Understanding the Systems Embedded in Emotional Disability
Julia Wincek
Department of Psychology
Faculty Supervisor: Shasta Ihorn
Every child deserves desires and needs to be and feel understood. At the heart of ED eligibility is the desire to understand; to help. The best intentions, when only addressed at the surface level, can often be the most harmful. Too often, schools become retraumatizing and hostile environments. Clarity and equity in ED identification and outcomes need to be prioritized, or the classification of ED will remain as both a direction to support and a vessel of systemic failure. Brofenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory offers a framework that is critical to understanding and addressing the identification and treatment of students with emotional disabilities, as it can display the connections between the individual and their various environmental contexts. These environmental contexts include: classroom dynamics, family relationships, school policies, resources and broader cultural and political influences. These environmental contexts shape definitions, identification practices, and responses to emotional disabilities in educational settings.