Introduction
The early years of a child are crucial for their growth and development. Child development can be defined as the wholesome process that leads to changes in a child’s life. When exploring the concept of child development, it is crucial to consider the general environment in which they are exposed (Darling-Hammond et al., 2018).
The existing surroundings have a profound influence on a child’s upbringing. An enriching environment provides a child with the love, psychological support, and confidence vital to their growth and development. On the other hand, a restrictive environment presents a less-than-ideal environment for a child to thrive, ultimately derailing their growth and development in the long run (Darling-Hammond et al., 2018). As a child grows up, they become more in tune with their surroundings and identify with them. Subsequently, changing a child’s environment during the early years of development has a profound impact on their growth.
Several studies have been conducted on the effect of the environment on a child’s upbringing. Urie Bronfenbrenner, a psychologist, developed a theory on the impact of the environment on a child’s growth and development (Crawford, 2020). While the previous works on the relationship between a child’s development and the environment mainly focused on the relationship between the child and the stranger or the mother, a relationship described as unidirectional by Bronfenbrenner, his work majored on the relationship between the child, the surrounding people, and the wider environment (Crawford, 2020). His studies led to the conception of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, which has played a crucial role in understanding the complex relationship between children’s upbringing and the environment (Crawford, 2020).
A scientist named Lev Vygotsky also developed a theory suggesting that a child’s development is attributed to social interaction (McLeod, 2023). Both theories take into account the learning process during a child’s development and will be used for a significant part of this work.
This essay takes a case study approach of a young girl, Yasmin, 13 years old, who grew up in Syria and migrated to Australia three years ago. She has since encountered difficulties in adapting to her new environment. As a social worker, I aim to gain a clear understanding of what she is going through and formulate strategies to help her develop her resilience. I will adopt Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and Vygotsky’s social development theory, paying close attention to the five levels of Bronfenbrenner’s framework: the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystem. To understand what she is going through and to help her overcome it, I will consider the adversities she has faced, the protective environment she is in, and her vulnerability, and devise a way to help build her resilience.
Adversities
Early childhood adversities have unpropitious effects on a child’s growth and development. The hardships faced by children tend to affect their psychological, behavioral, academic, and stress-related adjustments, as well as their interpersonal well-being (Li et al., 2020). Yasmin has faced numerous adversities during her early years of development. She lost her only brother to an explosion during the wars in Syria and had to separate from her two friends when they moved to Australia. While the demise of her only brother was shocking to everyone, what made it worse was the fact that the family never talked about it. Yasmin was also forced to forfeit her art classes, which she enjoyed very much.
While in Australia, it is understood that she found the language very difficult. These events must have been detrimental to her growth and could have affected her interpersonal and psychological well-being. Understanding these developments during her early stages of development is crucial for me as a social worker to fully comprehend what Yasmin is going through and develop a way to help her cope with the new environment.
In Yasmin’s case, the microsystem comprises family, school, and peers. According to Bronfenbrenner, the microsystem, the child’s most immediate environment, is the most influential level of his theory (Howard, 2021). Vygotsky asserts that culture is essential in learning and that language is the root of culture (Howard, 2021). He further emphasizes the role of social interaction in cognitive development.
Yasmin’s family is isolated from other Syrian families as they live far away and are not well-connected to their neighbors. As such, her family is at risk of losing their culture. To help Yasmin build resilience, I would encourage her to appreciate her new environment, including her school, family, and friends.
It would also be essential for me to educate the dad on the benefits of allowing Yasmin to interact with her new friends outside of the school environment. In understanding the importance of adopting a new language when changing the environment, I would endeavor to establish Yasmin’s understanding of the new language and encourage her to develop a keen interest in thoroughly grasping it.
An understanding of Yasmin’s mesosystem, the second level of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, is vital in ensuring that she can interact and socialize with others in her microsystem. As a social worker, it is crucial to build on the relationship between the influential actors in Yasmin’s life. To my advantage, her parents are well-known in her school and attend school events and activities to support her. The fact that the parents maintain regular contact with Yasmin’s counselor reinforces the parent-counselor relationship, a concept explored within the mesosystem (Howard, 2021). Finally, as a social worker, I would work closely with the counselor to address fully the adversities Yasmin has undergone and ensure she overcomes them all.
Protective Environments
Children are unable to provide personal care for themselves and are therefore at risk of harm. According to UNICEF, a protective environment is one where all the actors live up to their billing to protect developing children against exploitation, abuse, and a hostile environment (Nicholl, 2019). Setting up an environment that provides primary and self-care for developing kids is essential for their growth and general well-being.
Yasmin’s case study provides a perfect example of having and lacking a protective environment. The war in Syria exposed Yasmin and her family to harm. Her father’s becoming increasingly controlling and denying her the opportunity to see or talk to her friends outside school hours is a testament to the failure on her parents’ side to provide her and her brother a protective environment while they were in Syria. Her father walking her to and from school every day is a way for him to try to make up for exposing them to harm and, in a way, to keep her safe. As a social worker, it is vital to understand Yasmin’s protective environment and its impact on her growth in order to develop a strategy that fosters her resilience.
In understanding Yasmin’s protective environment, it is essential to explore her exosystem. In researching her ecosystem environment, her parents’ economic situation and her family’s isolation from other Syrian families are brought to light. It would be costly for her family to support her through the new art classes starting at the local library, as the library was not very close and the classes were not free (Nicholl, 2019). Despite her mother’s understanding of nature, she is unable to attend the new art classes because her dad recently lost his job.
As a social worker, I would discuss her family’s financial situation with her and ensure she understands their circumstances. In understanding her love for art, I would also seek support from local charitable organizations to fund her through her new art classes and enable her family to interact with other Syrian families in the country.
Being overly protective can be intrusive or even detrimental to a child’s development. While every parent aims to ensure their child grows in a safe and protective environment, an overprotective parenting style can hinder a child’s overall growth and development. In this case study, it is understood that Yasmin was uncomfortable with her father walking her to and from school. Her father’s being too controlling can be seen as a case of an overprotective parenting style from her father’s side.
Another point of overprotective parenthood is when her father doesn’t allow her to interact with her new friends outside of school hours. According to Fleer (2020), intersubjectivity is achieved when children interact with each other. Intersubjectivity in developing children is joyful and vital for their development. As a social worker, I would ask the father to allow her to go to and from school alone and to meet and interact with her peers outside of school hours, bearing in mind the restrictive environment schools often impose on children.
Vulnerability
Developing children are generally vulnerable to their existing environment and daily occurrences. Child vulnerability can be defined as the result of the combination of human and environmental factors that interact over time (Sciaraffa et al., 2018). A vulnerable child is at risk of harm, either emotionally or physically. Yasmin’s environment, both in Syria and Australia, rendered her vulnerable. She was exposed to both physical and emotional damage in Syria, whereas in Australia, she was exposed to emotional harm.
The wars in Syria exposed her to physical harm. Her brother’s death, also due to exposure to a hostile environment, rendered her emotionally vulnerable. The act of her father walking her to and from school while she was in Australia was embarrassing to her and is an instance of the emotional vulnerability she was exposed to while there. An understanding of the vulnerable environment she has been exposed to and is being exposed to would be essential for me as a social worker.
The macrosystem, the fourth level in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory, is where the broad interactions between the child and the environment occur. It indirectly influences disaster response and recovery. Therefore, it is accurate to say that the macrosystem has a direct impact on members of a child’s microsystem and their growth and development.
The macrosystem in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory primarily focuses on society, history, and culture, which play a significant role in child vulnerability. Yasmin’s past, especially her brother’s demise as a result of the war in Syria, her family’s isolation from other Syrian families in the host country, and their not-so-good relationship with the neighbors, renders her vulnerable (Sciaraffa et al., 2018). The isolation from other Syrian families is detrimental to their cultural beliefs, a concept of the macrosystem environment.
Addressing cultural differences is vital in combating child vulnerability. It provides a context of how children and the larger community co-exist in a given environment. The migration from Syria to Australia exposed Yasmin to a new culture with a language that she found quite challenging to grasp during the early days of migrating. Adopting a totally new culture with a different language rendered Yasmin emotionally vulnerable (Sciaraffa et al., 2018). As a social worker, I would embrace the Vygotskian culturally mediated learning in addressing Yasmin’s exposure to child vulnerability.
The Vygotskian culturally mediated learning approach suggests that learning is an interactive process that mirrors a learner’s final contribution to the community. I would encourage her dad to allow her to interact with her new friends, with a different culture from her own, more often (Vasileva & Balyasnikova, 2019). I would encourage her father to let her walk to school as other children do. These two steps would enable her to learn a different culture, be more in tune with the new environment, and build resilience against the macrosystem, exposing her to experiences that rendered her vulnerable.
Resilience
Chronosystem, the last level of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, encompasses the events that have occurred throughout an individual’s life. It refers to the changes and shifts that occur throughout someone’s life. This last level is crucial in understanding and appreciating the current situation and the overarching differences that one experiences throughout one’s lifetime.
In building resilience, we must look back at the harsh conditions we have endured and understand that we dared to overcome the challenges we faced. While experiencing challenges in our lives, we tend to develop coping mechanisms that we can use in the future in the event of adversity (Ncube & Bahta, 2021). While understanding the child’s chronosystem and working to help the child build resilience, social workers should utilize the skill sets they have acquired over time, such as social awareness and social management, within their mandate.
Social management and social awareness are the building blocks of resilience. In the development of children, they play a vital role in enabling a child’s ability to create lasting and meaningful interactions that are essential to their resilience. Resilience in children is defined as a child’s ability to avoid maladaptive outcomes under unfavorable conditions and achieve positive developmental results (Masten et al., 2021).
Social awareness is vital in ensuring someone can bounce back from a setback. As a social worker, I would emphasize the necessity of self-care and maintaining key empowering relationships. I would also stress to Yasmin the importance of patience and positivity, a concept of social management. I would advise her to be patient until her parents purchase a car, so she can attend her new art classes and stay in touch with her fellow Syrians in Australia.
Resilience requires better relationships, rather than rugged self-reliance or intransigent independence. A supportive relationship enables a child to acquire the necessary coping skills that are important in adversity (Masten & Barnes, 2018). As a social worker, I would encourage Yasmin’s mother to be more supportive and urge her to build on her relationship with her dad.
In the long run, perhaps a good relationship with her father would lead him to allow her to attend school alone, like other kids. I would also encourage her dad to allow her more time with her friends, as it would be vital for her to build her resilience through interaction with them. It would also help her fill the void left by her friends, whom she was separated from when they migrated to Australia.
Conclusion
The early years of a child are essential for their growth and development. It is imperative to understand the circumstances surrounding a child, the child’s mental state, and ways to ensure that the child’s development is not tampered with. As outlined in this work, to understand the child’s development, social workers and those involved in the child’s environment need to consider the child’s adversities and study the protective factors surrounding the child, as well as the child’s vulnerability, to help them attain resilience. From the case study explored in this work, it is also crucial to note that while parents strive to provide a protective environment for their children, it is beneficial for them to know the boundaries between being protective and overprotective.
Relationship health is crucial in overcoming adversity, fostering a secure environment, and developing social skills that are essential for children to build resilience and achieve success. As social workers, our ultimate goal is to see our clients develop strength and grow. As discussed above, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory views a child’s growth as a complex relationship between the five levels of the environment mentioned in this work. It is, therefore, our duty as social workers to explore all five levels of the environment to better understand child development and build a system that enables developing children to build resilience based on our understanding of the environment. We are also encouraged to engage all the players in the child’s environment.
The most crucial step in promoting child development and growth is ensuring children are exposed to healthy relationships and better social interactions. While parents and the players around the child’s environment devise ways to ensure that their children grow and develop, providing a conducive environment for their well-being should suffice. It is crucial and beneficial for child development to avoid exposing children to adversity rather than mitigating the adverse effects of the misfortunes they are exposed to.
This work also notes that a child’s social interaction guides their learning ability and cognitive development, a concept drawn from Vygotsky’s social development theory. A healthy environment ensures that every child, regardless of their individual needs, can grow in an environment that enables them to flourish. From this work, while Vygotsky’s social development theory is used to develop ways of helping children build resilience, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory is employed to better understand the environment in which the child is raised and how the child perceives it. In conclusion, it is essential to note that promoting the growth and development of a child is a concerted effort of all the players within the child’s larger environment.
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