Recent Advances in Research on the Ecology of Human Development

It is now more than a decade ago that, being somewhat younger, I presumed to challenge the then-prevailing conventions of my field by describing the developmental research of the day as “the study of the strange behavior of children in strange situations with strange adults for the briefest possible period of time” (Bronfenbrenner, 1974). Instead, I argued (as if it were simply a matter of choice), we should be studying development in its ecological context; that is, in the actual environments in which human beings lived their lives. I then proceeded to outline, in a series of publications, a conceptual framework for analyzing development in context, and to offer concrete examples of how various elements of the schema might be applied both to past studies and to studies yet to come. I also emphasized the scientific and practical benefits of a closer linkage, in both directions, between developmental research and public policy (Bronfenbrenner, 1975, 1977a, 1977b, 1979a, 1979b, 1981).

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