Analysis Of Bronfenbrenner's Influences On Child Development

Great Essays
Based on an interview conducted with my mother, who is my primary caregiver, I will interpret her parenting style as well as its influences on my development. A parenting style refers to a caregiver’s behaviours and beliefs about parenting, including how they interact with their child. Diana Baumrind proposed four kinds: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and rejecting-neglectful. According to the the interview, my mother is both authoritative and authoritative. Urie Bronfenbrenner proposed another theory: the bioecological model, which divides the environment into a set of five interlinking systems that the child interacts with, which in turn influences their development. Based on the findings from the interview, I will discuss the …show more content…
The first level of Bronfenbrenner’s model is the microsystem, which is the immediate environment, such as family, daycare, or school, that the child interacts with. In my microsystem, there is a bidirectional relationship, signifying that how I acted or reacted influenced my mother’s beliefs and behaviours, and her own actions also impacted my development. When I was younger, I was afraid of strangers and of new environments and would create a scene in public. This affected my mother’s behaviour, as she stopped taking me on excursions in the first few months of my life, partly because of my behaviour and partly because of the issue with my neck. Additionally, my neck issue was difficult for both of my parents, who would frequently cry when conducting the therapy. My parents were also new to Canada, and thus raised me without any physical or social support from their respective families. This was especially difficult for my mother, as she was a new parent living in a foreign country. Consequently, this, coupled with my neck problem, caused my mother to develop depression and hyperthyroidism, which affected my upbringing. Although she did not neglect me, she had a more difficult time coping with the new changes. However, as I matured, parenting became easier for her, further signifying the bidirectional effects of my microsystem, because I had a good relationship with my sisters, and …show more content…
According to the textbook, the macrosystem includes cultural and societal values and beliefs, and the laws of the government. Because I am Canadian-Lebanese, I have adopted values from both cultures. For example, in the Lebanese culture, it is expected that the child stay at home while studying in university, whereas Canadians do not place as big a constraint on where their child should study. Although not discussed in the interview, I was only the second person in my community to study away from home. Initially, my parents were against it, but they came to accept my decision as they realized the benefits. The fact that they trusted me to study away from home has helped me become a more confident and independent student, thus showing a positive impact on my outcome.

This information gleaned from this interview reveals that my mother has a combination of both the authoritative and the authoritarian parenting style. This, along with the influences of each of Bronfenbrenner’s systems in the bioecological model, positively affected my development by helping me succeed both academically and socially. Depending on my own actions and reactions to my mother’s behaviour, I also influenced my mother’s parenting style. The older and more mature I became, the easier it was for my mother to care for

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Parenting styles play a critical role in the development of a child. In fact, research shows that parenting styles can impact a child’s social, cognitive, and emotional growth. Children are shaped through the parental acts of motivation, interaction, and exchange throughout their childhoods. The results of these acts will either be negative or positive, and this influence can carry on well into adulthood. While there are several classifiable parenting styles, this research is going to focus on the Authoritative style of parenting, which actually is considered a combination of both Authoritarian and Permissive parenting styles.…

    • 1380 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    This is a classic study about the effect of parenting style on children. The researcher collect the data via interview the families, and observe parent-child interaction with more than 100 middle class family with children of preschool-age in the United States. The parent’s behaviour was categories into three styles, authoritative, permissive, and authoritarian. The result illustrates a warm and secure relationship with children supports children’s positive behavior development.…

    • 126 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    During the beginning stages of life, thought to be the most important part of human development, parent and child relationships have a special importance. Styles of caregiving by the parents will change dramatically from infantile dependence all the way into the beginning stages of autonomy. In order to insure the best possible outcome for their children, parents must find an appropriate balance on multiple specters. Which parenting style will best achieve this desired…

    • 74 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Raising children is not always an easy task. It should be parent’s main priority to raise their children in a loving and caring where they can grow physically, emotionally, socially as well as mentally. However, not all parents have the same parenting style. Some parents planned on how they would raise their children. Therefore, some parents are stricter than others.…

    • 1285 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The article titled “Kids of helicopter parents are sputtering out “is written by the author Julie Lythcott-Haims. This article discusses the effect of “helicopter parents” as they are called and their effect on their children when they face college life. Julie argues that although these parents fear for their children and their future but they harm them without knowing. As their constant control over their children and their lives affects their mental health in a bad way. The author claim is that “helicopter parents” as they’re being called are a great harm to their children even if they’re doing it for a good cause as their children end up as excellent sheep.…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the excerpt Skin Hunger, the story of a little 4 year old girl named Laura is told. Laura is in the hospital, and at 4 years old weighs only 26 pounds. Connected to a feeding tube, Laura is also being fed a high calorie diet, in an effort to put weight on her tiny little body. Her medical team is essentially at a loss of why she is not gaining weight, and diagnoses her with infantile anorexia. As the story unfolds and the reader is clued in to not only Laura’s life, but also her Mother, Virginia’s, it becomes evident that there is certainly more going on than what appears.…

    • 1238 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Diana Baumrind has four different styles of parenting which include, Authoritative Parenting, Authoritarian Parenting, Permissive-Indulgent Parenting, and Permissive-Uninvolved Parenting. (Santrock, 2010) Four dimensions, Four styles is based on four interactions between the child and the parent such as parental control, maturity demands, clarity of communications, and nurturance, In understanding “parental control”, parents work together to enforce the rules toward the child. (Santrock, 2010) “Maturity demand” is when parents expect their children to act to their appropriate maturity level based upon ones age. “Clarity of communications” is when parents are able to communicate well with their children in order to solve problems, and voice…

    • 1607 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Psych 211 – Parenting questions The development and psychological growth of children are highly dependent on the parenting skills executed by the child’s parents or caregiver. The parenting styles play a prominent role in development and have tremendously changed throughout the years. In each generation, the parenting styles vary due to increased research, technology updates, and different policies resulting in positive or negative outcomes. For this assignment, I interviewed my grandma who has witnessed the different ways of parenting and the different tactic parents use in two different generations.…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Parenting: Personal preference or cultural conformity? Parenting sculpts one’s childhood and greatly impacts one’s future adulthood. It is necessary that one child gets the best parenting possible to ensure the best for that child. But how to parent is a widely-debated topic.…

    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Parenting Styles Paper

    • 324 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The first parenting style that will be discussed is the authoritarian parenting style. Authoritarian parenting is characterized by behaviors that are highly limiting and tremendously demanding. Authoritarian parents are neither warm nor responsive to their children and have high maturity demands for their children due to the fact that they are intolerant of selfishness or inappropriate behavior (Marsiglia et.al. 2007; Spera, 2005). The authoritarian parenting style is associated with parents who emphasize obedience and conformity and expect that rules be obeyed without explanation in a less warm environment (Hoskins, 2014).…

    • 324 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    When considering an individual to display the effects of biological, psychological and sociocultural forces on psychological development, I can think no further than my own mother; with a dynamic personal history showcasing the aspects of political conflict, ethnicity, religion, occupation among many others, I have seen numerous psychological theories presented within the context of her life. At the age of 62, she is currently in her middle to late adulthood, and is working as a physician in her own medical practice in east San Jose. Embodying a positive outlook on life while also a practicing Buddhist, she is in good health with no major medical problems. She has been married to my father for the past 32 years and has raised two children in…

    • 2212 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “Come with me and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination.” This is the first line of the most popular song from the classic movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory directed by Mel Stuart and starring Gene Wilder (Stuart, 1971). From this line, one could assume this movie would be about beautiful fun and imaginings, when in reality the children, and their parents, in this story had major psychological problems which caused them and their families no end of pain! Psychological disorders are a real problem, and specific characters in Willy Wonka were troubled by egocentrism, a superiority complex, binge eating disorder, and are crippled by permissive parenting. Veruca Salt, the spoiled, entitled daughter of a rich nut king, suffered…

    • 1691 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    No one teaches humans how to be parents so what does a child expect from the person they call mom or dad? A child wants to feel loved, they want to feel trust, and they want acceptance and attention. The different parenting styles and the factors have to be taken into consideration such as time, the environment, and the social and psychological aspects as well. There are four different parenting styles according to Diana Baumrind, a well-known psychologist for her research on parenting styles in the 1940s. The four styles are the permissive, authoritarian, authoritative, and uninvolved parenting, based on her studies, from what she formed her Pillar theory.…

    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The life-span perspective posits that development cannot be understood solely in terms of genetics, but must include equal assessment of both nature and nurture. In this regard, three of the most important “nurture” influences are parents (and parenting styles), types of caregivers (including parental caregivers but not exclusive to them), and early educational experiences. In most circumstances, a child’s parent is one of his/her most important influences. As such, the way that the parent acts towards the child is important to understanding child development.…

    • 1431 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Becoming a parent is one of the hugest steps to take in life. The responsibilities that come along with having an infant are infinite therefore making the decision to have a child should be carefully thought out. Having a child can transform an individual’s life. Parents are no longer just fulfilling their needs but also their infant’s needs. Parents need to provide their infants with the appropriate tools in life to get them to succeed.…

    • 2884 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Superior Essays

Related Topics