According to Urie Bronfenbrenners ecological system of child development, family is

the most influential contributor to a childs development. Hospicio de San Jose is a safe haven
for abandoned, neglected and/or surrendered children. Some families are so financially incapable
that they choose to give their child/children up to give them their best chances. Whatever the
case may be, the point is, the children no longer have a family or at least, are no longer with their
immediate families. Hospicio de San Jose serves as a second home for the children. Although the
facilitators, acting as their 2nd families, are doing their best to provide all the children with the
love and attention that they need, they are outnumbered by the children they are accommodating
thus, are not able to give all the children the love and care that they need.
As the saying goes, education starts at home. The family is what molds a childs
personality, characteristics and behavior. Aside from the child adapting what they see and learn
from their immediate environment, that is his/her family, the family is what also teaches the child
the difference from what is right and wrong. Children respond well to positive reinforcements.
Initially, parents give their child a reward when the child does the right thing which results to the
child doing the right thing more often.
This, then, leads to Kohlbergs theory of child development. According to Kohlbergs
theory, at childrens pre-school stage, they tend to focus more on their own interest. Being used
to getting a reward, the child would want it more. Thus, resulting to a competition when put in a
larger group.
At Hospicio de San Jose, a lot of children are being taken care of. Therefore, it results to
the student volunteers not being able to give equal amount of attention to all of the children
leading to favoritism. Student volunteers would probably tend to focus more on those children
who are younger, cuter and/or smarter than the others, etc. As a result, the other children who are
not given attention to would feel neglected. Taking that into consideration, it is possible that the
children behave violently because of their jealousy and envy towards their companions not
only material-wise but also in terms of the unequal attention and care that the volunteers give to
them. Focusing on their self-interest and probably wanting more to themselves, these neglected
children would do anything and everything to get what they want even if it means resorting to
violence and hostility towards their companions.