"EVEN IF YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK, YOU WILL GET RUN OVER IF YOU JUST SIT THERE." - WILL ROGERS
Ecological systems
The Ecological systems theory provides a framework for individuals, where they fit in society, how they interact with the bigger society, and how the larger system influences their life indirectly. Through the five systems, from the systems I directly interact with and the large systems that indirectly influence my life is all part of the larger society and how each impacts one other. Although I associate directly with my family, friends, church, school, and work which would be known as my Microsystem, my direct contacts interconnect through the mesosystem which represents my actual interactions with my Microsystem communities.
In my personal system, it starts with my biological aspects of being caucasian, twenty-one years old, and a female. From there my direct interactions with my family, friends, work, school, and neighborhood form my microsystem. These are my personal and immediate connections that affect myself as an individual, social being, that has also directly influenced those in my microsystem. I change and learn from these direct interactions from perspectives and experiences I have had with these people. My views, opinions, and psychological being are interconnected with this system.
My mesosystem, including my smaller systems interacting with one another has impacted the bigger systems. As an interconnected system, my friends, my immediate family including my parents, older brother, and three older sisters, coworkers, and peers interact with each other and influence certain outcomes. For example, my home life affects my performance at school, which affects my grades and therefore decides my ability to stay in college. It can also act in reverse such as my school life affects my relationship with my roommates, friends, and family. My economic status makes it possible to go to school, as my parents are supporting me through college. Due to my family’s financial stability, I have had a chance to explore, travel, play sports, and take music lessons outside of school.
On a larger system level, the exosystem monitors the interactions of my mesosystem. These larger systems include more indirect sources such as financial status, the university I attend along with my major, my views and political stance, my extended family, where I work, and my involvement with my community. This system is formed through my mesosystem and how I have developed within it. This system is malleable as I am a developing human that can change as my environment changes. For example, I have changed my religious views as I have adapted to a non-religious environment. Being at Western has influenced my religious views that set them apart from when I was actively engaged at church.
All of these systems are indirectly related to the Macrosystem. This is the system that we do not control as it is what has determined our upbringing through politics, government, culture, religious views, and material resources. I was born and raised in a middle class household and raised to be catholic. I did not have control over the way I was raised, where I was raised, the systems that helped me, along with any systems that did not.
Overall, my chronosystem resembles these systems, events that have occurred, how they have functioned over time, and affected my life. As an example for my personal chronosystem could go back to before I was born. It could include my mother growing up with eight siblings in Cincinnati, getting married at twenty, having two kids, and moving to Tacoma, Washington. Her divorce with her first husband led her to meet my father who was already in Tacoma. That led them to get married and have two more children. My mother had to use services to be able to support my older siblings, live on a tight budget, and continue to work as a nurse to put food on the table. Meanwhile my father was going to school, saving his money, and traveling. Although both of my parents had to financially support themselves from a young age, they were educated from college and nursing school to give them more guidance to their careers. At a point from when I was young, my siblings and I were taught about tight budgets, how to save money, and how to appreciate what we had. Overtime, my family could afford to go on vacations and make improvements to our house. My relationship with my half siblings also taught me about family values, and how to function with a blended family. From a young age, my older siblings would spend half of the time at their father’s house, and half of it with my parents. Having a large age gap has affected my relationship with them and how I view my relationship with my siblings.
The systems that I have no control over are what have determined the person I am today. I was able to have experiences throughout my life based on my location, gender, race, culture, stereotypes, and social expectations. Even if there was a slight alteration with my skin color, age, the way I viewed myself, time in history I was born, where I was born, my sexuality, and any other biological components would have varied my experiences greatly. My experiences and perspectives of Tacoma varied greatly from my neighbors and peers and that is how I have come to form my opinions, outlook, and approach on how I live my life and what I choose to do with it.
Human Services has already impacted how I critically think, how I use my abilities, and how I want to use my service in the future. I have yet to have experiences with internships or professional situations, but I already find myself thinking differently than I did three months ago. I know I have the compassion and am now finding a way to apply it in this world.
The Ecological systems theory provides a framework for individuals, where they fit in society, how they interact with the bigger society, and how the larger system influences their life indirectly. Through the five systems, from the systems I directly interact with and the large systems that indirectly influence my life is all part of the larger society and how each impacts one other. Although I associate directly with my family, friends, church, school, and work which would be known as my Microsystem, my direct contacts interconnect through the mesosystem which represents my actual interactions with my Microsystem communities.
In my personal system, it starts with my biological aspects of being caucasian, twenty-one years old, and a female. From there my direct interactions with my family, friends, work, school, and neighborhood form my microsystem. These are my personal and immediate connections that affect myself as an individual, social being, that has also directly influenced those in my microsystem. I change and learn from these direct interactions from perspectives and experiences I have had with these people. My views, opinions, and psychological being are interconnected with this system.
My mesosystem, including my smaller systems interacting with one another has impacted the bigger systems. As an interconnected system, my friends, my immediate family including my parents, older brother, and three older sisters, coworkers, and peers interact with each other and influence certain outcomes. For example, my home life affects my performance at school, which affects my grades and therefore decides my ability to stay in college. It can also act in reverse such as my school life affects my relationship with my roommates, friends, and family. My economic status makes it possible to go to school, as my parents are supporting me through college. Due to my family’s financial stability, I have had a chance to explore, travel, play sports, and take music lessons outside of school.
On a larger system level, the exosystem monitors the interactions of my mesosystem. These larger systems include more indirect sources such as financial status, the university I attend along with my major, my views and political stance, my extended family, where I work, and my involvement with my community. This system is formed through my mesosystem and how I have developed within it. This system is malleable as I am a developing human that can change as my environment changes. For example, I have changed my religious views as I have adapted to a non-religious environment. Being at Western has influenced my religious views that set them apart from when I was actively engaged at church.
All of these systems are indirectly related to the Macrosystem. This is the system that we do not control as it is what has determined our upbringing through politics, government, culture, religious views, and material resources. I was born and raised in a middle class household and raised to be catholic. I did not have control over the way I was raised, where I was raised, the systems that helped me, along with any systems that did not.
Overall, my chronosystem resembles these systems, events that have occurred, how they have functioned over time, and affected my life. As an example for my personal chronosystem could go back to before I was born. It could include my mother growing up with eight siblings in Cincinnati, getting married at twenty, having two kids, and moving to Tacoma, Washington. Her divorce with her first husband led her to meet my father who was already in Tacoma. That led them to get married and have two more children. My mother had to use services to be able to support my older siblings, live on a tight budget, and continue to work as a nurse to put food on the table. Meanwhile my father was going to school, saving his money, and traveling. Although both of my parents had to financially support themselves from a young age, they were educated from college and nursing school to give them more guidance to their careers. At a point from when I was young, my siblings and I were taught about tight budgets, how to save money, and how to appreciate what we had. Overtime, my family could afford to go on vacations and make improvements to our house. My relationship with my half siblings also taught me about family values, and how to function with a blended family. From a young age, my older siblings would spend half of the time at their father’s house, and half of it with my parents. Having a large age gap has affected my relationship with them and how I view my relationship with my siblings.
The systems that I have no control over are what have determined the person I am today. I was able to have experiences throughout my life based on my location, gender, race, culture, stereotypes, and social expectations. Even if there was a slight alteration with my skin color, age, the way I viewed myself, time in history I was born, where I was born, my sexuality, and any other biological components would have varied my experiences greatly. My experiences and perspectives of Tacoma varied greatly from my neighbors and peers and that is how I have come to form my opinions, outlook, and approach on how I live my life and what I choose to do with it.
Human Services has already impacted how I critically think, how I use my abilities, and how I want to use my service in the future. I have yet to have experiences with internships or professional situations, but I already find myself thinking differently than I did three months ago. I know I have the compassion and am now finding a way to apply it in this world.