Psychology

Each parent has go his own or her own expectations about the long awaited angel to come. They both have different reactions and fears, expectations and concerns before the baby arrives. These concerns always revolve around the kind of care to extend to this being, the moment it arrives in this planet. Will they be supportive in rearing the baby or how will this experience affect their stable emotional wellbeing. What will be the reaction upon changing their status to being a father and a mother An interview was carried out to assess the views of different couples about their reactions upon receiving an extra person in the house and how this will influence their lives. The interview was carried on a mother and a father of different neighborhoods. Some of the questions posed to the father were-
a). What are your expectations upon receiving the long awaited newborn
b). How do you intend to support it
c) What do you anticipate on the arrival of the new born
d). what is the experience after the arrival of the baby

It is evident from this father that every parent is always excited about receiving an extra member of the family. The anticipations were very  high for this father, he was  greatly happy that his family linage will continue to be propagated over and over generations and this will even add on his prestige and status in the family. However, the father is filled up with lot uncertainties that the presence of this new being in the family with very close attachments with the mother will disrupt their intimacy and loosen the strength of their relationship.

The father was envious of the child and the relationship between the child and the mother which seems to be very close and tight.

The same questions were again administered to a mother who had just received a new born child and she elicited the following kind of responses. What were your expectations while pregnant How strenuous was it to carry over the pregnancy for 9 months

Do you appreciate the new gift
The mother was rather flabbergasted by the experience of receiving a new born. It was a feeling of appreciation of the long labour of carrying over the task. However, the acceptance of the baby was deeply entrenched within her systems not just as a new comer in the house but one of her very own blood.

The different responses from the two respondents were equally important in analyzing the different reactions which depict bi-directional influences between and within the ecological system theory in the context of development. The ecological system theory of development refers to a set of ideas and opinions about the different dimensions which exist in parenting and in regard to parents expectations about a child.

This theory was proposed by a psychologist known as Urie Bronfernbrenner, and it is one of the most accredited theories of development (Kimberly, 2000). According Urie the child nurturing environment is made up four distinct systems which define the interaction parameters between the child and the environment. First and foremost, there is the microsystem, environment which forms the very immediate environment to the child. This includes aspect such as the family, peer groups, school and the childcare environment.

Mesosystem is another level environment which consists of connections links between the very immediate environments such as the school and the childs home. The Exosystem in an external environment which may indirectly pose influences on the child such as a parents workplace environment. Lastly, there is Macrosystem, which encompasses the wide bracket of culture, subculture, political culture and the like. According Urie, each environmental level as discussed has its own unique norms, roles, and rules which in one way or another shape the psychological growth and development of the child (Kimberly, 2000). In this essence Bronfenbrenners theory explains that human development is a reflection of many environmental experiences.

The childs inner city which represents the family structure is the very fundamental environment in shaping the child psychological and personality growth. Parental anticipations either positive of negative will influence a childs psychological growth, more regarding the evolution of emotional patterns and attachments. A parents attitude and expectations will define the kind of attachment bonds which will be established between him or her and the child. Parents with high expectations deeply entrenched within their parameters would elicit very warm feelings of affection and this would affect the childs emotional wellbeing (Kimberly, 2000).

Microsystem is the most fundamental environment which highly shapes the individuality of a person. Divide between parental interests in regard to the newly born child will pose an effect on the upbringing process and socialization of the child and this would translate to personality maladjustments of the child. The Exosystem is another very crucial environment especially for working parents who are unable to balance between workplace events and family affairs and leave no time for interacting and impacting on their children.