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Erin Kisch

FAM 311

Dr. Christopher

April 18, 2016

Bioecological Framework

Are you born with your personality? If you think yes, then you might believe that nature

plays a dominate role in who a person grows up to be. If you think no, then you might believe

that nurture is the dominate force. The age-old question of nature versus nurture is part of the

bioecological framework. The bioecological framework has applications to both everyday life

and to the Family Life Professional.

What is it?

What is human development like according to the bioecological framework? This theory

states that there are four influences on how a person grows up: process, person, context, and

time. The “process” is the interactions a person experiences. These can be with other people in

their family, with strangers, or even with objects. Watching television all day will offer a

different developmental process than playing at the neighborhood pool every weekend. Next, the

“person” influence is the person’s physical appearance and personality. These factors can affect

how a person responds to stress and other people. “Context” is the situation in which the person

is growing up. These factors can be home life, school district, and peer groups. Finally, the

“time” aspect is the cultural or historical time period during which a person lives. Each of these

four influences have an effect on human development.

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The bioecological framework differs from other theories because of several different

focuses. First, it puts the emphasis on a person’s biophysical environment. Where do you live,

and who do you live with? The answers to these questions could change who you grow up to be.

Also, there is emphasis placed on adaptation which I will define and discuss later in this section.

The dreaded nature versus nurture has a part to play in this framework. Which has the most

influence, environment or people? On one hand, we depend on our environment for sustenance,

so it is vital to our wellbeing. On the other hand, humans are social, and we depend on people to

fulfill our need for social interactions. These highlights of the bioecological framework

distinguish it from all other theories.

There are seven concepts, or terms, that are key to understanding the bioecological

framework: ecosystem, ecological levels, niche, adaptive range, mutualism, ontogenetic

development, and adaptation.

When someone mentions an ecosystem, most people picture a forest scene with a stream,

a fox, a rabbit, and maybe some fish and birds. They all need each other for the ecosystem to

remain healthy. In regards to the bioecological framework, an ecosystem is the setting for an

individual. It is the environment and the people in that environment that affect the person. There

are many parts that make up the ecosystem, each interacting with the others.

These different parts are the ecological levels. There are four levels: microsystem,

mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. A microsystem is one person interacting with one

other person. Typically that other person is someone significant to you such as a parent or

sibling. A mesosystem is two or more microsystems. A family is a good example of a

mesosystem. Next, exosystems are interactions with indirect effects. One exosystem everyone

shares is the government. We do not directly speak with government officials every day, but we
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certainly are affected by their decisions. Lastly, a macrosystem is the general context in which all

of the other levels exist. This could be one’s culture. Each of the four levels plays a vital role in

one’s ecosystem.

Niches are the role that a person plays in his or her ecosystem. For example, every family

needs someone to provide for the family. Before World War II, this niche was always filled by

the father of the house. However, it is becoming more and more common for the wife to fill this

niche. Because of the growth in this niche, which is in the mesosystem of the family, an

exosystem is having to change. Government is being called to regulate income in order to

establish fair pay for women in the workforce. Even our macrosystem of American culture is

being altered to make people more accepting of working mothers. Niches play a crucial part in

an ecosystem.

Within a niche, we can find adaptation. This is the range of behavior to which a person

can adapt. Perhaps there is a family with one child, a boy. His niche, or role, is son. All of a

sudden, another baby is born. Now that boy must stretch his role to also include brother.

However, there are limits to an adaptive range. If that same boy’s father were to walk out or pass

away, the boy would not be able to adapt to the role of father and provider. There are many ways

a niche can be adapted.

The best interaction to have among ecosystem levels is mutualism. Mutualism is when

two people coexist in an ecosystem and both benefit. They give and take equally. The worst

interaction is parasitism, which is when one person benefits at the expense of the other. One

person takes more than they give. Lastly, there is commensalistic interactions where both people

maintain independence from one another. Neither needs anything from the other. Relationships

are most effective when they are mutual.

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Another important term to know is ontogenetic development. This is the portion of

physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development that can be attributed to experiences with

the environment and the individuals within the environment. Hence, this is the nurture side of the

argument. It states that development is influenced by experiences and interactions with a

person’s surroundings. Ontogenetic development is based on the environment where one grows

up.

Lastly, we must understand the term adaptation. This is the process by which a person

becomes better suited to his or her environment. Although this may sound similar to range

adaptation, there is a difference. In range adaptation, a person is expanding their niche. In

adaptation, a person is not necessary changing their role, but they are changing in the wake of an

environmental change. For example, if a natural disaster were to occur such as a tornado

destroying one’s home, and if that person was able to adapt their abilities in such a way that they

could rebuild their home, we would say that the person has adapted successfully.

Real Life Implications

Based on this framework, we can make certain propositions. First, because people are

social beings, the family is a social organization. Within the family, its members interact, and the

family unit interacts with other families and organizations. Second, individuals share connections

starting at birth. Interactions with the mother, grandparents, and siblings build relationships that

will last a lifetime. Third, adaptation incites a change in a person’s interactions. Since the person

has changed internally, they will most likely change their external way of living. Finally,

children narrow down and specialize their roles as they develop. Nearly every young boy wants

to be a policeman or fireman when he grows up. As he forms more connections with his
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environment, however, he may choose a different career path. These propositions help to apply

the concepts of the bioecological framework to real life occurrences.

There are four variations to this framework that can be helpful in different situations.

Family demography “occupies the niche in ecology that is focused on population characteristics

and population change” (White and Klein, 256). In this context, ecology is made up of families.

Therefore, the people in those families make up the population. Human developmental ecology

says that, although microsystems and mesosystems have the greatest effect on a child’s

development, there is an extra piece that cannot always be identified. One cannot simply add a

person’s characteristics to their environmental experiences and be able to accurately predict the

behavior that the person will exhibit. Another variation is sociobiology. This extension of

bioecology is based on Darwin’s writings. It says that a person will try to pass on their most

favorable genes to the next generation. Sociobiologists understand that people do not consciously

do this. However, they do try to teach their children to thrive as they are raised in the home.

Human ecology and family and consumer sciences is the last variation. In this variation, we see

home economists relating economics to the ecosystem and seeing how they each affect the other.

Each of these subsets of bioecology help us to apply the framework to different aspects of life.

In the book Family Theories, there are two empirical applications of the bioecological

framework. First, the authors described the effects of day care on children based on this

framework. Day care can have a positive effect because it gives children a chance to grow their

exosystem. They interact with care takers and other children both their own age and older or

younger kids. It forces children to form relationships with people who are not in their family.

However, there are some negative effects such as the day care teaching philosophies that differ

from those taught by the child’s family. Another application mentioned in the book was about
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child maltreatment and high versus low risk neighborhoods. The study determined that children

living in low risk neighborhood developed relationships with other kids in the neighborhood

which could lead to a feeling of autonomy. However, in high risk neighborhoods, parents were

concerned and would not let their children play alone. Clearly, based on this framework, there

are pros and cons to widening children’s exosystems.

Despite the helpfulness of the bioecological framework, there are a few critiques. The

most detrimental flaw is the fact that the microsystems, mesosystems, and so on represent

change, but there is no reason behind it. Although we may be able to predict what influences will

cause a change, we cannot predict what that exact change will be. This leads into the nature

versus nurture issue. There is no right or wrong answer to which side hold the most influence.

Therefore, when a change occurs, we do not know which side will be more influential in

directing this change. Lastly, the focus of relational changes is on development and not decay.

The bioecological framework depicts positive growth but does not touch on how relationships

can fall apart.

Family Life Application

Family Life Professionals should take note of this framework because it can have several

applications to this line of work. In church work, we can see how the exosystem of youth groups

and children’s ministry play a role in the development of children who regularly attend church.

For community service, one will interact with people of various walks of life. It can be helpful to

know something about the environment they grew up in (nurture) and their biological history

(nature). These factors could be useful for understanding how the person got to be in the

situation they are in currently. Child Life Specialists use the bioecological framework in order to

understand what ecosystem the child is in. Who takes care of the child regularly? Who is coming
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to visit the child? Also, we see siblings being affected by the patient’s illness because they are in

the same micro and mesosystem. Each area of Family Life can use this framework.

There are few connections to the Christian faith. The biggest one is that some

bioecologists make a connection to Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. They say that nature and

natural selection plays a dominating role in deciding how a person acts when they grow up. They

argue that only the strongest, most helpful genes are passed on from generation to generation.

Although nature may play a crucial role in a child’s biological makeup, natural selection and

evolution are certainly not factors.

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, the bioecological framework has applications both to everyday life and also

to the career of Family Life. Whether you believe nature or nurture holds dominance in who you

grow up to be, you may also agree with the findings of the bioecological framework. What is

your ecosystem like?

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Bibliography

Bronfenbrenner, Urie. "Ecological Models of Human Development." International Encyclopedia

of Education (1994). Vol. 3.

Gonzalez, Karin. Bioecological Model: Theory and Approach. 2017. Video. 15 April 2017.

White, James M and David M Klein. Family Theories. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, 2008.