Analysis Of Bronfenbrenner's Influences On Child Development

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