Home      Discussion      Topics      Dictionary      Almanac
Signup       Login
Urie Bronfenbrenner

Urie Bronfenbrenner

Discussion
Ask a question about 'Urie Bronfenbrenner'
Start a new discussion about 'Urie Bronfenbrenner'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum
 
Encyclopedia
Urie Bronfenbrenner (April 29, 1917–September 25, 2005) was an Russian American
Russian American
Russian Americans are Americans whose ancestors were born in Russia. Non-ethnic Russians in this group could be Jews, Ukrainians, Armenians, or any other ethnicity who were born and grew up in Russia.-Demographics:...

 psychologist
Psychologist
A psychologist is someone who studies the human mind and behavior. Research psychologists study human perception, cognition, attention, emotion, motivation, personality, behavior and interpersonal relationships...

, known for developing his Ecological Systems Theory
Ecological Systems Theory
Ecological Systems Theory, also called Development in Context or Human Ecology theory, specifies four types of nested environmental systems, with bi-directional influences within and between the systems.- Overview :...

, and as a co-founder of the Head Start
Head Start
Head Start is a program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families....

 program in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 for disadvantaged pre-school children.

Background and career


Urie Bronfenbrenner was born to Russia
Russia
Russia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n Jew
Jew
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

s, Dr. Alexander Bronfenbrenner and Eugenie Kamenetski Bronfenbrenner, in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...

, Russia
Russia
Russia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. At age 6, the family moved from the USSR to the United States. After a brief stay in Pittsburgh, they settled in Letchworth Village, New York, the home of the New York State Institution for the Mentally Retarded, where his father worked as a clinical pathologist
Psychopathology
Psychopathology is a term which refers to either the study of mental illness or mental distress, or the manifestation of behaviors and experiences which may be indicative of mental illness or psychological impairment, such as abnormal, maladaptive behavior or mental activity.Psychopathology is that...

 and research director.

After his graduation from high school in Haverstraw, Bronfenbrenner attended Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private university located in Ithaca, New York, USA, that is a member of the Ivy League.Cornell counts more than 255,000 living alumni, 28 Rhodes Scholars and 41 Nobel laureates affiliated with the university as faculty or students...

 on a scholarship, completing a double major in psychology
Psychology
Psychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the systematic, and sometimes scientific, study of human or animal mental functions and behavior...

 and music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

 in 1938. He went on to do graduate work in developmental psychology
Developmental psychology
Developmental psychology, also known as human development, is the scientific study of systematic psychological changes that occur in human beings over the course of the life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence and adult development,...

, earning an M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts is a postgraduate academic master degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in English, Fine Arts, History, Nursing, Humanities, Geography, Philosophy, Social Sciences or Theology and can be either fully-taught, research-based, or a...

 at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...

, followed by a Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated PhD , for the Latin , meaning "teacher of philosophy", or alternatively, DPhil, for the equivalent , is an advanced academic degree awarded by universities...

 from the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor is a public research university located in the state of Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university, the flagship campus of the University of Michigan, and one of the top public universities in the world...

 in 1942. Twenty-four hours after receiving his doctorate he was inducted into the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the branch of the United States Military responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military and is one of seven uniformed services...

, where he served as a psychologist in a variety of assignments for the Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was the predecessor of the U.S. Army Air Forces from 1926-41, which in turn was the forerunner of today's U.S. Air Force , established in 1947...

 and the Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was the predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency .-Origins and activities:...

. After completing officer training he served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps.

Immediately after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Bronfenbrenner worked briefly as Assistant Chief Clinical Psychologist
Clinical psychology
Clinical psychology includes the scientific study and application of psychology for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development...

 for Administration and Research for the Veterans' Administration, before beginning his work as Assistant Professor in Psychology at the University of Michigan. In 1948, he accepted a professorship in Human Development, Family Studies and Psychology at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private university located in Ithaca, New York, USA, that is a member of the Ivy League.Cornell counts more than 255,000 living alumni, 28 Rhodes Scholars and 41 Nobel laureates affiliated with the university as faculty or students...

. In the late 1960s to early 1970s, Bronfenbrenner served as a faculty-elected member of Cornell's Board of Trustees
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term for a holder of property on behalf of a beneficiary. A trust can be set up either to benefit particular persons, or for any charitable purposes : typical examples are a will trust for the testator's children and family, a pension trust , and a charitable trust...

. At his death in 2005, Bronfenbrenner was the Jacob Gould Schurman
Jacob Gould Schurman
Jacob Gould Schurman , American educationist, was born at Freetown, Prince Edward Island of Dutch descent, his Loyalist ancestors having left New York in 1784....

 Professor Emeritus
Emeritus
Emeritus is an adjective that is used in the title of a retired professor, bishop, or other professional. Emerita is often used as the female equivalent, although avoided by purists, since phrases such as professor emerita are ungrammatical in Latin...

 of Human Development and of Psychology in the Cornell University College of Human Ecology
Cornell University College of Human Ecology
The New York State College of Human Ecology is a statutory college at Cornell University. The college is a unique compilation of studies on consumer science, nutrition, health economics, public policy, human development and textiles, each part of the discipline of human ecology.Students at the...

.

Ecological Systems Theory


Generally regarded as one of the world's leading scholars in the field of developmental psychology
Developmental psychology
Developmental psychology, also known as human development, is the scientific study of systematic psychological changes that occur in human beings over the course of the life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence and adult development,...

, Bronfenbrenner's primary contribution was his Ecological Systems Theory
Ecological Systems Theory
Ecological Systems Theory, also called Development in Context or Human Ecology theory, specifies four types of nested environmental systems, with bi-directional influences within and between the systems.- Overview :...

, in which he delineated four types of nested systems. He called these the microsystem (such as the family or classroom); the mesosystem (which is two microsystems in interaction); the exosystem (external environments which indirectly influence development, e.g., parental workplace); and the macrosystem (the larger socio-cultural context). He later added a fifth system, called the Chronosystem (the evolution of the external systems over time). Each system contains roles, norms and rules that can powerfully shape development.

Family


Bronfenbrenner had six children: Kate Bronfenbrenner
Kate Bronfenbrenner
Kate Bronfenbrenner is the Director of Labor Education Research at the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University...

, is the Director of Labor Education Research at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations
Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations
The New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations is a industrial relations school located in Ithaca, New York, USA, at Cornell University, a private university and member of the Ivy League...

. Mary Bronfenbrenner teaches German in the Ithaca Public School system. Michael Bronfenbrenner lives in Seal Beach, California
Seal Beach, California
Seal Beach is a city in Orange County, California. As of 2000, its population was 24,157. The city was incorporated on 25 October, 1915.Seal Beach is located in the westernmost corner of Orange County. To the northwest, just across the border with Los Angeles County, lies the city of Long Beach and...

, and works as a video artist/professional. Steven Bronfenbrenner directs an arts administration company in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 12th most populous city in the United States, with a 2008 estimated population of 808,976. It is the eighth most densely populated city in the U.S. and is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the larger San...

. Beth Soll, who resides in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...

, is a choreographer, dancer, and writer. She directed the Dance Program at MIT from 1977-1997 and now teaches at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia's main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City...

 and Manhattanville College
Manhattanville College
Manhattanville College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college offering undergraduate and graduate degrees, located in Purchase, New York, USA. Founded in 1841 it was known in initially as Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart...

. Ann Stambler is a psychiatric social worker in Newton, Massachusetts
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2000 census, the population of Newton was 83,829, making it the tenth largest city in the state.-Villages:...

.

Awards

  • The James McKeen Catell Award from the American Psychological Society
  • The American Psychological Association
    American Psychological Association
    The American Psychological Association is a professional organization representing psychologists in the U.S., with around 150,000 members and an annual budget of around $70m...

     renamed its "Lifetime Contribution to Developmental Psychology in the Service of Science and Society" as "The Bronfenbrenner Award."
  • Chair, 1970 White House Conference on Children

Publications

  • 1972. Two Worlds of Childhood. Simon & Schuster
    Simon & Schuster
    Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin, and HarperCollins...

    . ISBN 0-671-21238-9
    • Two Worlds of Childhood: US and USSR. Penguin (paperback, 1975). ISBN 0-14-081104-4
  • 1973. Influencing Human Development. Holt, R & W. ISBN 0-03-089176-0
  • 1975. Influences on Human Development. Holt, R & W. ISBN 0-03-089413-1
  • 1979. The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
    Harvard University Press
    Harvard University Press is a publishing house, a division of Harvard University, that is highly respected in academic publishing. It was established on January 13, 1913. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses . The current director...

    . ISBN 0-674-22457-4
  • 1981. On Making Human Beings Human. Sage Publications Inc. ISBN 0-7619-2rengthening Programmes of Early Childhood Development in the Third World. with R. Myers Routledge
    Routledge
    Routledge has been a long-standing and respected name in British and academic publishing, both as a publishing house under a succession of company names and latterly as an academic imprint. Its origins may be traced back to the 19th-century London bookseller George Routledge, who issued his first...

    . ISBN 0-415-07307-3
  • 1996. The State of Americans: This Generation and the Next. New York: Free Press
    Free Press (publisher)
    Free Press is an American publisher and imprint of Simon & Schuster that has been in business for over fifty years. It was headquartered in Glencoe, Illinois, until mid-1960s, where it was known as The Free Press of Glencoe. It was purchased by Macmillan in 1961. Well known for publishing serious...

    . ISBN 0-684-82336-5. Lony Tunes

External links