The Importance Of The Macro Environment

The Macro level is similar to the idea of the "Big Picture” and how it fits into society. The macro environment represents cultural values and laws (Berk, 2000). Macro environments can be used to describe the cultural or social context of various societal groups such as social classes, ethnic groups, or religious affiliates (McClaren & Hawe, 2005). This layer is the outermost layer in the child 's environment. The effects of larger principles defined by the macro system have a cascading influence throughout the interactions of all other layers. The macro system influences what, how, when and where we carry out our relations (Brofenbrenner, 2005). For example, a program like Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) may positively impact a

Identity can be considered relational and formative. Everybody has a sense of self or sense of personal identity. Our sense of self includes those roles, attributes, behaviors, and associations that we consider most important about ourselves. They and have a core impact on individual occupations, careers, friendships and social relationships, future family roles, and personal interests. Children acquire their sense of self and self-esteem slowly as they mature into adolescents. Identities develop over time and may change from time to time and place to place. Early in life, sense of self is associated with the security, protection, and acceptance that infants feel when cared for by adults they feel attached to. As a child matures, sense of self develops in concert with values observed in their parents. How we come to relate to our own sense of self begins by our earliest experiences. As we mature, we ultimately must deal with positive and negative aspects of peer pressure and role pressure. So that we can reflect on the individual we want to become based on deeply held values (Ylvisaker, Hibbard and Feeney, (2006)
Socialization
Socialization is the process of acquiring norms, customs and beliefs that can empower an individual with skills and habits needed to function appropriately in society. According to Pinker, (2002) socialization can be considered as a lifelong process.