Risky Behaviors Among Teens
Essay Preview: Risky Behaviors Among Teens
Report this essay
“Teens are at high behavioral risk for acquiring most STDs. Teenagers and young adults are more likely than other age groups to have multiple sex partners, to engage in unprotected sex, and, for young women, to choose sexual partners older than themselves. Moreover, young women are biologically more susceptible to chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV.” (
Bronfenbrenner is the leading contributor to the ecological systems theory. The ecological theory uses four types of roles and norms that shape childrens development. In order to make the
theory is easy-to-understand Bronfenbrenner described it as the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macro system. It is stated that, “This theory looks at a childs development within the context of the system of relationships that form his or her environment. Bronfenbrenners theory defines complex “layers” of environment, each having an effect on a childs development. This theory has recently been renamed “bio ecological systems theory” to emphasize that a childs own biology is a primary environment fueling her development. The interaction between factors in the childs maturing biology, his immediate family/community environment, and the societal landscape fuels and steers his development. Changes or conflict in any one layer will ripple throughout other layers. To study a childs development then, we must look not only at the child and her immediate environment, but also at the interaction of the larger environment as well” (
The microsystem is where the child has direct daily contact with certain structures. The microsystem includes the childs family, school, daycare, and the childs neighborhood. Since this is the most important part of the ecological system the relationships have an impact that can go into different directions(both away from the child and towards the child). “For example, a childs parents may affect his beliefs and behavior; however, the child also affects the behavior and beliefs of the parent. Bronfenbrenner calls these bi-directional influences, and he shows how they occur among all levels of environment. The interaction of structures within a layer and interactions of structures between layers is key to this theory. At the microsystem level, bi-directional influences are strongest and have the greatest impact on the child. However, interactions at outer levels can still impact the inner structures.” ((
childs microsystems. This can be the connection between the teacher and the childs parents. The exosystem is the layer where the child does not function directly. This could be the parents work place or work schedule; even though the child does not function directly in this atmosphere the child can still feel the positive or negative consequences associated with the interaction.
The macrosystem consists of the childs culture, values, customs, and laws. For example if the childs culture believes that it takes a village to raise a child, not only will mom and dad punish you but Ms. Susie the next door neighbor will too. This gives the parents many more resources in order to raise their child in the appropriate way.
“Attachment theory describes the dynamics of long-term relationships between humans
especially as within families and between life-long friends. Its most important tenet is that an infant needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to occur normally, and that further relationships build on the patterns developed in the first relationships. Attachment theory is