Question

Read the case described below and apply an ecological theory to this case as you explain some possible mechanisms by which Mae became a victim. There are 4 elements to the ecological theory, and your ability to apply those elements is worth 2 points each (for a total of 8 points). 18-year-old Mae is a quiet and gentle person by nature. She rarely complains or draws any attention to herself. This past fall, she went away to college in Detroit, Michigan, leaving her family and her small, safe hometown of Smallville, Idaho for the first time. Mae had grown up in a close knit family and had had the same large circle of friends since childhood. Mae had never been on her own before, and was quite nervous to be so far out of her comfort zone. During her college orientation, she was warned about the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses, so when Mae went to her first college party, she went with another girl from her dorm who she had recently met and guarded her drink all night. Despite her precautions, Mae lost her buddy around 1am, and had no one to walk home with. Because it was only a few blocks to her dorm room, she decided to walk. Mae was a runner on her High School track team, so she figured she could run back to her room in just a few minutes. Tragically, Mae's plans were interrupted when she was met by 4 males on her way home. They surprised her, and surrounded her. Knowing that she was outnumbered, Mae hardly put up a fight when they carried her to a secluded area. She knew there was no point in trying to fight 4 men on her own. Mae was raped by all four men, and because she didn't scream or try to run away, all four of them told her repeatedly that she must be enjoying the sex. After hearing it a number of times, their message began to sink in. So when Mae eventually made it back to her room that night, she decided not to call the police and report the incident. She didn't know how she would explain to them why she didn't yell or try to run away. She was certain that they would blame her for the incident, and even she wondered if she was partially to blame.

Answer 1

The ecological theory proposed by Bronfenbrenner looks at studying individuals by placing them within four systems that cast an influence on their behavior. Thee four systems are - the microsystem which is the individual's immediate environment including his/her family, closest friends, school; the mesosystem which consists of the interactions among the different entities in the microsystem; exosystem which contains more distant entities that cast an indirect but significant influence such as the media and the local community; the macrosystem which consists of the broader social and cultural values. These four systems are located within the chronosystem, which signifies time.

Now, looking at Mae's case, one can identify factors in each of the four systems which led to her experiencing the tragic incident.

Microsystem - Factors to be implicated here include her quiet and docile nature. The fact that she does not complain much and does not like to draw attention could be indicative of a low self-esteem or a fear of being judged. These factors led to her not protesting and giving in easily to the four men, and also explain her decision to not report the incident later. It is written that Mae had the same circle of friends till the time she moved to college. Thus, it is possible that she did not get the opportunity to mingle with newer people and that in her college too, she was unable to build confidence in any of her peers, as a result of which, she probably could not seek help from them after the incident.

Mesosystem - Factors to be implicated in her mesosystem include the interactions between her family and her teachers as well as her family and her friends. It is possible her parents did not try to look into Mae's character traits and whether these traits were detrimental for her in any fashion. It is possible that the teachers' concerns went unheeded by the parents, or the other way round, that Mae's friends protected her infront of her parents who were concerned about her.

Exosystem - The exosystem can include the college campus and the community dwelling in it, which has made it infamous for incidences of sexual assaults. The local police could be another aspect, maybe they do not inspire confidence in the people to approach them. Mass media is another very important influence. Messages about normalization of rape culture and about how if a woman is not actively resisting sex, she is 'asking for it' or 'enjoying' it could have had a role to play in Mae's rationalization of the incident.

Macrosystem - Mae was afraid that she would be judged and blamed after the incident. This reflects broader social and cultural attitudes of 'victim blaming' and character assassination of the survivor in the society. Similarly, the fact that sexual assaults were reported as a common occurence when she began college instead of cracking down on them with strict action indicates the trivialization of such incidents, which again reflects cultural attitudes of ignoring these happenings.

These are some of the possible factors that could have come together to lead to Mae becomg a victim.