FAD 3271

TEST 1

Study Guide

 

I.              Human Ecology

a.      A theoretical model that considers individuals and families in their environment and examines the interdependent and reciprocal relationship between them.

II.            Environments

a.      Natural

i.  Natural Resources

1.                        Land, air, water, space, time, plants, animals, fossil fuels, minerals, temperature, and climate

b.      Social Cultural

i.  Social Institutions such as kinship groups, religious groups, political systems, recreational activities, etc.

1.                        Skills, knowledge, emotional support, customs, traditions, rituals, beliefs, and values

c.      Human Constructed

i.  Technological environment

1.                        Homes, clothing, buildings, and highways

III.          Levels of Systemic Environments

a.      Microsystem

i.        The immediate developmental contexts containing the individual which represents the interactions that people are directly involved

1.      Family, school, friends, church, community, neighborhood

b.      Mesosystem

i.        Contains two or more of the elements present in the Microsystem, but concentrates on the interaction between two or more of the settings

1.      How does the church affect the family? What is the relationship between the school and the neighborhood?

c.      Exosystem

i.        Consists of the fabrics of society in which policies are made and ultimately have an impact on the Microsystem, the individual, and the family system

1.      Education system, religious system, economic system, media system, political system, legal system

d.      Macrosystem

i.        The “big umbrella” which recognizes that a society has a set of overarching cultural values and beliefs that establish implicit and explicit rules about what or what is not acceptable behavior

e.      Chronosystem

i.        reflects the changes that happen over time

1.      women’s rights, definition of family or marriage, social/economic discrimination

IV.         An Ecosystemic Perspective

a.      Hollistic View

i.        Gives you a better understanding of the whole relationship in any given situation, rather than from a linear perspective that simply examines cause and effect.

b.      Broadens the perspective

i.        Understand how families maintain and solve problems over time

ii.      Context and contributing parts can change judgment by bringing you closer to the reality

1.      Leads to better practices when working with families