The immediate environment in which an individual lives is called:

SOLUTION

Development is always embedded in a particular socio-cultural context. The transition during one’s lifetime such as entering school, becoming an adolescent, finding jobs, marrying, having children, retirement, etc. all are joint functions of the biological changes and changes in one’s environment. The environment can change or alter during any time of the individual’s lifespan. Urie Bronfenbrenner’s contextual view of development emphasizes the role of environmental factors in the development of an individual. This has been depicted in the following diagram:

1) Microsystem:

• The microsystem is the immediate environment/setting in which the individual lives.
• It is in these settings where the child directly interacts with social agents – the family, peers, teachers, and neighborhood.

2) Mesosystem:

• The mesosystem consists of relations between the contexts of social agents – the family, peers, teachers, and neighborhood.
• For instance, how a child’s parents relate to the teachers, or how the parents view the adolescent’s friends, are experiences likely to influence an individual’s relationships with others.

3) Exosystem:

• The exosystem includes events in social settings where the child does not participate directly, but they influence the child's’ experiences in the immediate context.
• For example, the transfer of father or mother may cause tension among the parents which might affect their interactions with the child or the general amenities available to the childlike quality of schooling, libraries, medical care, means of entertainment, etc.

4) Macrosystem:

• It includes the culture in which the individual lives.

5) Chronosystem:

• The chronosystem involves events in the individual’s life course, and socio-historical circumstances of the time such as the divorce of parents or parents’ economic setback, and their effect on the child.