Ecological Nested Systems Theory

            I feel that this theory best explains how families and marriages work and function.  This theory states that there are many different systems that all work together and against one another to create the family unit.  There is the immediate micro level, the sytem where all those micro systems work and influence the others, the external system through which a person is indirectly affected, and the macro level which has to do with culture and society as a whole.
          This theory can be used to explain the problems of trying to balance work and family, since work can have an affect not only on the individual, but memebers of the family as well, through the meso system.  It can also explain issues such as health care, education, or gay marriage, all of these are macro system level institutions which affect individuals through the interaction of these systems.
         I chose the picture of an atom to represent this theory, because all the electrons circling the nucleus is sort of like the different systems that affect an individual, and if one of those systems changes, just like if an atom loses or gains an electron, it can change the indiviual, or the atom, entirely.