The issue conversed in the article is about figuring out the different attachment styles and what causes them. Attachment can affect the life of the child in a good way or a bad way, depending on the conditions of attachment on the child. If the child has a negative attachment, the child can grow up having a negative self-image and having social and emotional problems. If the child grows up having positive attachment, the child will be a positive working model and have a positive self-image. This is important to the reader in order to understand that their behavior can affect the child greatly and the way the child is cared. Especially for those who want to become parents want to get a good understanding of caring for their child. There are …show more content…
In secure attachment, a child that went through separation showed the behavior of distress. In a stranger anxiety situation child avoided stranger, but was friendly when mother was present. The next situation was when the child was reunited with mother showed happy and positive behavior. Lastly, in another situation the child uses the mother as a safe place to explore the surroundings. An Ambivalent attachment child shows extreme distress when separated from mother. In stranger anxiety, the infant avoids the stranger and shows fear. When reunited the child approaches the mother, but doesn’t touch her. In another situation child cries and explores less than the 2 other attachment types. Lastly, Avoidant attachment child shows no sign of suffering when separated from the mother. The child shows no sign of fear near a stranger, environment remains the same, and the child continues playing. The child show very little interest in the mother; in another situation the child is equally comforted by a stranger and mother. From the research sample of children 70% showed to have secure attachment, 15% were ambivalent attachment, and 15% were avoidant attachment
The Strange Situation, in which infants are exposed to eight different episodes involving the mother and/or a stranger, is widely used to test attachments, although there are many different views regarding its validity and reliability. In order for the Strange Situation to be considered reliable, a child tested at different times should produce the same reaction every time; this was supported by Main, Kapland and Cassidy’s 1985 study which found that 100% of infants who had been securely attached before 18 months were still securely attached at 6 years, and 75% of those who had been anxious-avoidant remained so. One interpretation of attachment type (based on the Strange Situation) is that it is a fixed characteristic and therefore cannot be changed, but if there is a change in family circumstances this is often not the case. Attachments to mothers and fathers have been proven to be independent – Main and Weston (1981) found that children reacted differently depending on which parent they were with. This shows that the attachment types shown by the Strange Situation are based on qualities of distinct relationships as opposed to a child’s characteristics.
Criticisms of attachment theory have come mainly from the feminist schools of thought since the theory has been used to argue that no woman with a young child should work outside the home or spend time away from her baby (Goodsell and Meldrum, 2010). Children’s experience and development also depend on what happens after early years, whether bad or good later in life may change a child’s emotional development, e.g. lack of basic needs, diet, education, stimulation such as play might affect a child’s development (Rutter, 1981). Differences in cultures have to be taken into consideration as well. A study by Schaffer and Emmerson (1964) provided contradictory evidence for Bowlby’s attachment theory. They noted attachment was more prominent at eight months, and afterwards children became attached to more than one person.
The first topic that came up in the interview relates to idea of attachment theory. Attachment theory explains the human’s way of relating to a caregiver and receives an attachment figures relating to the parent, and children. In addition, the concept explains the confidence and ability for a child to free explore their environment with a place to seek support, protection, and comfort in times of distress (Levy, Ellison, Scott, and Bernecker, 2010, p. 193). Within attachment theory explains different types of attachment styles that children experience during early childhood. These attachment styles affect the relationships they continue to build in adulthood. The best attachment style happens when the parent is attuned to the child during his or her early childhood called secure attachment (Reyes, 2010, p. 174). In order for complete secure attachment, the child needs to feel safe, seen, and soothed. Any relationship that deviates from this model represents the anxious or insecure attachment. This means that parents or caregivers are inconsistently responsive to the children. Children who have these parents are usually confused and insecure. Some children experience a dismissive attachment where they
One important component of Attachment theory talks about fear children have in which children have less fear when they are aware of their primary caregivers’ availability and affection leads to a secure attachment to form between a caregiver and child. On the other hand, Erikson states that if the virtue of hope is not established then an infant will have a fear and start to mistrust and this will affect the development. This will have an effect on the confidence that the children develop during infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. A child can start to present separation anxiety and stranger anxiety at around 9 to 18 months a child had a stranger anxiety when they were young, that may affect their development based on the type of Patterns of attachment are secure, avoidant, and ambivalent. If a child had a secure attachment he will probably not have any form of trust issues and long-lasting relationships, a secure attachment will impact his self-esteem and have a good healthy relationship with his parents and friends and seek out social support from others because of him being able to function by himself in his adolescence and adulthood. On the other hand, if a child experienced avoidant or
Relationships are the building block for personality and are significant in children’s ability to grow into substantial individuals who can thrive in an often harsh world. Constructing lasting and fulfilling relationships is an integral part to development as the interpersonal bonds forged are not only highly sought after but also set the ground work for all upcoming expressive interactions. Relationships and attachment go hand in hand as attachment is the strong and lasting linkage established between a child and his or her caregiver. Moreover, attachment significantly influences a large capacity of ones make up as it these first relationships that teaches morals, builds self-esteem, and develops a support system. The pioneers of Attachment Theory realized early on that human beings are not solely influenced by drives but that the earliest bonds formed by children with their caregivers greatly impact their ability to forge lasting relationships later in life. John Bowlby was first to introduce this theory to the masses in the 1950’s, and later Mary Ainsworth conducted further research to expand on Bowlby’s theory which proclaims that attachment is a “lasting psychological connectedness between human beings” (Bowlby, 1969, p. 194). The attachment bond theory by both Bowlby and Ainsworth focuses on the significance of the relationship between babies and their caretakers which research has suggested is accountable for influencing impending interactions, firming or injuring our capabilities to concentrate, being aware of our emotional states, self-soothing capabilities, and the capacity to be resilient in the face of hardship. Additionally, this research has provided a framework for assisting in describing these att...
Admittedly, many psychologists define attachment as an enduring affectionate bond that one person forms between himself and another person throughout life. Since Mary Ainsworth provided the most famous research: strange situation, offering explanations how each individual differences in attachment. However, in this Adult Attachment Style questionnaire that I took, I found many factors relevant to attachment as it was defined in the textbook. For example, in the textbook, it defines attachment based on Ainsworth research, the strange situation by observing attachment forms between mother and infants. Which they are described in four attachment styles: securely attached, insecure avoidant, insecure resistant, and insecure disorganized. The questions on the questionnaire were based on those areas to determine my style of attachment.
It has been proposed that infant attachment styles do not change after the first year of life, the following essay will argue against this prompt in that ones attachment style will change continuously throughout life. Attachment theory is based on the joint work of Bowlby and Ainsworth (Bretherton, 1992). In recent years the idea of ‘attachment’ has become and increasingly popular debate within developmental psychology (Bretherton, 1992). Attachment theory provides an explanation on how parent and child relationships are formed and the important role they play in child development. However majority of the research into attachment has focused on identifying the stability of attachment rather then identifying the possible insatiability of
John Bowlby’s attachment theory established that an infant’s earliest relationship with their primary caregiver or mother shaped their later development and characterized their human life, “from the cradle to the grave” (Bowlby, 1979, p. 129). The attachment style that an infant develops with their parent later reflects on their self-esteem, well-being and the romantic relationships that they form. Bowlby’s attachment theory had extensive research done by Mary Ainsworth, who studied the mother-infant interactions specifically regarding the theme of an infant’s exploration of their surrounding and the separation from their mother in an experiment called the strange situation. Ainsworth defined the four attachment styles: secure, insecure/resistant, insecure/avoidant and disorganized/disoriented, later leading to research studies done to observe this behavior and how it affects a child in their adolescence and adulthood.
The attachment theory, presented by Mary Ainsworth in 1969 and emerged by John Bowlby suggests that the human infant has a need for a relationship with an adult caregiver, and without a subsequent, development can be negatively impacted (Hammonds 2012). Ainsworth proposes that the type of relationship and “attachment” an infant has with the caregiver, can impact the social development of the infant. As stated by Hammonds (2012), attachment between a mother and a child can have a great impact on the child 's future mental
For example, when the child first arrived he made no contact with those that were in the area. The only eye contact that he made was with his grandmother. The secure attachment theory supports that children are least likely to make contact with strangers when caregivers are around. One example of no contact is, the child not making eye contact with those who were among his presence while he stayed extremely close to his grandmother. Children that are securely attached seem to become somewhat defensive when they are in different environments. They tend to push away from strangers to stay within the presence of their caregivers. They become very anxious of when they feel as if the caregiver could possibly be away from their presence. An example of “anxiousness” is when the observed child got comfortable to venture off, he hesitated leaving his grandmother; it took him a while to get comfortable with the strange surroundings and people. After the child was comfortable, he relaxed and became less anxious. When the observed child started to become comfortable within his surroundings, he slowly but cautiously shied away while turning around and hesitating before he ventured away too far. After the child ventured off, he became even more aware of his surroundings. The child had a pattern of looking for his grandmother to make sure that she was still
Infant attachment is the first relationship a child experiences and is crucial to the child’s survival (BOOK). A mother’s response to her child will yield either a secure bond or insecurity with the infant. Parents who respond “more sensitively and responsively to the child’s distress” establish a secure bond faster than “parents of insecure children”. (Attachment and Emotion, page 475) The quality of the attachment has “profound implications for the child’s feelings of security and capacity to form trusting relationships” (Book). Simply stated, a positive early attachment will likely yield positive physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development for the child. (BOOK)
Attachment theory is the idea that a child needs to form a close relationship with at least one primary caregiver. The theory proved that attachment is necessary to ensure successful social and emotional development in an infant. It is critical for this to occur in the child’s early infant years. However, failed to prove that this nurturing can only be given by a mother (Birns, 1999, p. 13). Many aspects of this theory grew out of psychoanalyst, John Bowlby’s research. There are several other factors that needed to be taken into account before the social worker reached a conclusion; such as issues surrounding poverty, social class and temperament. These factors, as well as an explanation of insecure attachment will be further explored in this paper.
Attachment patterns of a child are developed by the use of strange situation protocol where the attachment of a child is assessed between 12 months and 20 months of the child development. This procedure is not clinical and is used only to supplement the clinical diagnosis procedure called Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), which will be discussed at a later stage of this essay. In the strange situation protocol, a child, and the caregiver are put in an environment with varying conditions and the attachment behaviour of the child is observed. Through this protocol there are there organized attachment categories, which are observed in a child, which include secure attachment, avoidant/attachment and resistant/
“Attachment is as essential for the child’s psychological well-being as food is for physical health,” claimed Bowlby, B (2001, p.54). Bowlby claimed in this statement that attachment is a necessary thing that a child needs in order to develop healthily. There is evidence from other theorists who support Bowlby’s theory of attachment, such as Harlow, whose approach is based upon a caregiver’s sensitivity and attachment. Ainsworth is another theorist whose research supports Bowlby’s theory of attachment. In her strange situation study, she tested for the attachment types and what effects they had on a child’s behaviour.
During the first few stages of both theories, we see challenges in the development of the child and we also see challenges that a child might face during some, if not all forms of attachment theory. For example, a parent ignoring the child and speaking to them in a negative manner during insecure-avoidant attachment can be challenging for a child and lead to insecurities and the feeling of not being loved and/or wanted. Additionally, the theme of independence is seen throughout both theories and can also be related specifically to insecure-avoidant attachment where the child does not focus his or her attention on the parents but instead looks to the outside world for assistance. Both theories, as well as attachment theory, has an impact on childhood