Ecological, Transactional, Systems, and Biopsychosocial Cultural Theories

Personal Review of Ecological, Transactional, Systems, and Biopsychosocial cultural theories
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Personal Review of Ecological, Transactional, Systems and Biopsychosocial Cultural Theories
According to the bio-psycho-social framework, the human is a socially placed psychophysical being. In this model, human is conceptualized via their relationship with the immediate environment regarding their illnesses and disorders. This is anchored on a multi-level framework that considers humans’ internal and the environment’s external differentiations. Dynamic psychological, biological, ecological, transactional, and interpersonal systems interrelate with contextual determinants to impact an individual’s development and health outcomes over the lifespan. The factors mentioned above interact with one another to influence an individual’s development and resiliency across the lifespan. The existing macrosystems in the environment, such as a church, school, extended family, friends, healthcare services, utility services, social services, and non-medical related community services, provide crucial resources to aid the family unit or an individual managing life and obtain solutions to challenges in their lifetime. This paper examines my personal development across the lifespan via a critical lens based on biopsychosocial-cultural, systems, transactional, and economic theories.
Ecological, Systems, and Cultural Contexts
The ecological systems theory notes that an individual growth and development is significantly driven by diverse contextual structures, including (a) micro-, (b) meso-, (c) exo-, and (d) macrosystems. These environmental levels range from the increasingly insignificant contexts within which a person interacts directly to the more significant, distal settings that influence development indirectly (Ettekal & Mahoney, 2017). I live in an affluent neighborhood with a strong microsystem characterized by service projects, sports, and faith-based organizations. This environment provided positive developmental experiences in faith-based and interpersonal relations, thus empowering my psychological, emotional, and social outcomes. I enjoyed the utmost support and encouragement at the mesosystem level to ensure my life goals align with the family. It was possible to achieve alignment across diverse settings thanks to the clear communication between my parents and activity leaders. I achieved socialization objectives and became a more responsible and accountable adult community member (Martinez-Escudero et al., 2020).
At the exo-system level, I was negatively impacted by practices at my mother’s workplace practices. The workplace system contributed to my school absenteeism, thus undermining my academic achievement and related goals. I also used to attend fewer sports activities compared to my counterparts with constantly available parents, which negatively impacted my physical development in the long term (Crawford, 2020). According to the transactional theory, parental behaviors impact the child’s development into adolescence and adulthood and elicits a particular trend of parental responses and subsequent outcomes (Kuldas & Foody, 2021). In this way, it was apparent that lack of adequate parental support due to long working hours slowed my psychological and emotional development, mainly because I felt they cared little about my wellbeing. Human development should be conceptualized as both (a) a product of the inter-relationship effects between people and their immediate environment and (b) a continuous process of accommodation and adaptation as well (Kuldas & Foody, 2021). The macrosystem includes the overarching values, norms, and beliefs reflected within the community’s religious, socioeconomic, and cultural organization. As mentioned earlier, I live in an affluent neighborhood, implying that I had financial resources, fewer family responsibilities (for example, child care), and prioritized safety. Accordingly, I participated in activities reflecting my cultural background, which augmented my positive experiences during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood (Ettekal & Mahoney, 2017). Despite my previous experiences, I recognize that development is lifelong, with the potential for changes across the lifespan.
Development Related to Multiple Identities
According to Erickson’s psychosocial development theory, adolescence and the onset of adulthood are characterized by vast opportunities to experiment with one’s identity (Orenstein & Lewis, 2021). Identity changes during lifespan development are significantly influenced by social dynamics and the, in extension, by psychosocial development (Orenstein & Lewis, 2021). As a student, I experienced interpersonal and intrapersonal difficulties. I struggled to perform well academically, which contributed to my anxiety and other self-defeating behavioral inclinations. Accordingly, I had poor relationships with my teachers due to my deteriorated academic performance. I demonstrated heightened tendencies towards conflicts with people in authority, including my parents, and more experimentation with reckless behaviors. As I approached graduation, it was an opportunity to proclaim myself as an adult and become a more self-sufficient individual (e.g., making independent choices, becoming financially independent, and accepting responsibility for behaviors). It was a time to make career choices and plan what I wanted my future to look like. As an employee, I had to change my adolescent behaviors and assume complete responsibility for my life choices. I was no longer ideologically, economically, and socially dependent on the family unit. Career and development implied role changes, thus the need to relinquish my previous identities and construct new ones. Instead of burning bridges, career progress and related changes positively impacted my personality as I became more committed and learned the value of creating long-lasting relationships in every workplace (Bentley et al., 2019). As a spouse and a parent, I became more committed to succeeding in the dimensions of generativity, integrity, and intimacy. At this stage, I invest much of my time in community development projects because I am a committed member of the local church. This coincided with my objectives of deepening my spirituality and enhancing the sustainable development of the environment within which I reside. However, I am currently struggling to maintain a healthy relationship with my teenage son, who is constantly demonstrating unruly behavior. This has presented an opportunity to challenge my emotional wellbeing and become a role model to my child.
Environmental Influences During Early Years
Parental socialization impacts a child’s activities and behaviors from childhood to adolescence and probably into adulthoo...