liu, & Colburn, 2019). In this case, Tim’s experience of war and having witnessed his parents being murdered triggered a particular aspect of his life that made it difficult for him to study English. Even though his foster parents created an enabling environment for him to become a different person, he barely reached out to his new family during his first year of relocation. However, his adaption was aided by the approaches taken by his new family to support his skills and expose him to an environment where he could achieve his potential.
Conclusion
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory allows individuals to examine the impact of a person’s immediate environment on growth and development. Using the theoretical model enables one to read Tim’s inability to adapt to the new environment because of the various challenges that hindered his new family’s interactions. Likewise, his experiences from the war-torn country and witnessing his parents being murdered affected Tim’s ability to connect with other people in his surroundings.
