ABSTRACT
Systems theorists postulate that children are embedded in family systems (Emery, 2014) and that families are embedded in broader-based social systems (Friedman & Allen, 2010), and that events within and between systems reverberate and have either or both direct and indirect effects on the behaviour and development of children, their parents, and the family as a whole (Bronfenbrenner, 1992). As noted by Bronfenbrenner (1979),
Whether parents can perform effectively in their child-rearing roles within the family depends on the role demands, stresses, and supports emanating from other settings . . . Parents’ evaluations of their own capacity to function, as well as their view of their children, are related to such external factors as flexibility of job schedules, adequacy of child care arrangements, the presence of friends and neighbours who can help out in large and small emergencies, the quality of health and social services, and neighbourhood safety.
