Happy Weekend Verons,
Before getting started I want to send a deep appreciation to you all for feeling close enough to share with each other. I don't know about you guys but it was quite therapeutic using Bronfenbrenner's ecological framework for human development to put our own experiences into perceptive. I believe analyzing through this framework will lead us to a more holistic understanding and so for this week I'm going to ask that you guys further incorporate this theory.
I'm going to ask that you guys think about the ways in which you can incorporate Bronfenbrenner's theory in your current placement. Whether that means understanding clients, the space, the reason why you your Vera spin-off even exists, etc. When mentioning clients it's better that we don't mention any identifiable traits or names for that matter; in order to keep confidentiality
I find that for myself it's easier to come at this from the chronosystem to microsystem. I'm placed at the Domestic Violence Legal Education and Advocacy Project, a part of the Urban Resource Institute. I believe that non-profits like my own exist with a greater time of social healing- a slow dying of patriarchal beliefs. In terms of a : one particular client started off their life in Southern American and flew to Canada to walked in America. They had dreams of a better life ended up working numerous odd jobs. At one of these odd jobs they met a person and the both of them began dating. Because of America's jaded immigration policies this client had little agency which left them in a relationship with a legal permanent resident who used this client's fear of deportation as a way making the client feel helplessly trapped in an abuse relationship.
Macrosystem
In terms of cultural context the client is an undocumented person living in a country that sought to deport them despite the client clean criminal record and hard work ethic. America is also makes males feel as though they have power over women, so masculinity played a huge role in how the client interacted with her abuser. The abuser would keep tabs on the client and get enraged when he wouldn't receive a status update, this reflects onto how prescriptions of masculinity makes some men feel like they have to dominate women. The couple are both of from Latin America and aren't full citizens because America is very discriminating and the ways in which people can gain citizenship thus limiting the opportunities available to both of them.
Exosystem
The client received little aid in terms of social services because they feared they immigration status would conflict matters. The client often feared to go to the police for aid and would only go to the police when they were in immediate danger- when they feared for their life. There was little mention of other matters and I do not wish to problematically make assumptions around mass media because I'm not sure whether that the client internalized anything the media perpetuated or if they had access to media.
Mesosystem
There was also very little mention of other people outside of family involved in the clients life or interactions
Microsystem
Before the client got into a relationship with their abuser they moved to America because their aunt was settled here and could provide shelter. The client has had 2 children with the abuser and the abuser has abused the client in front of said children. The abuser has also sexually abused the client on multiple occasions, forcing himself onto them without consent. The client has received little education and relies on under-the-table paying jobs for sustainability
12 comments:
Great prompt Jo (quite the challenging one too lol)! And I also think that we had an incredible class last week. It takes a significant amount of courage and vulnerability to share from the heart and I’m glad that we were able to open up to each other. I think that there are many benefits to having a support system in every area of life, and for that, I thoroughly appreciate the support that we get from each other and from Professors Waterston and Rose. Because I don’t get to hear the stories of clients in as much detail as Jo has had at DVLEAP, I will attempt to use Bronfenbrenner’s theory to better understand the reasons for the existence of the CJA (with the defendant at the center).
The elements in the macrosystem include but are not limited to the overarching criminal justice agency, capitalism, public perception of/attitudes toward “criminality”, racial stigmatization, greed, and corruption. If you remember from the Sturz biography, we learned that the CJA emerged from the 1961 Manhattan Bail Project. The Manhattan Bail Project was formed because there was significant overcrowding in prisons and because bail bondsmen were setting ridiculous bail prices for defendants living in poverty. The greed of these bail bondsmen resulted in the unnecessary detention of defendants who were unable to make bail (structural violence from economic interests of bails bondsmen). As a result, the CJA was formed and continues to exist today to counter some of the flaws with our system. Through research and analysis, Sturz discovered that strong community ties, not the payment of bail, was a good indicator that an individual would return to court. Most importantly, the CJA realizes that our clients are defendants, not convicted felons or inherently “criminal”.
One of the more prominent conditions in the exosystem is the relationship between social services and the family structure/connections (this may be a stretch). Again, I don’t usually get the chance to hear many details about the defendant’s lives. Over the past few months, however, I’ve noticed that a large amount of defendants don’t receive social services (a lot of them may not qualify, or might be unaware that they qualify). During the interview, I find that when I ask defendants whether they receive any additional income (welfare, unemployment, S.S.I., S.S.D, food stamps, family support etc.), many of them tell me “I just applied today”, or “I recently applied and I’m still waiting to hear back”. From my observations, it seems that those who are eligible typically tend to be living alone and don’t have any children. Evidently, many of the defendants that pass through Central Booking aren’t necessarily the most well off. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have to evade the MTA fares and wouldn’t be eligible for additional income. The CJA seeks to help these people who are not as well off as bail bondsmen hope they would be and recommends them for their release without bail.
The most common element in the mesosystem for defendants at Queens is often the relationship between their place of residence and their race. Many of our clients are African American or Hispanic and live in Jamaica, which has the reputation of not being the safest neighborhood in Queens. Evidently, this can lead to a form of racial stigmatization by police that the people living in these areas are more deviant or “criminal” than others (which presents a problem). In the field of criminology, there is an ideological concept known as labeling theory, which states that someone who is consistently labeled a certain way has a high chance of becoming what he or she is being labeled as. It’s quite the simple concept, but I feel that it is relevant, as some may stigmatize poor Black men as being more deviant than others because they are the one’s being arrested. In addition, any racial profiling or stigmatization will just increase tensions between police officers and the community, making the job of the police harder to do. I think that it’s great that we at Vera focus less on blaming the individual because we understand that it’s not always the individual. It’s the social circumstances involved that put certain people at particular disadvantages, which may then lead to crime.
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to do an adequate assessment of the microsystems of our clients. The only information I get from our defendants regarding their microsystems are phone numbers of family or friends. Sometimes, however, it is evident that our clients may lack sufficient support systems when they remember but don’t want to provide any phone numbers for us to call. Sometimes, I will call the defendant’s family member or friend and automatically get the vibe from their tone of voice and indifference that there is some disconnect between the defendant and his or her relative.
The major element in the chronosystem for defendants are the current changes in the criminal justice system, such as bail reform (that is happening right now). As mentioned before, I’ve heard that the CJA wants to modify and update its assessment tool to improve our system. In class, we’ve talked about how detrimental any prior bench warrants are for defendants in automatically ruling out the defendant for their release without bail. Although I probably won’t be involved in the revision of our assessment tool, I only hope that those who are will address these issues. Another element in the chronosystem is the change in culture in general. I feel that people in the U.S. today strive for independence. What may have applied in the 50’s and 60’s may not apply as much today. As a result, can we say that strong community ties are still a good indicator that someone comes back to court? Are there other factors in a person’s life that are more relevant and prove to be better indicators? These are questions that the CJA should consider when they update our system.
Working at Safe Horizon’s Anti-Trafficking Program revealed a lot of aspects about the chronosystem. This includes, but is not limited to gender norms and roles, laws on human trafficking and immigration, negative attitudes towards human trafficking victims (it’s their own fault), and the sexualization/glamour of human trafficking. Most of the cases we handle at Safe Horizon are labor trafficking cases, but the general public tends to think that we handle mainly sex trafficking cases.
Macrosystem
In the macro-system, gender roles, poverty and capitalism are the main factors as to why our clients become trafficked. Most of our clients come from low income or impoverished countries and traditional gender roles, poverty and capitalism are both push and pull factors for migration. Most of our female clients who are labor trafficked work as nannies, housemaids or both. This trickles down to the lack of educational opportunities and gender norms for women back in their home countries.
Exosystem
Elements that are most common within our clients’ exosystems are abuse and immigration status. At any moment within our client’s history or family’s history, abuse had occurred within their intimate networks or while they were being trafficked. The effects of abuse, weather physical, emotional or sexual have an impact on our clients’ development, and their willingness to accept help from others. Immigration status is also an issue. All of our clients are afraid of being deported, even when we explain that Safe Horizon staff members are here to help.
Mesosystem
Within our client’s meso-systems we see the relationship between law enforcement and the courts, as well as the connections between family and the courts. Concerning law enforcement and the courts, police are not well trained on how to assist let alone recognize human trafficking victims. Sometimes, sex trafficking victims are met with harsh criticism because of notions that it was “their fault” that they were trafficked. The courts also have a huge role in the failure to adequately prosecute traffickers because of the very nature of the act itself. There are so many loopholes within the laws themselves that traffickers usually go unscathed.In addition, the relationships between the family and the courts is that many of our labor trafficking victims and their families are undocumented, making things more difficult when prosecuting traffickers.
Microsystem
Our client’s micro-systems involve their family and kinship network, but more importantly the trafficker/traffickers themselves. The relationship between the trafficker and our client is of the upmost importance, because the nature of the relationship is extremely traumatic. Abuse and exploitation are in almost all of the cases that we see, leaving our clients with a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. The trafficker can even be his or her own family member or lover, making the pain that much deeper. The nature of the relationship effects the client’s trust and previously held ideals on morality and self worth. As a result of the trauma endured, client’s become resistant to treatment and other forms of assistance.
Excellent application of the ecological systems theory to your placements! Great prompt Jo!
Be sure to also use the framework to identify current assets and strengths i.e. positive relationships in a kinship network, supportive service providers; or positive individual talents/skills, characteristics and interests. Also use the framework to identify the need for resources, or a place where a new intervention or policy could benefit the person's situation i.e. finding housing, getting an id, mental health services, changing eligibility criteria.
What are the strengths in the ecosystems of the people you are working with? Where in the ecosystem are there places for intervention to improve a person's development?
This is all very interesting !
As I have mentioned before I am interning at CASES, which stands for Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services. At CASES I focus on the educational aspect of the site and observe classes, tutor participants, create lesson plans and try to build a connection with those around me. I will try my best to apply Bronfenbrenner’s theory to my site in different perspectives.
Microsystems:
As the microsystem contains many groups I will connect peer groups to my placement site. From the many participants I have only been able to speak to a select few about outside relations. Several of them mention that the crowd that they were affiliated with before the program holds some responsibility to their court mandated participation. As we know our friends have a large influence on us and we may not see at first how our actions are a direct reflection of our groups eventually it catches up to you. In the accounts mentioned by participants the crowd that influenced them lead them to make questionable decisions. Some decided to cut ties because they do not want to continue with his lifestyle others say that loyalty is whats important and they would not turn their backs on their friends. They did mention a little less contact with those peers.
Mesosystems:
The relations between home and school play a large role in the participants involvement and experience in the program. Talking to one of the teacher, working in the same department as I am, spoke briefly about the different types of personalities to be aware of. He continued to mention that the home situations of the students. Some students are eager to leave the program to spend more time at home because they do not like coming to school. Some come to school unable to pay attention due to several aspect including not being able to eat or dealing with abusive parenting or lack of parenting. These factors are brought into the classrooms because they are in direct relation to each other.
Exosystems:
The more time I spend with the students the more I that I feel that the cause of the events that lead them to CASES is related to the school and the neighborhood peer group. Many students went to the closes school in their neighborhood and from what I’m told many of them do not live in the best of neighborhoods. We know that we are a product of our environment and so if the peer groups available to them are not the most positive and it is part of survival it is not surprising to see them fall into bad habits. The program tries to get the students out of their neighborhoods and open their minds up to all the possibilities available to them. Their development is affected by these relationships and so trying to enhance their experiences through offsite trips, getting them involved with organizations that can help detach them from the negativity that surrounds them.
Macrosystems:
Opportunity structures are mentioned in this category and I select this to be my point of emphasis. With CASES there are many opportunities that can stem from being a participant in the program. Aside from the school portion of the program as I mentioned before employment opportunities are also available. CASES has job expo fairs as well as programs to help students build personally and professionally. A program called Career X keeps students engaged with extra curricular, internships and academia. All as motivators to finish the program and reach for the stars. Completing the overall program leads to getting their GED and opens many doors including college.
Chronosystems:
Many aspects of the chronosystem affects the participants of the programs. With change in mind the neighborhood the students inhabit, peer groups that the participants involve themselves with can help or harm them.I do believe that employment and financial stability is something many of the participants yearn for. A support system is something I see that can benefit all of the students and with that change in the chronosystem they can continue to excel.
At Common Justice there is high emphasis on the principles of accountability, respect, transparency, transformation, and purpose. Common Justice serves individuals between the ages of 16-24 where participants have been charged with felonies that range between Assault and Robbery. Typically, the responsible party is seen from a trajectory that they are purely violent criminals, and not as humans who have unique unfortunate scenarios that played a major role in their current predicament. Thus, in terms of the chronosystem it includes the public narrative about the responsible party and criminal justice reform.
Macrosystem
In the macrosystem, gender roles, poverty, race, age, and classism are all forces that influence the participants of Common Justice to get accepted into the program. Common Justice primarily has participants who are minorities, male, come from low-income households, between a certain age range, and from a specific social class (lower class). Participants are faced with these factors not only for themselves but also within the communities they live in. This like-mindedness creates a culture within a neighborhood that harbors violence as means to reach an end such as respect, acceptance, money, etc. Additionally, what this hints to is the lack of resources that are available to this demographic of participants.
Exosystem
In the exosystem, factors that are most relevant to the participants of the program are trauma and sentencing. Individuals of the program go through a series of workshops and training that helps both the responsible and harmed party come to terms with the event and the healing process that follows. Furthermore, responsible parties realize that they have experienced trauma at some point in their life. This awareness allows the responsible party to be more cognizant of their action as well as more willing to take accountability for it. Having both parties being able to connect with one another allows the healing process to be much more effective for both groups. Lastly, sentencing is a problem because the responsible party freedom is in jeopardy. This is also an issue because this can affect the legitimacy of Common Justice. Participants of the program can complete the program by fulfilling the needs of the harmed party without having an emotional attachment from the agreements due to their main focus on avoiding to go to prison.
Mesosystem
Within participant’s mesosystem, we are able to see the relationships between the court and family, courts and the individual, school and the courts. In regards to the relationship between the court and family, the court interacts very closely with family members in having them involved in the healing process of the traumatic event. Between the courts and the individual, this relationship dictates the ultimate trajectory an individual will go in. If a participant displays good behavior, they will have a successful completion of the program. In contrast, bad behavior can get them removed from the program and denial of resources that are provided and can lead to a participant going to prison. Lastly, the relationship between school and court is an important one considering how displaying a positive track record in school can influence decision-making in court and the likelihood of graduating the program.
Microsystem
Elements that involve participant’s microsystem are family ties and communal ties. In the men’s group that I participate in, I witness members of the group consistently mention how certain family members are major influences on their life and how these family members encourage them to make better practices. Furthermore, participants expressed that in terms of court appearances, family members have consistently showed their support by being present at all court dates, which really makes an impact on the participants dedication to the program. Additionally, communal ties are essential considering how it is a major determining factor if a participant will be a recidivist, especially due to the fact in many occasions participants committed the act within a community the frequently engage with. Also, strong communal ties can help prevent recidivism. For instance, influential community members can promote the participant to make a positive reform. These elements can ultimately change an individual’s perspective about themselves and their place within the world.
The Center on Sentencing and Corrections at Vera works with various leaders and organizations that have the capacity to control the conditions of those incarcerated. Those incarcerated all have diverse stories but we seem to hear certain stories a bit more often. As far as microsystems, those incarcerated tend to come from single parent households. Family plays a major role in the immediate environment of a developing person. Normative family structures with present mothers and fathers allow children to mature by associating with their parents who share the same gender as themselves. Meanwhile, broken homes have been blamed for delinquency because of the constant lack of paternal guidance. This is why Black and Hispanic males are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, they are more likely to come from broken family structures. Their peer groups often have a great influence on them. Growing up in underprivileged communities sometimes requires negative behavior as a means of survival. They are also more likely to be disciplined at harsher rates compared to others. This translates to suspensions, expulsions and dropouts. Many people in the criminal justice system have poor track records of educational attainment.
In respects to mesosystems, there might have been miscommunication between the incarcerated childhood educators and single parent. Bronfenbrenner's example of two way communication and participation in decision making between parents and teachers translating into higher grades may not have been possible for those developing in underprivileged communities (Bronfenbrenner, 1994, p.40). A more realistic scenario is the single parent working two jobs to support the family and not having time or privilege to attend parent teacher conferences. That might mean sacrificing a shift, which is a poor choice if you live on the check-by-check basis. Instead parents just hope to God the public schools are doing the job of educating their children well. But there is a miscommunication. An example for exosystems of those who are incarcerated could be the link between the public schools they attended and the communities they grew up in. We are all aware the neighborhood influences the quality of the education one receives. The relationship between the developing persons zoned schools indirectly influenced their unfortunate outcome. The overarching patterns or macrosystems that seems to have a constant influence on the incarcerated population include socioeconomic status, race, gender, education, personal income, family income, age, etc. All these factors seem to always put people with certain characteristics behind bars and keep others out or but them behind bars as well but at a significantly reduced rate.
However, my department seeks to reduce the negative impacts of these systems by intervening with cost effective approaches we hope positively influences the incarcerated chronosystems. Our objective is to reduce the heavy costs to society of vindictive tactics in the criminal justice system like solitary confinement, overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and permissible violence. These conditions could negatively impact the mental health of inmates, among other things, and reduce the chances of family structure restoration upon reentry. We hope the ideas we propose and technical assistance we provide to the leaders and organizations who work with us increase housing, educational attainment, family restoration, and employment outcomes during integration.
Hello Verons. Yes, I think deep is the best fitting word to describe last class. To be honest, I'm still not completely over it. This morning I found the piece of paper that I wrote my system wheel on and ripped it to shreds and through it away! If any of you are familiar with the concept of the Ouija board, it was DEFINITLY like that for me! With spirits = my emotions.
Anyway, Great Prompt Jo! I can think about the Bronfenbrenner's theory in my current placement best when I use a specific example. Again, I work at the Center for youth Justice, specifically on the status offense reform center. For a clearer breakdown and understanding of the clientele I serve, I'll use a hypothetical situation:
Bob is a 16 year old latino and lives in an abusive household with his mother. His mother is a single mom who also depends on Bob to provide for the family as best he can. His mother has a mental illness which often times results in her hitting Bob. When Bob has bruises on his face, he decides not to go to school to avoid confrontation with school personnel which could potentially get his mother in a lot of trouble. His interlocking systems would consist of:
Microsystem: Bob's relationship with his mother, Bob's relationship with his school system, his relationship with his counselors, his relationship with his family and/or father (Lack of relationship). Bob's relationship with his job. The microsystem is an imperative part in a child's growth. Many of the young adults who are truant do not live in relatively safe environments.
Mesosystem: Bob's mesosystem would consist of the relationship between his family and his school system. The relationship between his family and his job. The relationship between the family and the mental health clinic (lack of services). The relationship between the family and the criminal justice system (if bob was arrested and/or fined for being truant). The relationship between the state government and the school system (as the state Bob lives in would weigh truancy different than that of Texas and Florida).
Exosystem: Bob's Exosystem would consist of the positive dialogue happening to mitigate truancy offenses. With the help of the Vera Justice system, Bob's school system has agreed to have vera representatives come to the school and teach them about truancy programs. Eventually, it is within the exosystem where a Truancy mentor will soon be assigned to Bob; this relationship will stem into his microsystem.
Macrosystem: Bob and many young adults in a similar situation would have several macrosystems in place: Racism, abuse, marginalization, classism and ableism to name a few.
For the sake of this theoretical figure, Bob, I'll say he lives in Texas where there are significant strides to better the school and local government systems. This movement would be present within the exosystem and the Macrosystem, which would eventually trickle down to the micro and meso level.
Love this prompt! I had to think about it for a second because it's easy to apply it to an individual (mostly the Microsystem part) but Andrene's post made it easier to do so!
My placement is at the Center on Immigration and Justice and it was difficult for me to connect the theory with some of the work I'm doing such as he language access work. I think it's really easy to do however when it comes to looking at the unaccompanied minors because many of their stories are similar. The majority of unaccompanied minors come from four main countries: Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador and are fleeing some form of a abuse or violence. The most common type of violence the kids face is gang violence which affects how they interact with their community/if they go to school or not/ their friends etc.
Like Andrene I have to use an example so that it can seem clear. In the UN report On the Run done by UNHCR, there was a narrative of young teenager who had to interrupt his schooling because his school was on the side of one gang whereas he lived on a side where there was a rival gang. He couldn't talk to his family about it and he constantly feared being killed. He had stated that two of his friends had already been killed by the gang members at his school. What wasn't in the report but I am researching is what happens when those kids
come to school and how do they assimilate/ why is there such a huge drop out rate for this group?
Microsystem: The unaccompanied minors relationship with their parents. Their relationship between members of the gang. Their relationship between them and their custodians in the United States. Their relationship with their schools both in their country of origin and the United States. Their relationship with lawyers and the court system in the United States.
Mesosystem: I am not sure if this is correct but I think the relationship between the gangs and the government that's supposed to protect him. The relationship between the community and the gang. The relationship between custodians and family. The relationship between custodians and the school system. The relationship between he court system and the school system because sometimes an unaccompanied minors performance in school helps determine if they will stay here or not because it's important for judges to see that they care about their education.
Exosystem: I really like Andrene's example on this one. Vera plays a huge part in affecting policy and how unaccompanied minors are treated within the system. I would think mine is similar and say that it is the dialogue between Vera and ICE(they are in charge of the juvenile detention facilities or Vera and the Department of Justice. A lot of the work Vera does helps alleviate some of the difficulties the minors face such as finding probono or low bono lawyers and getting adequate or qualified translators at their asylum interviews.
Macrosystem: Different Macrosystems are at play in his country of origin the most significant being gender roles and the way masculinity is stressed in Latin countries. In the United States they face Racism which leads most unaccompanied minors to drop out/ be pushed out my school administrators (a surprisingly big problem here in NYC).
Chronosystem: one of the things that affects their chronosystem is their relationship with school and Education. A lot of unaccompanied minors in this really great article I just read called
Pushouts, shutouts, and drop outs discussed how interrupted schooling makes it harder for them to go back. Also, their need to survive in the United States and make money in comparison to being supported in their countries of origin by their parents makes it difficult to continue schooling. Another thing that effects he chronosystem is age because many unaccompanied minors have their cases closed until they are 18 and then they are deported.
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