Introduction

Phyllis Moen
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T he aim of this volume is to bring together the research and thinking

of distinguished scholars whose work intersects with that of an inter-
nationally renowned behavioral scientist in the field of human develop-
ment: Urie Bronfenbrenner. His theoretical paradigm, the ecology of hu-
man development, has transformed the way many social and behavioral
scientists approach, think about, and study human beings and their envi-
ronments. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model requires behavior and de-
velopment to be examined as a joint function of the characteristics of the
person and of the environment. The former includes both biological and
psychological attributes (e.g., an individual’s genetic heritage and person-
ality). The latter encompasses the physical, social, and cultural features of
the immediate settings in which human beings live (e.g., family, school, and
neighborhood), as well as the still broader contemporary and historical
contexts in which these settings are embedded (e.g., the society and times
into which an individual is born). As Melvin L. Kohn, who studied under
Bronfenbrenner 30 years ago, describes him: “Urie was the quintessential
person for spurring psychologists to look up and realize that interpersonal
relationships did not exist in a social vacuum but were embedded in the
larger social structures of community, society, economics, and politics.”
1

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/10176-019
Examining Lives in Context: Perspectives on the Ecology of Human Development,
edited by P. Moen, G. H. Elder, Jr., and K. Lüscher
Copyright © 1995 American Psychological Association. All rights reserved.
 PHYLLIS MOEN

In the chapters that follow, the contributors recast, reflect on, and fur-
ther extend Bronfenbrenner’s theoretical framework, the ecology of hu-
man development, in the light of their own research and theoretical per-
spectives.These leading researchers cross borders of discipline, theory, and
method toward a common destination in an uncharted terrain. Their com-
mon destination: understanding the forces and experiences that shape hu-
man development through the life course in a rapidly changing world.
What is particularly noteworthy about the architecture of this volume is
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that it, like Urie’s thinking, crosses borders-across theoretical and disci-
plinary domains, across contexts and environments, across time and space,
and out of the past, into the uncharted future. Thus, its scope is both in-
ternational and interdisciplinary. The work of Urie Bronfenbrenner has
perhaps had even more influence abroad than in the United States. In ad-
dition, his ecological approach transcends the traditional and typical dis-
ciplinary boundaries of developmental psychology. The chapters in this
volume reflect his own breadth and ecumenism and provide a forum for
a dynamic intellectual exchange-as the authors contemplate, extrapolate
from, and even challenge the ecological perspective on human develop-
ment. Because the authors are introducing ideas on the cutting edge of
theory and method, this book makes an important scientific contribution
to the study of human development through the life course in a rapidly
changing world. Because the authors are communicating across discipli-
nary borders, they speak a common, rather than technical, language, un-
derstandable to a wide audience interested in the intersections between
lives, contexts, and change.

MODELS I N PROCESS
The story is told of a visitor to Ithaca who asked an elderly gentleman if
he had lived in Ithaca all his life. The amusing but accurate answer was
“not yet.” Similarly, I believe that Urie Bronfenbrenner would say that his
ecological model of human development, first articulated in his 1979book,
is in process but is not yet completed. The chapters in this volume, in-
cluding two by Bronfenbrenner himself, approach the ecology of human

2
 INTRODUCTION

development from distinctive vantage points, drawing on its themes and

propositions as points of elaboration. In the final chapter, Bronfenbren-
ner reflects on and further extends the work of the contributors, as well
as his own earlier efforts, in a prospective view of untried theoretical and
operational models.
The contributors of these chapters, all outstanding scholars, are not
Bronfenbrenner’s “disciples.” However, their work is clearly relevant in
elaborating an ecological approach, articulating in some way with the con-
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ceptualizations and main thrust of the ecology of human development.

The chapter authors draw on different methods, from experiments to
ethnography. Their own work serves as a point of departure in contem-
plating Bronfenbrenner’s framework, challenging its scope and broader
utility in the context of their particular substantive and conceptual inter-
ests. Because the authors project new ideas not yet tested, they are on the
cutting edge of the field, making the volume useful to current scholars and
scholars of the next generation.
As Urie is wont to say, “We cannot always define our destination in
advance, but we can nevertheless aspire and strive to attain it” (personal
communication). What we aspire to is to have this volume both serve as
a tribute to Urie Bronfenbrenner’s thinking and lifelong accomplishments
and provide an intellectual impetus to the social and behavior science com-
munity in confronting the challenges, as well as potential, of an evolving
theoretical paradigm.

LINKING RESEARCH A N D POLICY

As Urie’s colleague, with an office across the hall from his, I often have
been privy through the years to his sage commentary on science and re-
search. He often refers to the wisdom of his father, who asked him, as he
now asks his students, “What do we need to know? The correlation of IQ
with the length of the little toe? Why not?” His father’s point, and Urie’s,
is that what we focus on has to matter!
What matters for Urie Bronfenbrenner is theoretically driven research.
But equally important to him are the lessons for policy and practice that

3
 PHYLLIS MOEN

strong, theoretically grounded research designs can provide. Nothing is

more practical, he points out (following Lewin), than a good theory. And
he invariably alludes to the lessons that social policy, in turn, can provide
for the development and refinement of theory. He contends that science
needs policy as much as policy needs science, because “issues of social
policy [serve] as points of departure for the identification of significant
theoretical and scientific questions concerning the development of the
human organism as a function of interaction with its enduring environ-
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ment-both actual and potential” (Bronfenbrenner, 1974, p. 4).

Most of us have felt the need to make difficult choices between en-
gaging in “applied” or “basic” research (e.g., Moen & Jull, 1995). Bron-
fenbrenner’s life work epitomizes the importance of fundamental science
for policy development and vice versa, demonstrating the applied-basic
distinction to be a false, and pointless, dichotomy. He stresses the need to
systematically examine and apply the implications of research findings in
designing, refining, and evaluating programs and policies to further the
physical health, psychological well-being, cognitive and socioemotional
development, and productive functioning of individuals and families
throughout the life course. The work of most of the contributors to this
volume stands at the nexus of basic science and social policy, concerned
with the ties between research and reality, and the implications of each for
the other. As Jay Belsky (chapter 16) points out, Bronfenbrenner and those
of us touched by him are concerned with questions of “how” precisely be-
cause of the possibilities for intervention that the answers suggest.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton observed that progress is the victory of a new
thought over an old superstition. In addition to his many scientific con-
tributions, Urie Bronfenbrenner is perhaps best known for his remarkable
ability to draw on social and behavioral research and theory to change the
way people think about the problems we confront as a society and to as-
sist in devising new policies and practices that can serve as their solutions.

T H E ECOLOGY OF THE L I F E C O U R S E
Bronfenbrenner’s most recent reformulation of his model attends to the
interplay between (a) characteristics of the person and (b) the social con-

4
 INTRODUCTION

text in affecting (c) developmental processes (d) over time (chapter 19;
Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994). He describes this as the person-process-
context-time (PPCT) model, one that defines his emerging bioecological
approach to the study of lives. Time, process, and context are also key com-
ponents of a life course perspective (Clausen, chapter 11; Elder, 1992, chap-
ter 2; Moen & Erickson, chapter 6 ) .Thus, these two formulations unite in
their common focus on continuity and change over time and across gen-
erations. Both concentrate on the characteristics of individuals and envi-
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ronments that foster healthy development at all stages of the life course. As
Magnusson (chapter 2) points out, development always has a temporal di-
mension, though time is not the same as development. And the Cairnses
(chapter 12) emphasize the significance not only of change over time, but
also of differences in rates of change in persons and in social contexts.
Both the life course and the ecology of human development para-
digms underscore the social forces that shape the life course and its de-
velopmental consequences. This emphasis builds on Bronfenbrenner’s
( 1979) pioneering consideration of the social embeddedness of individ-
ual behavior and his concern with what happens to the individual going
through various social trajectories and developmental paths. Most devel-
opmental psychologists embracing Bronfenbrenner’s approach attend to
development in con text, locating individuals in the context of particular
families, schools, or neighborhoods. Some consider developmental trajec-
tories, that is, continuity and change in psychological characteristics of the
person over time. Thus, Urie’s earlier work (as described by Kohn in chap-
ter 5) considered both context (social class) and change over time (as
parental values altered historically). By contrast, time is the paramount
concern of life course scholars. The life course focus attends to continu-
ity and change in lives, looking at age-graded trajectories and transitions
in social roles, relationships, and resources and documenting how these
are shaped by social change. For example, life course researchers tend to
study the dynamics of entry into and involvement in work, family, school-
ing, and community roles over the life course. Thus, life course researchers
recount the reality imperatives-situational demands, opportunities, and
barriers-shaping lives.

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 PHYLLIS MOEN

Drawing on one of Urie’s colorful metaphors, both paradigms are in

danger of using a broad brush to paint only half a wall. In this book, we
examine where the ecology and life course paradigms intersect, produc-
ing an ecology of the life course that acknowledges the lifelong (i.e., over
time) interaction between person and context. Individuals are embedded
in a changing social, cultural, and economic environment, as well as be-
ing products of a life history of events, beliefs, relationships, and behav-
ior. But individuals also construct, and shape, their life as well as their en-
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vironments. The interweave of life course pathways and developmental

trajectories is a recurring focus in Bronfenbrenner’s more recent work, as
well as in the work of Glen Elder and many of the other contributors to
this volume. Bronfenbrenner’s most recent model emphasizes processes,
the mechanisms that produce and sustain stability or change over time,
both in individuals and in their environments. (An example of such a
process is the “ping pong game” of reciprocal interaction between parent
and infant that Urie so frequently describes.)

L I N K I N G T H E O R Y A N D RESEARCH
There are four broad components to research: the question or issue to be
addressed, the theoretical underpinnings, appropriate data, and methods
or procedures of analysis. Bronfenbrenner’s ecology of human development
paradigm not only furnishes a theoretical model, but also becomes a cat-
alyst, inspiring a redefinition of the problems to be studied. In framing their
research designs, he reminds researchers to explicitly acknowledge that in-
dividuals and their environments are in constant, reciprocal interplay. The
importance of the neighborhood as a neglected context is emphasized by
Jeanne Brooks-Gunn (chapter 14) and William JuliusWilson (chapter 15).
An outstanding example of this broadening of the research question is pro-
vided in the chapter by Laurence Steinberg and his colleagues (chapter 13).
Bronfenbrenner’s model also points to the need for data relevant to
the substantive questions addressed, including proximal data on processes
(e.g., the ping pong interactions between parent and child) and panel data
to observe continuity and change over time (e.g., changes in parent-child
relations over the years as children move into adolescence and then adult-

6
 INTRODUCTION

hood). The need for data at more than one point in time is reiterated in
the chapters by Glen H. Elder, Jr. (chapter 4), Phyllis Moen and Mary Ann
Erickson (chapter 6 ) , John A. Clausen (chapter l l ) , and Robert B. and
Beverley D. Cairns (chapter 12). In data collection, Bronfenbrenner en-
courages greater attention to the operationalization and measurement of
theoretical constructs. All developmental studies provide measures related
to characteristics of the individual; some provide measures of the contexts
in which the individual lives and grows; a few provide measures of conti-
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nuity and change over time; and hardly any provide measures of processes
of, for example, interchanges between individuals or between the individ-
uals and their environment.
Most recently (1994 and chapter 19), Bronfenbrenner has emphasized
the need for methodologies appropriate to the study of development rather
than the use of trendy analyses to display technical sophistication. Bron-
fenbrenner ( 1994) decries what he calls methodological distortions re-
sulting from the substitution of methodology for science in contemporary
psychological research. For example, he is troubled by the exclusive use of
averages or central tendencies in describing developmental patterns. Mag-
nusson (chapter 2), Rutter and colleagues (chapter 3), and the Cairnses
(chapter 12) echo his concern in arguing for methodologies relevant to
the tasks at hand. Kurt Luscher (chapter 17) refers to another concern of
Urie’s that also has methodological implications, namely, the relevance of
knowledge and beliefs.
The volume highlights the value of Urie Bronfenbrenner as a theory
builder, echoing admonitions permeating Urie’s lifetime of teaching and
writing:
the fact that there cannot be a theoretical model without a research de-
sign, nor can there be a research design without a theoretical model
the importance of transcending disciplinary boundaries and of passing
on ideas and challenges to the next generation
the need to link research with reality: the implication of research for a
changing reality and of basic research for understanding a changing re-
ality
the primacy of scientific over statistical models

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 PHYLLIS MOEN

It is very evident that Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model touches vir-

tually every aspect of the research process, not only providing theoretical
grounding, but also delineating the research questions, the nature of the
data, and the procedures of analysis. And he conveys the interactive, dy-
namic, and evolving nature of science, as scholars learn from, grapple with,
and move beyond the theories and findings of their colleagues (Bronfen-
brenner, 1986; Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994).
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THEMES AND ORGANIZATION OF THE VOLUME

Two overriding and related concepts-development and context-are an
integral part of Bronfenbrenner’s approach to the human condition. In-
quiry into their intersection constitutes the essential plan of this volume.
Some of the contributors focus more on development in context, others
on the contexts of development.
What is most conspicuous in Bronfenbrenner’s recent work is also
what constitutes a common thread throughout many of the chapters that
follow: his approach to the temporal aspects of lives, in terms of ongoing
processes and their timing, as well as transgenerational relationships and
influences. This is a pivotal theme connecting the life course and the ecol-
ogy of human development frameworks: the importance of time in terms
of continuity and change in the developmental life course and in the en-
vironmental contexts of development.
The first two sections of the volume specifically address various tem-
poral dimensions. In Part One, David Magnusson (chapter 2) underscores
the dynamics of development as an unfolding process, and Michael Rut-
ter and colleagues (chapter 3) point to the ways that individuals under
certain conditions shape their future development through shaping their
own environments over time.
Another temporal dimension involves attention to social change and
its implications for development, a theme embodied in Part Two that con-
veys the importance of historical and social time. Glen H. Elder, Jr. (chap-
ter 4) illustrates the life course principle of the interplay between human
lives and their historical times, noting that in times of rapid change indi-

8
 INTRODUCTION

viduals from different birth cohorts are exposed to different historical

worlds, with different options, opportunities, and imperatives. Melvin L.
Kohn (chapter 5) describes his own growing appreciation of the ways in
which economic and political changes can alter not only the broader so-
cial structure, but also the links between social structure and personality.
Phyllis Moen and Mary Ann Erickson (chapter 6 ) observe how social
changes may alter the intergenerational transmission of values, attitudes,
and behavior. And Duane F. Alwin (chapter 7) draws out the method-
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ological implications of attending to the temporal dimensions of lives.

The enduring theme most widely associated with Bronfenbrenner’s
approach has been his attention to the contexts of lives. The focus of Part
Three, therefore, is the multiple contexts of human development. Bron-
fenbrenner’s distinctive contribution is to see context not just in terms of
variables to be controlled but as ecological niches worthy of investigation.
Jacqueline J. Goodnow (chapter 8) describes differences in the social con-
texts of children’s lives, whereas Stephen J. Ceci and Helene A. Hembrooke
(chapter 9) ground studies of cognitive intelligence in a contextual frame-
work. Eleanor E. Maccoby (chapter 10) and John A. Clausen (chapter 11)
portray an important status characteristic, gender, as a shaper of context
at two distinctive stages of the life course.
Bronfenbrenner’s foremost effort since his 1979 volume has been to
promote research designs incorporating the processes by which contexts,
including location in the social structure, can shape individual lives. In
defining process as the “exchange of energy between organisms and their
environment,” he notes a striking omission in most studies in their failure
to document the proximal re1ationship.s that embody “process.” The im-
portance of process is emphasized in Part Four, with Robert B. and Bever-
ley D. Cairns (chapter 12) drawing on and extending Urie’s earlier work in
describing the mechanisms of development as they unfold in context. Lau-
rence Steinberg and his colleagues (chapter 13) describe an effort to inves-
tigate one important process: the ways parents influence their adolescents
in different ecologies, emphasizing the proximal influences of family struc-
ture and neighborhood settings. Jeanne Brooks-Gunn (chapter 14) exam-
ines the process of development in the particularly high-risk environment

9
 PHYLLIS MOEN

of poverty. As Bronfenbrenner points out, we need a dynamic model of

process, not only of proximal relationships,but also of the changes persons
undergo and the choices they make as they pass through life.
The last section of the book, Part Five, looks both backward and for-
ward, with William Julius Wilson (chapter 15) and Jay Belsky (chapter 16)
providing reflective and provocative overviews of the ecology of human
development. Kurt Luscher (chapter 17) calls for a new awareness of the
implications, for theory and research, of different modes of interpretation,
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thus interpreting in his own way examples from Bronfenbrenner’s writ-

ings. Finally, Urie Bronfenbrenner himself provides the biographical con-
text of his own development (chapter 18) and charts a future course for
research, drawing on an ecological life course framework (chapter 19).
Time and process are important, but too often neglected, considerations
in the development of theoretical models and research designs addressing
human development over the life course and in a changing world. Those
who have been in his classroom or in his audience know that Urie is first
and foremost a teacher. How apt it is that he uses the occasion of this vol-
ume to continue our education! Those who know Urie will value his en-
thusiastic and characteristic prospective rather than retrospective stance,
probing into the future rather than simply reflecting on his many accom-
plishments. And those who know him will surely appreciate how appro-
priate it is for him to have the last word in this volume.

REFERENCES
Bronfenbrenner, U. ( 1974). Developmental research, public policy, and the ecology
of childhood. Child Development, 45, 1-5.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology ofhuman development. Cambridge, MA: Har-
vard University Press.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1986). Ecology of the family as a context for human develop-
ment: Research perspectives. Developmen tat Psychology, 22, 723-742.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1994). Ecological models of human development. In T. Huston
& T. N. Postlethwaite (Eds.), internationaf encyclopedia of education (2nd ed.,
Vol. 3, pp. 1643-1647). New York: Elsevier Science.
Bronfenbrenner, U., & Ceci, S. J. ( 1994). Nature-nurture reconceptualized in devel-

10
 INTRODUCTION

opmental perspective: A bioecological model. Psychological Review, 101,

568-586.
Elder, G. H., Jr. (1992). The life course. In E. F. Borgatta & M. L. Borgatta (Eds.), The
encyclopedia of sociology (pp. 1120-1 130). New York MacmiUan.
Moen, P., & Jull, P. M. (1995). Informing family policies: The uses of social research.
journal of Family and Economic Issues 16, 79-107.
Copyright American Psychological Association. Not for further distribution.

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