Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological ModelModel

A framework and language that provides a method for examining settings at different levels and interactions between them. The basis is that individuals live within nested social systems.

Individual/Microsystem – family, work, classroom, workplace

Mesosystem – interactions between microsystems

Exosystem – formal/informal structures that do not contain the individual

Macrosystem – patterns of culture/subculture

Victim BlamingVictim Blaming• The expert-patient model of helping seeks to identify and correct the deficits within people. • Victim blaming sees the person as responsible for their problems even though it results from social conditions.

• Victim blaming is not a conscience attempt to downgrade people but comes from a genuine desire to do good.

• It still exists and is very difficult to combat.

What were you doing in a strange part of town?What were you doing out at night?What did you expect with the way you were dressed?You should have known better.

Steps to Blaming the Steps to Blaming the VictimVictim

1. Identify a social problem2. Study those affected by the problem, identify

differences as a consequence of deprivation and injustice

3. Define the difference as the cause of the social problem

4. Assign a bureaucrat to invent a program to correct the problem by changing the victim.

Helping the VictimHelping the VictimFour models of helping are still focused at the individual level:

1.Moral model – responsible for causing and solving the problem2.Enlightenment model –blamed for cause but not responsible for solution3.Medical model – responsible for neither, experts treat the problem4.Compensatory model – not blamed for problem but are responsible for solution – direct energy to problem solving

Dynamics of Victim Dynamics of Victim BlamingBlamingAttribution theory – ideas about the causes of behavior

• Dispositional - personal qualities

• Situational - environmental causes of behaviors

• Fundamental attribution error - belief that people behave the way they do because of who they are

Dynamics (cont’d)Dynamics (cont’d)

Role theory – individuals exist in relation to other individuals

Role status determines behaviors• Ascribed status – biosocial characteristics• Achieved status – activities and efforts

These are interdependent, ascribed status paving the way for achieved status

Dynamics (cont’d)Dynamics (cont’d)Labeling theory – roles provide labels that define interpersonal interactions

• Primary deviance – behavior that violates a social norm• Secondary deviance – when systems of social control label us

Five factors for labeling:1. Severity, frequency, or visibility of behavior2. Low social status, disenfranchised groups 3. Social distance of rule breaker and social control

agent4. Tolerance for deviance within the community5. Availability of alternative roles and interpretations

that can normalize the behavior

Community response to primary deviance affects an individual’s life.Social expectations influence future behavior.

Assets vs. Needs Model Assets vs. Needs Model Needs assessment • Focuses on a community’s list of problems, deficits, issues• Sees the community as incompetent and in need of external funding• Fosters dependency on outside resources and agencies• Needs assessment paints a bleak picture

Asset assessment • Focuses on wisdom and resources• Highlights the residents’ ability to solve their own problems and competence to control resources• Supports self-sufficiency• Looks within the community rather than depending on outside agencies • Shows the community in a positive light with the internal resources to address community challenges 

Strength vs. Deficit Strength vs. Deficit PerspectivePerspective

Looks for external stressors

Blames the victim

Public issues Private troublesHandicapping environments

Handicapped individual

Secondary victimizationAppreciation of diversity Stereotyping, labelingWorks with culture for intervention

Imposes intervention

Assess community assets Assess community needsExpand opportunities Blame the disadvantagedEmbrace social change Change the individual

Why the Deficit Perspective Why the Deficit Perspective PrevailsPrevails The need to feel secure

Defensive attributions Behavioral self-blame

Maintaining self-esteem through social comparison Self-interest and humanitarianism Preserves social order Absolves government and social institutions of responsibility for system-level problems. Upholds traditional power imbalances Allows a consumer-oriented society to thrive.

Responsibility hypothesis – blames bothLegitimization hypothesis – blames the subordinate

Conservatives maintain power imbalance Others benefit from status quo Community, relationships, family, friends are replaced by professional services to help with “personal” problems

Community Competence Community Competence

• Commitment• Participation• Self-Other awareness and clarity of situational differences• Articulateness• Communication• Machinery for facilitating participant interaction and decision making• Conflict containment and accommodation• Management of relations with the larger society