ABSTRACT
Urie Bronfenbrenner (1979), the major proponent of ecological theory, emphasized the importance of the interrelationship between social context and child development, arguing against conceptions of developmental psychology that study the behavior of children as isolates in research settings such as laboratories for short periods of time (p. 19). The child must be studied in relation to a variety of environmental and cultural systems (that operate at many levels and in a hierarchy) such as the family, school, and community (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Emphasis is placed on the importance of analyzing the relationships between the reciprocal role of the child and the other environmental systems with which she or he interacts. Hence the environment is attributed a major role and is responsible for eliciting and modifying behavior patterns (Hetherington & Parke, 1986). The child is conceptualized as a passive recipient responding to environmental conditions.
