Ecosystemic psychology explains human behaviour by locating people within layered social, cultural, institutional, and historical systems rather than treating the individual as separate from context. For UNISA Honours students preparing for PYC4802, mastery of this perspective requires understanding theory, intervention, ethics, and South African realities, especially how oppression, poverty, family structure, education, and community resources shape psychological life. This study guide brings together the core concepts, debates, and applied implications most likely to matter in postgraduate examination answers.
1. Foundations of Ecosystemic Psychology
Ecosystemic psychology is built on the assumption that people and environments continuously influence one another. Rather than asking only what is “wrong” inside a person, the ecosystemic approach asks how behaviour emerges from the interaction between individuals and the systems around them. This shift is especially important in South African psychology, where historical inequality, community stress, violence, unemployment, migration, and uneven access to services powerfully affect mental health and development.
1.1 What “ecosystemic” means
The term ecosystemic is drawn from systems thinking and ecology. In psychology, it refers to the idea that human functioning is embedded in multiple, interacting systems. A child’s anxiety, for example, may be linked not only to temperament but also to parenting stress, school climate, household income, neighbourhood safety, social policy, and collective trauma. Ecosystemic psychology therefore rejects overly narrow explanations that locate distress solely inside the individual.
A central principle is reciprocal influence. People shape their environments, and environments shape them. A teenager who repeatedly experiences exclusion at school may withdraw, act out, or disengage academically. Those responses may then reinforce negative teacher expectations, which further intensify exclusion. The “problem” is not located in one place alone; it is produced and maintained through a loop of interactions.
Another key principle is contextualism. Behaviour cannot be fully understood outside its context. What counts as adaptive in one environment may be maladaptive in another. For instance, guardedness may be a sign of mistrust in a violent community, yet in a dangerous setting it may be a necessary survival strategy rather than pathology.
1.2 Historical development and intellectual roots
Ecosystemic psychology developed from several interrelated traditions:
- General systems theory, which emphasizes that the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
- Ecological systems theory, particularly the work of Urie Bronfenbrenner, which describes nested systems influencing development.
- Family systems theory, which views families as organized patterns of communication, rules, roles, and feedback loops.
- Community psychology, which examines prevention, empowerment, participation, and structural causes of distress.
- Critical and liberation psychologies, which question power, ideology, and oppression in the production of mental health problems.
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological framework remains especially influential. His model helps explain how development is shaped by:
- Microsystems: direct settings such as family, peers, classroom, workplace.
- Mesosystems: relationships between microsystems, such as home-school interaction.
- Exosystems: settings that indirectly affect the person, such as a parent’s workplace.
- Macrosystems: broader cultural values, laws, economic systems, and ideologies.
- Chronosystems: change over time, including life transitions and historical events.
In South Africa, ecosystemic thinking is especially useful because individual suffering often reflects layered systemic inequalities. A student struggling with concentration might be affected by food insecurity, crowded housing, load-shedding, caregiving responsibilities, trauma exposure, and uncertainty about finances. The ecosystemic lens makes it possible to connect these realities rather than reducing the issue to “poor motivation” or “attention problems.”
1.3 Core assumptions for examination answers
When writing about ecosystemic psychology in an exam, certain assumptions should appear clearly:
- Human beings are embedded in systems.
- Systems are dynamic and interactive.
- Distress is often relational and contextual, not purely intrapsychic.
- Interventions should target multiple levels, not just the individual.
- Power, inequality, and history matter.
- Prevention is as important as treatment.
- Change in one part of the system affects other parts of the system.
These assumptions distinguish ecosystemic psychology from approaches that privilege only cognition, personality, or diagnosis. They do not deny internal experience; rather, they insist that inner life is shaped by relationships, structures, and environments.
1.4 Comparison with reductionist approaches
A common exam question asks students to compare ecosystemic psychology with more reductionist models.
| Approach | Main focus | Typical explanation of distress | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biological | Genes, brain, neurochemistry | Symptoms caused by dysfunction in the body | May underplay context and meaning |
| Individual trait-based | Personality, coping style, cognition | Problems arise from the person’s characteristics | Can blame the individual |
| Psychoanalytic | Unconscious conflict, early relationships | Distress linked to unresolved internal dynamics | May insufficiently address structure and culture |
| Ecosystemic | Interaction between person and multiple systems | Problems emerge from transactions across systems | Can become conceptually broad if not applied carefully |
The value of the ecosystemic approach is not that it replaces all other models, but that it repositions them within a wider frame. Biological vulnerabilities, for example, may still matter, but they are expressed differently depending on family support, stress exposure, and social opportunity.
1.5 Why it matters in South African psychology
South African psychology has strong reasons to use ecosystemic analysis. The country’s history of colonialism and apartheid produced durable inequalities in education, housing, employment, and health. These are not distant background factors; they actively shape psychological development and community well-being. An ecosystemic view helps psychologists avoid pathologising communities that are responding to structural adversity.
For example, high levels of community violence may be interpreted by outsiders as evidence of “aggression” or “social dysfunction.” An ecosystemic reading asks different questions: What historical conditions produced this violence? What role do unemployment, gang economies, alcohol access, and overcrowding play? Which protective systems are absent? Which community resources could strengthen resilience?
This perspective also aligns with the ethical demand to provide contextually relevant, socially responsive psychology. It encourages practitioners to attend not only to symptom reduction but also to dignity, access, empowerment, and social justice.
2. Key Theoretical Models and Concepts
Ecosystemic psychology is not a single theory but a family of related frameworks. For exam purposes, it is important to understand the major models and how they connect. The most frequently tested ideas include ecological levels, family systems, feedback loops, adaptation, resilience, and person-environment fit.
2.1 Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory
Bronfenbrenner’s model is often the starting point because it offers a structured way to organize complexity.
Microsystem
The microsystem includes immediate settings where the person participates directly. Examples include:
- family
- peers
- classroom
- church
- workplace
- sports teams
At this level, daily relationships and routines shape behaviour most directly. Supportive caregiving, predictable routines, and positive peer networks promote development. Conflict, neglect, abuse, or instability increase risk.
Mesosystem
The mesosystem refers to the connections between microsystems. For example:
- parent-teacher communication
- family support for school participation
- links between health services and schools
- relationship between peer group and home life
A strong mesosystem improves continuity and support. A weak or conflictual mesosystem can produce stress. If a learner experiences a mismatch between home expectations and school norms, distress may increase even when each setting separately appears manageable.
Exosystem
The exosystem includes settings the person does not directly enter but that still influence them. Examples:
- a parent’s job conditions
- municipal service delivery
- media reports
- local clinic accessibility
- a school governing body’s decisions
A parent losing a job can change the household climate, even though the child had no role in the employment decision. In exam answers, this level is useful when explaining indirect effects.
Macrosystem
The macrosystem includes broad ideological and cultural patterns:
- socioeconomic inequality
- patriarchy
- racism
- norms about discipline and masculinity
- laws and state policies
- religion and dominant values
This level is crucial in South Africa because many psychological problems are intensified by structural inequality. Macrosystem analysis prevents psychologists from treating poverty, racism, or gender violence as merely personal or family matters.
Chronosystem
The chronosystem refers to time. It includes:
- developmental transitions
- historical change
- migration
- divorce
- trauma over time
- the long-term effects of apartheid and post-apartheid transformation
The chronosystem reminds students that systems change and that people live through sequences of events, not static snapshots.
2.2 Family systems thinking
Family systems theory is one of the most practical branches of ecosystemic psychology. It treats the family as an organized emotional unit rather than a simple collection of individuals. Important ideas include:
- Interdependence: each member’s behaviour affects others.
- Boundaries: the rules governing closeness, distance, privacy, and role separation.
- Subsystems: parental, sibling, marital, and extended family units.
- Roles: patterns such as caregiver, mediator, rebel, scapegoat, achiever.
- Homeostasis: the family’s tendency to maintain stability.
- Feedback loops: processes through which behaviour is reinforced or corrected.
For example, a child’s disruptive behaviour may increase parental criticism, which increases the child’s defiance, which further increases criticism. This circular pattern is more useful than a linear “cause and effect” explanation because it shows how the system maintains itself.
Family systems thinking is especially important where multiple caregivers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and older siblings share responsibility. In many South African households, caregiving is distributed across extended kin networks. Ecosystemic psychology values this reality instead of assuming the nuclear family is the only legitimate structure.
2.3 Circular causality versus linear causality
A major examination concept is the difference between linear and circular causality.
- Linear causality: A causes B.
- Circular causality: A affects B, B affects C, and C feeds back into A.
In ecosystemic psychology, symptoms are often understood circularly. A depressed mother may withdraw from her children, children may become demanding, this may increase her guilt and exhaustion, and the cycle may deepen. The question is not who caused the problem first, but how the problem is maintained.
This does not mean that responsibility disappears. It means responsibility is distributed and contextualized. Circular causality helps avoid blaming one person while still allowing for agency and change.
2.4 Person-environment fit
Another central idea is person-environment fit. Well-being improves when a person’s needs, abilities, and values fit the demands and supports of the environment. Distress increases when there is a mismatch.
Examples include:
- A visually impaired learner in an inaccessible classroom.
- A quiet, reflective student in a highly competitive, verbally aggressive environment.
- A caregiver coping with a low-wage job that offers no flexibility.
- A multilingual child placed in an environment that devalues home language and culture.
From an ecosystemic perspective, many psychological problems reflect poor fit rather than defect. The goal is not simply to “fix” the person, but to improve the match between person and setting.
2.5 Resilience, risk, and protective factors
Ecosystemic psychology commonly examines risk factors and protective factors.
Risk factors may include:
- poverty
- violence exposure
- family conflict
- substance misuse
- social isolation
- discrimination
- housing instability
- poor school quality
Protective factors may include:
- stable caregiving
- supportive teachers
- community belonging
- faith communities
- cultural continuity
- problem-solving skills
- access to health care
- positive peer relationships
Resilience is not a fixed trait but a dynamic process of positive adaptation despite adversity. Importantly, resilience should not be romanticised. A child who “manages” in a harmful environment is not proof that the environment is acceptable. Resilience means adaptation under pressure, not immunity to harm.
2.6 Strengths-based and deficit-based perspectives
The ecosystemic approach is often strengths-based. It asks what resources, capacities, and relationships already exist in a person’s world. This does not mean ignoring problems. It means that intervention is not built only around deficits.
A deficit-based assessment may ask:
- What is broken?
- What is missing?
- What symptoms are present?
A strengths-based assessment asks:
- What is already working?
- Who provides support?
- Which coping methods have been useful?
- What cultural practices sustain well-being?
- How can existing resources be amplified?
This distinction is especially important in community work, where interventions are more likely to succeed when they build on local capacities rather than imposing external solutions.
3. Assessment, Formulation, and Intervention Across Systems
A strong Honours-level answer on PYC4802 should show how ecosystemic psychology informs practice. Assessment is not just about diagnosing a person; it is about mapping relationships, stressors, resources, and power dynamics. Intervention is similarly multi-layered and often collaborative.
3.1 Ecosystemic assessment
Assessment begins with understanding the systemic context of the presenting difficulty. A psychologist may explore:
- family structure and relationships
- school or work demands
- community safety
- cultural expectations
- financial stress
- past trauma
- physical health
- access to support services
The aim is to identify both maintaining factors and protective factors.
A practical ecosystemic assessment might ask:
- What is the presenting concern?
- When did it start, and what changed at that time?
- Which relationships intensify or reduce the difficulty?
- Which settings are most stressful?
- Which supports already exist?
- What structural barriers make change difficult?
- What strengths are available at each system level?
For example, if an adolescent is skipping school, the issue may involve bullying, transport problems, grief, household responsibilities, learning difficulties, or lack of connection to teachers. A narrow individual assessment could miss these interacting realities.
3.2 Eco-maps, genograms, and systems mapping
Common tools include genograms and eco-maps.
Genograms
A genogram visually represents family relationships over generations. It can show:
- marriages and separations
- caregiving patterns
- sibling relationships
- conflict and alliance patterns
- illness and trauma history
- intergenerational patterns of coping
Genograms help reveal repeating themes such as absent fathers, caregiving disruption, or substance-related conflict.
Eco-maps
An eco-map places the client or family in the centre and maps relationships with:
- school
- workplace
- church
- clinic
- neighbours
- social grants
- community organisations
- transport systems
- extended family
Lines may show support, stress, or weak connections. Eco-maps are useful because they make visible the broader ecology of daily life.
Systems formulation
A systems formulation should identify:
- the main problem
- the relevant systems
- the interaction patterns maintaining the problem
- the available resources
- the likely points of leverage for intervention
This formulation is often more useful than a purely symptom-based summary because it suggests where change can happen.
3.3 Levels of intervention
Ecosystemic intervention works across multiple levels. An effective strategy can target the individual, the family, the institution, and the community simultaneously.
Individual level
At the individual level, psychologists may use:
- coping skills training
- emotional regulation strategies
- problem-solving support
- psychoeducation
- grounding and stress management
- goal setting
These interventions help, but ecosystemic psychology insists they should not stand alone if the environment is still harmful.
Family level
Family work may include:
- improving communication
- reducing blame and triangulation
- strengthening caregiving routines
- clarifying roles and boundaries
- supporting co-parenting
- addressing violence or neglect
- mobilising extended family support
Family intervention is especially relevant when the presenting issue is maintained by conflict, inconsistency, or disrupted caregiving.
Institutional level
Institutions such as schools, clinics, shelters, and workplaces can also be part of the solution. Interventions may involve:
- advocating for accommodations
- improving referral pathways
- staff training
- policy revision
- reducing exclusionary discipline
- strengthening accessible services
For example, a school psychologist may advocate for a learner with chronic grief and trauma to receive flexibility with deadlines and counselling support rather than punishment for poor performance.
Community level
At the community level, interventions may include:
- support groups
- community dialogues
- violence prevention initiatives
- parenting workshops
- youth programmes
- resource linking
- partnership with NGOs and local leaders
Community interventions are particularly important in South Africa because individual therapy is often inaccessible to many people. A community-based strategy can reach more people and reduce stigma.
Policy and structural level
The highest level of intervention targets structural conditions:
- poverty reduction
- housing policy
- gender-based violence prevention
- educational equity
- health access
- child protection systems
- employment opportunities
This level can seem distant from psychology, but ecosystemic practice recognizes that deep distress often has structural roots. Psychologists may not write policy alone, but they can contribute evidence, advocacy, and socially informed expertise.
3.4 A worked case example
Consider a 15-year-old learner, Thando, who has become withdrawn, dropped in grades, and is frequently absent. A non-ecosystemic explanation might say Thando is “lazy” or “depressed.” An ecosystemic formulation would be broader.
Possible contributing factors:
- Thando’s mother works long shifts and returns home late.
- Thando cares for two younger siblings.
- The school is far, and transport costs are rising.
- A peer group has been teasing Thando about poverty and clothes.
- The household experienced a recent bereavement.
- Electricity outages make evening study difficult.
- Thando’s teacher believes the absences are a disciplinary issue rather than a support issue.
Intervention might then include:
- grief counselling
- liaison with school staff
- exploring child support and household assistance
- adjusting academic expectations temporarily
- strengthening a trusted adult relationship
- linking the family to social support
The case shows that effective action is multi-level. If the psychologist only gives Thando stress management tips, the real pressures remain untouched.
3.5 Evaluation of intervention outcomes
Ecosystemic evaluation looks beyond symptom reduction. It asks whether:
- relationships improved
- access to resources increased
- risk decreased
- coping capacity strengthened
- exclusion lessened
- participation and belonging increased
- the system became more humane and sustainable
A successful intervention may not completely eliminate stress, but it can reduce isolation, improve communication, and increase responsiveness in the environment. In many contexts, this is a more realistic and more ethical goal than pretending all problems can be fully “cured.”
4. Ethics, Power, and Social Justice in Ecosystemic Psychology
Ecosystemic psychology is inseparable from ethics because it deals directly with power relations, inequality, and social responsibility. In postgraduate examination answers, ethical analysis should not be an add-on. It should be integrated into the argument. The model is not only descriptive; it is normative. It suggests that psychologists must attend to how systems harm people and how intervention can support dignity and justice.
4.1 Ethics beyond the individual
Traditional ethics often focuses on consent, confidentiality, competence, and non-maleficence at the level of the client-therapist relationship. These remain important, but ecosystemic psychology pushes ethics further. It asks:
- Who has power in this system?
- Who benefits from current arrangements?
- Who is excluded?
- What structural conditions are producing harm?
- What does responsible intervention require at a systemic level?
A purely individualistic ethics can miss the fact that a client’s suffering may be caused by structural violence or institutional neglect. For example, it may be ethically insufficient to provide counselling to a student facing hunger if no effort is made to connect the student to material support. Similarly, it may be ethically shallow to treat a battered woman’s distress without addressing the safety risks and social barriers that constrain her choices.
4.2 Power and oppression
A major strength of ecosystemic psychology is its attention to power. Systems are not neutral. Families, schools, clinics, workplaces, and communities are all structured by power differentials. These include:
- age hierarchies
- gender inequality
- race and class stratification
- professional authority
- ableism
- linguistic dominance
- colonial histories
In South Africa, historical and contemporary inequalities make power analysis essential. A psychologist working with a family in poverty should be cautious about interpreting missed appointments as “non-compliance” without considering transport barriers, work schedules, and the costs of survival. Likewise, a learner who is frequently quiet in class may be misread as uninterested when they are actually navigating language exclusion or fear of humiliation.
Power also shapes knowledge. Professional psychology has often privileged Western assumptions about normality and family life. Ecosystemic work therefore requires humility and reflexivity. The practitioner must ask whether their own category system is imposing meaning that does not fit the client’s lived reality.
4.3 Cultural responsiveness and anti-oppressive practice
Ecosystemic psychology is most effective when it is culturally responsive. This means understanding that families, communities, and identities are shaped by cultural meaning systems, not just by universal mechanisms. Cultural responsiveness includes:
- respecting language choice
- understanding kinship structures
- acknowledging spiritual practices
- recognising collective decision-making
- avoiding pathologising non-Western norms
Anti-oppressive practice goes further. It not only respects difference but also challenges systems of domination. For example, if girls in a community face constrained mobility because of gender violence, a psychologist cannot ethically ignore the social norm that legitimises control over women’s bodies. The intervention must support safety and also critically examine the norms sustaining harm.
4.4 The danger of blaming families or communities
A recurrent ethical problem in psychology is blame. When professionals focus too tightly on parenting styles or family dysfunction, they may ignore the structural conditions that make “good parenting” difficult. A mother working two informal jobs may be judged for not attending school meetings, even though she is struggling to keep the household stable. A father absent due to migrant labour may be framed as uncaring, despite economic systems that force separation.
Ecosystemic psychology guards against this by locating family behaviour within wider arrangements. It does not deny harmful behaviour, but it resists simplistic moral judgments. This is especially important in interventions with marginalised families, where shame can worsen disengagement from services.
4.5 Confidentiality, boundaries, and multi-system work
Ecosystemic intervention often involves multiple stakeholders. This raises ethical questions about confidentiality and boundaries. A psychologist may be working with a child, parent, teacher, and social worker simultaneously. To do so ethically, the practitioner must:
- clarify roles at the outset
- obtain consent where appropriate
- explain limits of confidentiality
- manage information sharing carefully
- maintain professional boundaries
- avoid becoming a messenger of blame between parties
Multi-system work can easily become confusing. If handled poorly, it may lead to mistrust or role conflict. For example, if a therapist becomes too aligned with the school’s disciplinary agenda, the family may experience the psychologist as an agent of control rather than support. Ecosystemic practice requires balanced alliance with all relevant parts of the system while remaining committed to the client’s welfare and rights.
4.6 Social justice and the psychologist’s role
Ecosystemic psychology often sees the psychologist as more than a clinician. The role may include:
- advocate
- educator
- consultant
- community collaborator
- researcher
- facilitator of dialogue
- policy contributor
This broader role does not weaken professionalism; it strengthens relevance. In a context marked by deep inequality, a psychologist’s ethical responsibility includes speaking to the conditions that reproduce suffering. This may mean contributing to school inclusion policies, supporting community organisations, or designing programmes that enhance collective well-being.
A strong exam answer can state that ecosystemic psychology transforms ethics from a narrow rule-following exercise into a commitment to relational responsibility. The question is not only “Did I follow procedure?” but also “Did my work reduce harm, expand possibilities, and respect the realities of people’s lives?”
5. Exam Preparation, Critical Debates, and Answering PYC4802 Questions
This final section consolidates the material into an exam-oriented framework. Honours-level questions usually ask for conceptual clarity, comparison, application, critique, and South African relevance. A strong answer should show both depth and balance: identify what ecosystemic psychology offers, but also recognise its limitations and practical challenges.
5.1 High-yield concepts to know
The following concepts should be understood clearly and used accurately:
- ecological systems theory
- microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, chronosystem
- family systems
- interdependence
- circular causality
- feedback loops
- boundaries
- homeostasis
- person-environment fit
- risk factors
- protective factors
- resilience
- strengths-based practice
- social justice
- anti-oppressive practice
- multi-level intervention
These terms are often not enough on their own; examiners expect explanation and application. For instance, if asked about circular causality, it is not sufficient to define it. You should show how it explains the maintenance of a problem through reciprocal patterns.
5.2 How to structure an exam answer
A high-quality essay answer usually follows a pattern:
- Define the concept clearly.
- Explain the main theoretical framework.
- Show how it works with a concrete example.
- Compare it with an alternative perspective if relevant.
- Discuss implications for intervention and ethics.
- Conclude with the significance for South African psychology.
For example, if the question is about ecosystemic approaches to child distress, a good answer would:
- define ecosystemic psychology
- explain Bronfenbrenner and family systems
- show how distress develops across nested systems
- use a case of school and family stress
- discuss multi-level intervention
- note ethical concerns and structural inequality
5.3 Common mistakes students make
Several errors weaken exam responses:
- Over-individualising problems: treating distress as if it exists only inside the person.
- Over-generalising systems language: mentioning “the environment” without identifying which systems matter.
- Ignoring power and inequality: failing to connect the theory to race, class, gender, or history.
- Using terms loosely: confusing mesosystem with microsystem, or resilience with invulnerability.
- Forgetting intervention: describing theory without explaining what a psychologist would do.
- Writing descriptively but not critically: repeating concepts without evaluating their strengths and limits.
To avoid these mistakes, always anchor your answer in a concrete context and clearly show the interactions between systems.
5.4 Strengths and limitations of the ecosystemic approach
Strengths
Ecosystemic psychology has several major strengths:
- It is holistic and context-sensitive.
- It reduces blaming and pathologising.
- It supports prevention and early intervention.
- It is adaptable to diverse settings.
- It fits well with community and public psychology.
- It is highly relevant in unequal societies.
Limitations
However, it also has challenges:
- It can become too broad and difficult to operationalise.
- It may be time-consuming to assess multiple systems.
- Practitioners may lack authority to change structural conditions.
- It can be challenging to measure outcomes across levels.
- Without care, “systems” language can remain abstract.
A balanced answer should acknowledge that ecosystemic psychology is powerful precisely because it is wide-ranging, but that breadth must be matched by practical clarity. Good practice requires prioritising which system-level factors are most relevant in a given case.
5.5 Application to South African realities
The South African context makes ecosystemic psychology particularly meaningful. Relevant issues include:
- township and rural inequality
- unemployment and household poverty
- migration and family separation
- school overcrowding
- violence and trauma exposure
- language diversity
- gender-based violence
- limited mental health access
- the legacy of apartheid spatial planning
These realities show why psychological distress cannot be treated as detached from social structure. A learner in a poorly resourced school may be affected by hunger, transport instability, and overcrowded classrooms. A caregiver may be overwhelmed by grant dependence, insecure labour, and unsafe neighbourhoods. An ecosystemic response recognises these conditions as central, not peripheral.
5.6 Short revision summary
A concise way to remember the whole topic is this:
- People are shaped by systems.
- Systems interact across levels.
- Problems are maintained circularly.
- Intervention should be multi-level.
- Ethics requires attention to power and justice.
- South African psychology needs contextual and structural analysis.
5.7 Final integration for revision
If one principle should guide all PYC4802 preparation, it is that ecosystemic psychology reframes suffering as relational, contextual, and historical. It does not deny individual experience; it deepens it. It shows that a person’s emotions, choices, and difficulties are continually negotiated within families, institutions, communities, and broader social systems. In a postgraduate examination, the strongest answers will demonstrate not only knowledge of the theory but also the ability to apply it critically to real South African conditions.
Ecosystemic psychology remains compelling because it offers more than an explanation of distress. It provides a moral and practical orientation toward intervention that is collaborative, contextual, and socially responsible. For Honours students studying PYC4802, that orientation is the difference between merely describing behaviour and truly understanding it.
