Integrating Knowledge and Expanding Horizons in Developmental Sport Psychology: A'Bioecological Perspective

Abstract

It has been suggested that one of the biggest problems in sport psychology is that much of the work in this area of study is isolated (Duda, 1999). According to Duda, there is a need for conceptual frameworks that serve to integrate knowledge, and/or help us to see new dimensions of human experience. Bronfenbrenner's (1989, 1995, 1999; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998) bioecological perspective provides a comprehensive and dynamic conceptual framework for understanding human development. Such a conceptual orientation stresses the role of processes of interaction between characteristics of the person broadly regarded as biologically based and the natural context of human action. Bronfenbrenner's bioecological perspective on human development is presented as a useful framework for integrating knowledge and for opening new pathways as we strive to expand what we already know in sport psychology with a developmental focus.