Question

What are the Barriers and supporter for the Ecological Framework Model

Answer 1

Ans) The ecological framework is based on evidence that no single factor can explain why some people or groups are at higher risk of interpersonal violence, while others are more protected from it.

- This framework views interpersonal violence as the outcome of interaction among many factors at four levels—the individual, the relationship, the community, and the societal.

- At the individual level, personal history and biological factors influence how individuals behave and increase their likelihood of becoming a victim or a perpetrator of violence. Among these factors are being a victim of child maltreatment, psychological or personality disorders, alcohol and/or substance abuse and a history of behaving aggressively or having experienced abuse.
- Personal relationships such as family, friends, intimate partners and peers may influence the risks of becoming a victim or perpetrator of violence. For example, having violent friends may influence whether a young person engages in or becomes a victim of violence.
- Community contexts in which social relationships occur, such as schools, neighbourhoods and workplaces, also influence violence. Risk factors here may include the level of unemployment, population density, mobility and the existence of a local drug or gun trade.
- Societal factors influence whether violence is encouraged or inhibited. These include economic and social policies that maintain socioeconomic inequalities between people, the availability of weapons, and social and cultural norms such as those around male dominance over women, parental dominance over children and cultural norms that endorse violence as an acceptable method to resolve conflicts.

- The Social Ecological Model (SEM) is a theory-based framework for understanding the multifaceted and interactive effects of personal and environmental factors that determine behaviors, and for identifying behavioral and organizational leverage points and intermediaries for health promotion within organizations.

Example:

- A vast amount of literature exists pertaining to female coaches at all levels of competition from around the globe.

- Using Brofenbrenner's ecological systems theory, the complex and multidimensional barriers that affect, impede or prevent females from seeking or remaining in coaching positions, in addition to factors that support and facilitate career advancement and retention.

- Barriers and supports are organized from most proximal (individual) to most distal (socio-cultural) to the coach.

- The model can be used as a reflective heuristic to educate about the numerous dynamic organizational and societal barriers and supports engaged with by female coaches.

- In doing so, productive coping strategies can be learned and solutions and policy changes generated in order to increase opportunities for female coaches and make the environment within which they work increasingly inclusive, positive and supportive.