A SYSTEMS MODEL OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR
THE CONTEXT OF DEVELOPMENT

Last revised: December 2002

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Bronfenbrenner (1977, 1979, 1989) suggests that an individual develops within a context or ecology.

• microsystem -- the most immediate and earliest influences is the family, along with  local neighborhood or community institutions such as the school, religious institutions and peer groups as well as the specific culture with which the family identifies.

• mesosystem -- an intermediate level of influences such as social institutions and

• macrosystem -- the most removed influences such as international region or global changes

While we sometimes tend to focus on family or school influences on human development, we should always remember that there are other important influences. An African, as well as Native American, tradition states that it takes a whole community to raise a child.

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