Limitations of ecological models

Question 1

Limitations of ecological models

Answer 1

they can sometimes focus attention away from individual responsibility.

Question 2

•Although ecological models are helpful for showing interrelationships, they are not so good at showing the weighting between the different elements

Answer 2

For example, many children who grow up in poverty may still achieve positive outcomes. The effects of poverty may be offset by other factors (for example, quality of parenting). Later, we will look more closely at this when we examine the resilience of children and young people

Question 3

•The models often appear to overlook the day-to-day reality of practitioners. They might show the availability of support to a child from a practitioner, yet the conditions under which the practitioner is working (a large case load, conflicting priorities, personal development needs, etc.) are not necessarily visible within the model

Answer 3

you will be introduced to the view and experiences of practitioners. It will become evident that practitioners are also ‘nested’ within their own social ecologies, and their practice is related to the different levels.

Question 4

•As Andy Rixon identified in Chapter 1 of Working with Children and Young People, although the ecological perspective has proposed a framework within which the development of children’s lives can be viewed

Answer 4

it does not necessarily define what is good or bad for children.

Question 5

•Social ecological models are often a snapshot

Answer 5

and do not easily represent changes across time