Bronfenbrenner's Theory Of Poverty And Child Development

The notion of Poverty has been a controversy and concern in South Africa over many years. Poverty and economic status have the ability to cause detrimental outcomes on a child’s development, and especially on their schooling experience. Over time, developmental theorists have examined various perspectives and approaches regarding child development, in response to the Childs reaction to various environmental stimuli. This essay will justify why Poverty and Social Economic status have a significant role on a child’s schooling experience in context to living in South Africa, as well as discussing the various ramifications associated with poverty and adversity such as hunger, deprivation, and violence in relation to the way it shapes the course …show more content…
Bronfenbrenner saw context as a ‘socially constructed system of external influences that is mediated by individuals.’ (Dawes & Donald; 200) This theory was a key element of changing perspectives in developmental psychology by bringing awareness to the vast amount of environmental and societal influences on child development. Brofenbrenners ecological system is a series of successive layers, each surrounding a smaller sphere. (Watts, Cockcroft & Duncan, 2002) It focuses on the way child development is shaped by their material, social and cultural contexts ( Dawes & Donald, 2000) His theory analyses the elements of an individual’s life, in layers of systems. This theory constitutes of four distinct systems known as the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem and macrosystem (Dawes & Donald, 2000) as well as the Chronosystem which is indicative in the passage of time and is present in each of the four others. Through analysing Bronfenbrenners approach, it can be seen how each of the four systems interlink and connect to one another. We will be able to configure how a child who is living with poverty, socioeconomic strains and pressures will be