The social construction of ecocultural niches: family accommodation of developmentally delayed children

Abstract

Family ecology theories mislead if they omit a social constructivist perspective. Parents construct an everyday routine to accommodate values and goals and resources and constraints of their proximal and distal ecology. Ecocultural theory suggests that (a) the most powerful ecocultural features affect everyday routines, (b) whether ecocultural features are positive or negative is influenced by family-constructed themes, (c) "sustainability" of everyday activities is a better predictor of child and family outcome than is measured "stimulation level," and (d) comparative studies should include families engaged in different kinds of social construction processes, not only samples matched on child age or developmental level.