l years before Jim came into the family. The possibility exists that Jim was not the first to abuse Carrie, and one of the important pieces of information not yet obtained in this case is whether or not others took advantage of Carrie's vulnerability and began what may turn out to be a pattern of abuse much earlier in her life.
Urie Bronfenbrenner (1979) has proposed looking at the individual within the context of surrounding systems, what he calls the ecology of the individual. For Carrie, her microsystem, the most immediate circle in which she operates, includes her mother. Currently, it also includes her grandmother, since the two have been ordered to live with her, and her therapist, Dr. Damon. Previously, her microsystem consisted primarily of her mother and Jim.
For many, the microsystem also extends to include teachers, schoolmates, other family members, neighbors, and other individuals close to the patient; for Carrie, however, many of these people appear to be a little further away from the immediate sphere of influence, in what Bronfenbrenner terms the mesosystem. Especially before Carrie began to confide in anyone else, her immediate sphere of relationships was more guarded and closed off because of her abuse.
Surrounding the mesosystem is the exosystem, the wider settings which define Carrie's life, and the macrosystem, the cultural mores that influence how she and those around her are expected to behave. Through his abuse, Jim violated those expected behaviors, and Joanna's initial refusal to believe her daughter also disengaged the little girl from the protections that the larger society is supposed to provide to the individual. However, the legal system, which is usually part of the next level in, the exosystem, has intruded into a closer circle of Carrie's life and is attempting to rectify the personal violations of those close to her. This has caused an ecological transition (Bronfenbrenner, 1979...