Urie Bronfenbrenner (29 April 1917 – 25 September 2005)[1] was a Russian-born[1] American developmental psychologist who is most known for his ecological systems theory of child development.[2] His scientific work and his assistance to the United States government helped in the formation of the Head Start Program in 1965.[3] Bronfenbrenner's research and his theory was key in changing the perspective of developmental psychology by calling attention to the large number of environmental and societal influences on child development.[3]
Bronfenbrenner saw the process of human development as being shaped by the interaction between an individual and his or her environment.[2] The specific path of development was a result of the influences of a person's surroundings, such as their parents, friends, school, work, culture, and so on.[2] During his time, he saw developmental psychology as only studying individual influences on development in unnatural settings; in his own words, developmental psychology was, "...the science of strange behavior of children in strange situations with strange adults for the briefest possible periods of time." [2]:19
It is from this vantage point that Bronfenbrenner conceives his theory of human development, the ecological systems theory. His theory states that there are many different levels of environmental influences that can affect a child's development, starting from people and institutions immediately surrounding the individual to nationwide cultural forces.[2] He later accounted for the influence of time, such as specific events and changes in culture over time, by adding the chronosystem to the theory.[7] Furthermore, he eventually renamed his theory the bioecological model in order to recognize the importance of biological processes in development.[8] However, he only recognized biology as producing a person's potential, with this potential being realized or not via environmental and social forces