Introduction
Developmental patterns in children are adversely influenced by the contexts around the child’s development environment. Recent research has discovered the various contexts to include family life, the immediate community, and work and school in addition to friends and the societal set up within a child’s environment.
Certain issues of concern in children development must as well be addressed in relation to Bronfenbrenner’s systems, having been critical in the society. Children development under normal conditions should yield positivity in their lives in order to eradicate their exposure to societal vices, which impact negatively in their lives.
However, the recent years have been marked by rampant children abandonment issues, resilience, depression in youth, delinquency, drug abuse and others problems that are more critical. Bronfenbrenner’s theory provides crucial tools that help address the child’s context in relation to these issues. More over, distinct effects are felt differently in the different developmental stages (Brambring, et al., 1996).
The analysis in this paper has an objective to establish the influence of Bronfenbrenner’s systems on children abandonment, specifically for children in 1-2 years of age as well as adolescents. It will also seek to establish the influence that contexts in a child’s development surrounding have on developmental patterns. It will also give an overview of how the attachment theory influences the above stages of development.
Influence of a child’s context on development patterns
The child’s contextual environment is composed of family settings in which children are brought up. The community also plays a major role in the development patterns as well as work, school, friends and the societal set up in the child’s development environment. A combination of five systems was identified by Bronfenbrenner’s theory regarding children development in their environment. The suggestion he made was that these five systems had a distinct influence on the child’s development depending on the developmental stage.
The Micro system entails the explanation of how children are influenced by the environments that are immediate to them, including peer groups, family, neighborhood, school and that provided in childcare set ups. According to research, the family plays a major role in children development, since it is the most immediate child’s exposure.
Mesosystems explain the influence that occurs as a result of how children respond to the immediate environments, which are composed of a connection between any of the two micro-systems. For instance, a connection between family and school, a child who has difficulties in family life will definitely have difficulties interacting with teachers as well as other children. The same case would happen in the societal set up since the child has already developed a negative attitude (Brambring, et al., 1996).
On the other hand, Bronfenbrenner’s explains about the ecosystems, an environment that does not a direct influence on children development. This entails places like job places for parents. Though indirectly, today, it is the main cause of children abandonment since jobs have become so demanding in terms of time, thus finding parents too busy for their developing babies. Sometimes in the age of 2-6 years, the children are being acquainted with their immediate environment.
However, if they do not interact with parental counseling and corrections, most of them end up becoming criminals in the society. More over, the Macro system also plays a long-term role in development patterns of children. This entails the influence of the cultural set up, since this has a very great influence in the life of human beings.
The culture of a particular community determines the future of the children being brought up in such an environment. Some cultures have developed a sense of pride, thus, children brought up in such environments develop the same. Some others embrace education, thus, children developing in such value education have a tendency to pass examinations. Recently, many areas have been affected by the challenge of children abandonment, due to work, poverty, divorce etc.
The chronological system constitutes of the transitions that take place in the life of a human being due to environmental events. This accounts for the reason as to why every human development stage is influenced distinctly by the environmental contexts. The combination of all these systems plays a major role in molding a human being in development (Brambring, et al., 1996).
How abandonment influences children: 2-6 years of age in relation to Bronfenbrenner’s systems
Abandonment affects children at age of 2-6 years extra-ordinarily. This development stage is very sensitive, and requires distinct attention from a child’s parents. This is the stage where they acquaint themselves with their immediate and intermediate environments. However, the recent years have seen different children react distinctly in response to abandonment.
The exosystems explained ealier have desperately contributed to the issue of abandonment, owing to the modern working environment, which many parents are subjected to. The families also have had a direct relationship with abandonment issues, being the immediate environments. Abandonment of such children of this age subjects them to every kind of temptation, and most of them end up becoming criminals in the society (De Roeck, 2008).
According to Bronfenbrenner’s, a child who has been abandoned develops poor physical characteristics, and are mentally disturbed. Thus, this affects their response even to the school environment during their orientation. They tend to value nothing in life, develop poor eating habits, and are many times hurt by circumstances.
The chronological system also has seen the success of abandonment in many cases. Many parents are influenced by their cultures, such that they may end up rejecting their children at one time or the other. The children who suffer rejection at such an early age are always prone to risks of drug abuse and other habits, hence developing negativity in their lives. However, abandonment of such a little age is fatal to most societies, bearing in mind the rate of increase in criminal numbers (De Roeck, 2008).
How abandonment influences adolescents in relation to Bronfenbrenner’s systems
The most critical stage of development in children is the adolescent stage. This is a period when the children start realizing exactly who they are, physically, mentally and psychologically. All Bronfenbrenner’s systems have a very great effect in the lives of these children since they are always sensitive.
The Microsystems abandonment of these children causes them feel neglected and downcast whenever parents seem to concentrate on them so much in terms of their behaviour. This stage causes a feeling of pride, self-realization, and demand from rights in all systems etc (De Roeck, 2008).
On the other hand, parents seem not to understand or remember that these children are in such a developmental stage, most end up becoming so harsh on these children instead of correcting them politely. If criminals are rampant in any nation, it is attributed to abandonment at this stage.
The Mesosystems has also very pronounced effects on this stage, since children that are abandoned or rejected will; always develop a poor relationship with teachers and other students. These children always demand a lot of attention from their immediate neighbors; they feel heroic as well as getting attracted to opposite sex interactions (De Roeck, 2008).
More over, this stage sees many getting so much attracted to the chronological system, since are eager to learn why they are found in such a setting and want to adopt some cultural behaviors. Therefore, it is very easy for them to acquire the worst behaviors or the best possible depending on how the caregivers in the Mesosystems interact with them at this juncture. Furthermore, there is a renowned response of this stage to the exosystems.
Whenever parents concentrate so much on work and workplace colleagues, these children are able to detect very rapidly that appropriate care is not given to them. They therefore tend to acquaint themselves with the environment to get the comfort they should have from parents.
This paves a way for them to be involved in premarital sexual behaviors, drug abuse as well as other pronounced abnormalities. Thus, this stage responds pronouncedly to all Bronfenbrenner’s systems as compared to the children at the age of 2-6 years who respond to only some systems (Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman, 2009).
Influence of attachment theory on children development patterns
The attachment theory describes the kind of relationship that occurs between primary caregivers in children’ lives as well as that with other friends who live closely with them. The attachment of the child with the parents, primary caregivers influences him/her in a very broad manner. Most children tend to copy the behaviors of their parents/caregivers at their initial stages and ultimately develop their habits.
The connection of developing children with other long-life acquaintances is also influential on their lives. No person in life is an original drug dealer, addict, or a criminal, but all are as a result of poor friendship interactions. In addition, the acquaintance with other authorities’ e.g., school authority, area laws are also influential on the life of a child. However, ample caregivers are effective whenever they ensure that their children attachment is perfect, since the same will be extended to other systems (Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman, 2009).
Conclusion
Developmental patterns in children are adversely influenced by the contexts around the child’s development environment. However, the behavior of children at the age of 2-6 years and adolescents reflects the kind of systems they are subjected to according to Bronfenbrenner’s theory.
Therefore, parents and caregivers should be cautious when handling these children to ensure their welfare in their development patters. More research should be conducted to explain the best systems that children should be subjected to for ample developmental patterns implementation.
References
Brambring, M. et al. (1996). Early childhood intervention: theory, evaluation, and practice. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
De Roeck, D. (2008). Multiplayer Gaming amongst Tweens. Belgium, IADIS International Conference Gaming. Web.
Zastrow, C. and Kirst-Ashman, K. (2009). Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment. OH: Cengage Learning publishers.