Eating Disorder Development - Bronfenbrenners Theoretical Model - Research Paper Example

?RUNNING HEAD: Eating Disorder Development Eating Disorder Development: Comparing Bronfenbrenner and Piaget Theory for Middle Childhood and Adolescence BY YOU YOUR SCHOOL INFO HERE YOUR TUTOR HERE DATE HERE Eating Disorder Development Bronfenbrenner’s Theoretical Model Urie Bronfenbrenner identified four specific systems that have direct influence on the development of children and adolescents. Bronfenbrenner believed in the nurturing philosophy of psychology, suggesting that every aspect of a child’s total development begins with the influence of externalities in their lifestyle. This theorist identified the first influencer as the microsystem, which is directly related to the immediate environment in which a child or adolescent lives. This typically involves the parents, immediate caregivers, or other social relationships found in daily lifestyle (Oswalt, 2008). The second influencing system is the mesosystem, is a continuation of the microsystem, related directly to how these influencers interact with the child. Parents, as one example, might be supportive of school activities and attend conferences to show their support. Bronfenbrenner’s third system is the exosystem, elements that are not necessarily directly involving the child but have significant impact. A parent’s workplace dynamics or periodic grandparent influence represents the exosystem. For instance, a job loss might directly impact a child’s lifestyle due to financial problems as a causality. The final system is the macrosystem, broader elements that impact development such as governmental systems, cultural values and norms, or the general country economy (Oswalt). It was necessary to define the influencers described by Bronfenbrenner in order to fully understand the constructs that could lead to eating disorder development in middle childhood and during adolescence. Since this theorist believed all external sources have direct impact on healthy or unhealthy development, the influence of all four systems must be examined as it relates to children and adolescents. Eating Disorders and Bronfenbrenner’s Theory There is a respected theory in psychology known as the social learning theory which offers that youths are directly influenced through the observation of desirable role models and will learn to adopt similar behaviors if the individual witnesses reward for the role model’s activities (Neubert, Carlson, Kacmar, Roberts & Chonko, 2009). This is especially true if the reference model has a high social status or is considered attractive by the child or adolescent. In some households, children have supportive parents that provide nurturing in virtually all elements of lifestyle. This is associated with both the microsystem and the mesosystem as previously described in relation to caregiver role, thus they often serve as role models for social learning. However, there is another parenting style referred to as permissive-indulgent parenting where there is adequate support for the child’s needs and desires, however they do not set specific limits on behavior and do not provide a disciplinary structure. Children who have a microsystem and mesosystem with this parenting style are often “immature, disrespectful, impulsive and out of control” in later life (Morris & Maisto, 2005, p.385). A child or adolescent that develops anorexia or bulimia categorically exhibits irrational behaviors and seem to have a very distorted self-concept, thus making decisions impulsively such as in the case of binge eating. Bronfenbrenner would argue that this is due to the permissive-indulgent beliefs that drove most of childhood development and suggest the mesosystem was the direct cause of this maladjusted behavior. It is also understood that adolescents consider peers with which they have strong ties to be reference groups and mold their behavior based on what norms exist in their desired in-group (Berten & Van Rossem, 2008). This is more so true with adolescents than with those in middle childhood as adolescents actively seek a sense of affiliation during this stage of cognitive development and begin forming their own self-identity in measurement against peers and other reference groups. Again, Bronfenbrenner would argue that the mesosystem directly impacted the development of eating disorders, especially if this was a well-established norm in their desired social group of peers. For instance, regular discussion within their in-group about body dissatisfaction or dieting would indicate, through schematic processing, that such attitudes and motivations are the norm and would thereby change the adolescent’s behavior to conform to these values. Adolescents also, according to psychologist David Elkind, believe in an imaginary audience, a perception that others in society are judging them on appearance or behavioral elements (Morris & Maisto). Jean Piaget supports this notion of egocentrism that explains certain delusional beliefs which often occur as the adolescent seeks reference group approval about them. Generally, this belief in the imaginary audience begins after age 11 and continues throughout much of adolescence until a unique sense of self has been developed in early adulthood. The imaginary audience, related to Piaget’s notion of egocentrism, would explain why children develop eating disorders as a means to produce a body type that would be most accepted by reference groups or even the imaginary audience phenomenon. Abraham Maslow identified that during adolescence youths need personal recognition from others in order to develop higher concepts of self-esteem. “Individuals need to feel useful and also feel that they have some affect on their environment” (Gambrel & Cianci, 2003, p.146). Clearly, a need for belonging and affiliation, as part of the mesosystem, is necessary to achieve normal adjustment in adolescence and childhood. However, in adolescence there is a surging need for a sense of personal control and autonomy that is also linked to self-esteem development. The influence of the mesosystem dynamics related to social networking along with control are the key influencers, as would be supported by Bronfenbrenner, in the development of anorexia or bulimia (as two eating disorder examples). Piaget’s Concepts Piaget identified his four stages of cognitive development in youths. To satisfy only the needs of middle childhood, only two stages will be defined. The first is the concrete operational stage that occurs between elementary school age (approximately seven years old) and carries on through adolescence. This stage is marked by the ability to shed egocentric thinking when desired and the ability to think more abstractly in relation to cultural or social symbolism. The second stage is the formal operations stage that starts in adolescence and carries on into adulthood. This of Piaget’s stages is absolute abstract and logical thinking and, sometimes, a return to egocentric-style thinking (Huitt & Hummel, 2003). There are distinct similarities between Piaget’s development theory and Bronfenbrenner’s last two systems that change attitudes and motivations in middle childhood and adolescence. First, in relation to Piaget, a return to egocentrism at a time where changing schemas are present can lead to a poor evaluation of body mass index or other body image characteristics. According to Killen, Taylor, Hayward, Haydel, Wilson, Hammer, Kraemer, Blair-Griener and Stratchowski (1996), weight directly influences concepts of self-worth in adolescence. Coupled with reference group role modeling that occurs in adolescence, Bronfenbrenner would argue that culturally-driven values found in the macrosystem would influence such behaviors. For example, beauty and vanity companies often use well-known and attractive celebrities to promote their products. Therefore, the youth or adolescent observes reward for behaviors associated with body image and then attempts to identify with or mold these behaviors into their own lifestyle. If the community in which the child thrives also supports these beliefs, it is likely they will begin to develop their own views about body image and perhaps even distort reality to fit their perception of social norms on the issue. In this case, again, this would be more common in the adolescent than in middle childhood where advanced abstract thinking is not present and there is not a surging need for affiliation through reference group comparison. Both theories from Piaget and Bronfenbrenner would seem to support the idea that it is externalities that impact how a child or adolescent develops. The mesosystem is most influential in childhood due to parenting style that is devoid of support or maintains little disciplinary structure that leads to irrational behaviors. Piaget would likely argue that the formal operations stage and the return to egocentric behavior, coupled with social and cultural norms related to image and beauty, are what define the onset of eating disorders. References Berten, Hans & Van Rossem, Ronan. (2008), “Mechanisms of peer influence among adolescents: Cohesion versus structural equivalence”, Sociological Perspectives, 54(2), pp.183-204. Cherry, Kendra. (2011), “Background and key concepts of Piaget’s theory: Stages of cognitive development”. Retrieved June 20, 2011 from http://psychology.about.com/od/piagetstheory/a/keyconcepts.htm Gambrel, P.A. & Cianci, R. (2003), “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: Does it Apply in a Collectivist Culture?”, Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, 8(2), pp.143-162. Huitt, W. & Hummel, J. (2003), “Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development”, Educational Psychology Interactive, Valdosta State University. Retrieved June 20, 2011 from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cogsys/piaget.html Killen, J., Taylor, C., Hayward, C., Haydel, K., Wilson, D., Hammer, L., Kraemer, H., Blair-Greiner, A. & Stratchowski, D. (1996), “Weight concerns influence the development of eating disorders: a 4-year prospective”, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, vol. 64, pp.936-940. Morris, C. & Maisto, A. (2005), Psychology: An Introduction, 12th ed. Pearson Prentice Hall. Neubert, M., Carlson, D., Kacmar, K., Roberts, J. & Chonko, L. (2009), “The Virtuous Influence of Ethical Leadership Behavior: Evidence from the Field”, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 90, pp.157-170. Oswalt, Angela. (2008), “Urie Bronfenbrenner and Child Development”. Retrieved June 20, 2011 from http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=7930 Read More