Category: Attachment Theory

ABSTRACT

This research paper explores about socioemotional processes and theories of developmental psychology. Parenting styles, Theory of attachment, Kohlberg’s moral development and their strengths and weaknesses literature reviews and how the theories can be applicable to real life situations.

INTRODUTION

Socioemotional process consists of variations that occurs in an individual’s personality, emotions, and relationships with others during one’s lifetime (Santrock, 2007). Developmental psychology was initially targeted on studying how adolescents strengthen to develop into youngsters and then adults, but contemporary developmental psychology examines the whole lifespan of human beings, from delivery to historic age. Developmental psychologists learn about the development of a variety of competencies and characteristics, consisting of cognitive abilities, motor skills, language gaining knowledge of and communication, the nature of personality, and the way in which we increase our identities, relate to our emotions, and conceptualize ourselves. Due to the huge range of developmental psychology studies, there are a number of theories and stages that have been developed in this field. (McSorley, 2014).

PARENTING STYLES

Parenting patterns straightforwardly impact a kid’s social advancement both physically or mentally (Aunola and Nurmi, 2005). Child rearing methodologies and kid habits works multi-directionally (Baumrind, 1967). The thinking of parenting patterns was once first delivered in 1960’s with the aid of capacity of the psychologist Diana Baumrind. She carried out a search for on pre-school age kids, utilizing father or mother interview, observations to discover out about precise dimensions of parenting and proposed three parenting styles: authoritarian, authoritative and permissive. Later researchers delivered a fourth fashion of uninvolved parenting. (Baumrind, 1991)

The authoritarian parenting style is described as a black and white style of parenting, the place rules are expected to be observed besides question or there will be consequences. These mother and father tend to be strict and demanding, whilst no longer treating their young people as equals. They do no longer appear very responsive to their children. The Tiger Mom is a right example of a father or mother exhibiting this parenting style. (Driscoll, 2013)

The authoritative parenting fashion additionally is one with guidelines that have to be followed, however the dad and mom have a tendency to be greater open about their reasoning and think about their children’s opinions extra so than authoritarian parents. Authoritative dad and mom have a tendency to speak about troubles with their youth in a supportive manner rather of truly inflicting punishment.

Permissive parents tend to act extra responsively and demand much less from their children; in flip they do now not generally discipline their children as regularly. They are also communicative and nurturing. The Panda Dad is a precise instance of this parenting style. (Driscoll, 2013)

An uninvolved parenting style is a result of inattentiveness in the child’s upbringing as a parent. Parents give no strive to be function models for teens and no required amount of physical or psychological aid is available (Downey & Coyne, 1990). Children of this kind result in selfish behaviors (Nijhof & Engels, 2007). This type was once supported later via Maccoby and Martin (1983).

Sharma and Pandey (2015) organized a find out about on Indian adolescence. The study aimed to look into if their levels of shallowness are affected through the parenting patterns used by both parents. More especially if authoritative and permissive parenting is accountable for greater vanity in adolescences (Sharma & Pandey, 2015).

The research consisted of 120 participants with an equal large range of guys and females. They have been examined the use of 2 distinct standardized questionnaires which have been based on each parent. The effects have been received via general deviations, correlation, with propose values and graphical representations. (Sharma & Pandey, 2015).

(Sharma & Pandey, 2015) Conclusions protected terrible correlations between authoritarian mother and father and wonderful correlations between permissive and authoritative parents and self-esteem. And supported the hypothesis of Sharma and Pandey (2015).

Using the suitable parenting patterns will have an effect on the advisable growth of improvement throughout lifestyles (Ballantine, 2001). The approach should alter if not they then to internalize and behave aggressively (Akhter et al. provide all the first time, 2011). Most of the research (Baumrind, 1960, 1970) blanketed ethnically various samples from each western and non-western county making the findings greater generalizable and relevant (Mandara & Murray, 2000).

The weakness includes the principle no longer been capable to generalize due to cultural variations or acculturation (Berry, Trimble, & Olmedo, 1986). Such as when Chinese dad and mom migrate to the UK (Chua, 2011) elements such as societal, family members and cultural differences may also have consequences on the parenting style and may additionally differ relying on the scenario (Bornstein & Cote, 2001). The children’s behavior such as aggressiveness can also affect the parenting where dad and mom may also have less manipulated over the youngsters (kochanska, 1997).

THEORY OF ATTACHMENT

The theory of attachment is an idea in developmental psychology that concerns the importance of ‘attachment’ with regards to personal development. According to British Clinician John Bowlby’s (1969, 1988) etiological perspective, all residing beings even at their infant levels have a greater tendency to form mutual bonds mother and father or caregivers as a result of gene flow (Lorenz, 1937).

The research study called “Strange situation” conducted by Ainsworth (1971,1978) evaluates 4 different attachment styles. Namely, secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-ambivalent and insecure-disorganized attachment styles. (Ainsworth,1971,1978)

A secure attachment bond ensures that a child will feel secure, understood, and calm. Children with invulnerable attachments are seeking alleviation from their mother and father when they’re scared. They have a tendency to be social folks who have trusting, lasting relationships, and accurate self-esteem.

In avoidant attachment child do not are seeking for help from dad and mom when assembly with physical or emotional desires (Behrens, Hesse, & Main, 2007). This situation consists of parents who much less possibly to respond to the child’s desires (Ainsworth, 1970).

Children are adhesive and reliant in ambivalent attachment. Shows high degrees of misery when indifferent from mother and father and is hard to reassure afterward (Ainsworth, 1970).

Insecure disorganized attachment is when the caregiver is now not cooperative or responsive the young people are less emotionally engaged (Ainsworth,1970). Children showcase aggressive movements with the belief that mother, and father would pay attention to them. This form of attachment was later supported through Main & Solomon (1990).

Harlow (1958) wanted to investigate the relationship formation between child monkeys and mothers. He isolated 60 child monkeys from its parent within 6 to 12 hours of birth.

(Harlow, 1958) They were saved on wired meshes had been animals located it tough to live on and clothed meshes with resulted in healthier development. As a result, they ever exposed to a mom which was once made of black packing containers and every other made of terry cloth, single breast, and mild attached at the again which produced warmness (Harlow, 1958).

(Harlow, 1958) Results found that the clothed mom was once proven greater attachment these monkeys grew up to be greater bullied by using others and had issue to survive by myself if they were left for greater than 90 days with these mothers. Therefore, it concluded that at some point of the critical degrees of a child maternal deprivation ought to lead to emotional distresses (Harlow, 1958).

(Prior & Glaser, 2006) Infants do are searching for their guardians in real-life situations of distress or when confronted with danger. Another power consists of though most of the studies on attachment solely used mothers as mother and father lookup has proven that attachment is now not only precise to moms but additionally and caregiver invalid in the child’s upbringing (Rutter (1972). Symptoms such as distress are nevertheless exhibited when the infant is separated from the caregiver concluding that the theories are generalizable to any gender.

In considering the strengths of this theory monotropy and hierarchy is highlighted. There is one attachment which has distinct importance over the hierarchy of many different attachments. Schaffer and Emerson found that babies form many attachments e.g. mother, father, sister, brother, grandparents, buddies etc. however, infant’s main attachment is closer to the mom or father. Secondly care givers sensitivity is also a positive effect of attachments. Schaffer and Emerson located that infants who have been strongly attached had moms who would quickly reply to them and gave them extra interplay whereas babies who has made a weak attachment had mothers who had failed to interact with them. Carlson (1998) observed that insensitive care giving is related with troubles in adulthood Harlow’s find out about discovered a one-way attachment with the wire mom with no response of affection. The babies became maladjusted adults.

The weaknesses are according to behaviorists attachments are learned behaviors. Emotional coaching can be used to educate young children on how handle situations with friends by taking into account several perspectives such as why they might have acted harshly might be because he or she might have got scolded by their parents for not completing the homework the day before or how they could improve their relationship by speaking out each other’s thoughts which will improve the attachment with the friend and also the teacher . (Hardy, 2016) Social workers can help clients with repressed abusive childhood attachments to recognize them and overcome their difficulties to live a peaceful life with the use of positive behaviors.

KOHLBERG’S MORAL DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY

Lawrence Kohlberg concurred with Piaget’s hypothesis of precise development on an imperative degree but wanted to build up his thoughts further. Kohlberg unusual three levels and six levels of desirable development while leading his experience. (Kohlberg, 1983)

Preconventional Level: What is terrible is decided by way of inside standards involving physical or hedonistic penalties of the action. Stage 1: Punishment Orientation, were punishments must be inflicted on terrible behavior regardless of any reasoning because it is unacceptable. Stage 2: Individualism and Exchange, the consequences of the movements are based totally on the need for the individual to (Kohlberg, 1984)

Conventional Level: Individual develops loyalty to a group. Morality is now based on exterior standards (particularly keeping the group’s social order). Stage 3: Good Interpersonal Relationships, exact conduct is frequently elicited due to demand characteristics and social desirability. Stage 4: Maintaining the Social Order consists of behaving according to the law and order due to the fact it is the right factor to do (Kohlberg, 1984).

Post-conventional Level: Morality is based totally on internalized abstract ideas of justice and individual rights. Stage 5: Social Contract and Individual Rights, right here regardless of the law and its standards the individual’s rights and opinions are given more priority. Stage 6: Universal Principles encompass thinking about many perspectives such as binding to the law, what is morally right and what they think about the state of affairs they find themselves in (Kohlberg, 1984). conduct such behavior (Kohlberg, 1984).

The aim of the find out about was to see if there used to be evidence to help his idea of moral development. The individuals had been aged 10-16 years historic at the start of the learn about and were aged 22-28 with the aid of the end. Some participants had no longer reached the final stage of moral development by means of the stop of the study. At around 50% of every of the six stages, a participant’s wondering used to be at a single stage, regardless of the moral dilemma involved. Stages have been continually handed via stage by using stage and in the constant order and the members in no way went lower back to a previous stage. Kohlberg also discovered when young people are confronted with the views of a baby one stage in addition along, they appeared to pick this subsequent stage and to move forward. Middle-class urban boys aged 10 in the USA, Taiwan and Mexico showed the order of each stage to be the identical as the order of its concern or maturity. At the age of 16, Stage 5 thinking was once extra commonplace in the USA than either Mexico or Taiwan this stage was reached by means of participants in these two nations at a later age. Moral improvement is invariant, individuals go through the tiers one at a time and they are in a constant order, however some Individuals can also not attain the ultimate stage. Strengths of ethical improvement include it being universal as all humans use moral reasoning to prove that their point of view is correct and valid. Everyone goes through these degrees of ethical development (Kohlberg, 1984). Lesser the moral development youngsters judge them based totally their intentions than on its consequences. It is due to the on hand cognitive reasoning so with age moral reasoning develops (Helwing & Lau, 1996).

(Rest, 1979) Moral improvement does now not appear according to the levels noted above but rather backward and not all of us goes thru all degrees also. Weaknesses additionally consist that what was once measured was once moral reasoning, no longer behaviour. In a unique scenario which would be special from what kind of choice will be taken by way of the infant in a real-life situation so results may have been affected via ecological validity, demand characteristics and social desirability (Gilligan, 1977).

CONCLUSION

In conclusion parenting styles, attachment theory, and moral development are key elements that all caregivers must be aware of. How teens are treated for the duration of their infancy and the essential durations may have an effect on their adulthood and also how they engage with other human beings in the future. Therefore, it is safe for everyone to be aware of such perspectives and apply in their lives specifically for parents, caregivers, and instructors when coping with children and young children.

In a time that has many individuals on edge, anxiety personality is common in today’s social norm. A way that many individuals have been able to overcome their panic attacks have been by attaching themselves to someone or something that makes them feel comfortable or at ease. Generally, these behavioral traits are triggered through cultural or environmental traits that have been infused in them pre-birth and post-birth. As individuals get older, anxiety-attachment personality can resonate and becomes less manageable, this is why we have many subjects today that have been treated for obesity, excessive shopping, or hoarding. Other areas that can be triggered by anxiety-attachment, is when you have individuals who have lost their loved ones, a family pet, or have ended a relationship. Both examples show how one can flare up their anxiety, in order to treat them, they need to eat comfort food to fill that gap, have the latest merchandise to fulfill that subconscious emptiness, or keep items that remind them of their past loved ones to morn their loss.

Historically, both theories have been studied separately by two individual behaviorists, one being John Bowlby on Attachment theory and Sigmund Freud on Anxiety theory. This paper will explain how one theory goes hand-in-hand with the other, and manifest itself consciously and subconsciously.

Short Autobiography of Bowlby and Freud

John Bowlby was a prominent British psychologist, psychoanalyst and psychiatrist, best known for his work on child development and the advancement of the concept of attachment. He strongly believed that both behavioral and mental health problems had their deep roots in an early childhood problem. He was born in London on February 26, 1907, and raised by a nanny. Bowlby attended Trinity College at Cambridge where he studied pre-clinical sciences and psychology. John Bowlby was the pioneer behind the development of attachment theory. John Bowlby described the concept of attachment as the lasting psychological connectedness between human beings. He shared his psychoanalytic view that early childhood experiences have a significant impact on the development and behavior of children in their later life (Famous Psychologists, 2018).

Now Sigmund Freud was born on May 6, 1856 in Freiberg, Austria. Freud is concerned specifically with neuropsychology. By his observations and experience, he contributed a great deal to the industry. The study of hysteria and then sexuality began with Freud. Sigmund Freud has been a very controversial 20th century personality (Famous Psychologists, 2018). Freud made anxiety an important part of his personality theory, asserting that it is fundamental to the development of all neurotic and psychotic behavior. He also described anxiety as an objectless fear, meaning that we cannot point to its source, to a specific object that caused it (Schultz & Shultz, 2017).

Development of the Theory by the Theorist

Bowlby defined attachment theory under four models, 1) Preattachment, 2) Clear-cut Attachment, 3) Goal Corrected, and 4) Abstract Attachment. All four stages are taught early on in life and reemerge over time as someone deals with an emotional situation during adulthood to overcome a particular life event. As an example, Preattachment, this can be utilized when someone is craving attention from another person through a visual emotion. Now Clear-cut Attachment is something that someone expresses when they are leaving for a long trip and find it hard to say goodbye. Whereas Goal Corrected, is when someone has finally been able to distract themselves with something else to avoid attachment panic. Finally, everyone unconsciously lives with Abstract Attachment by fulfilling themselves with any general security that completes their lives (Grobman, 2008). Bowlby also outlined significant individual differences in the functioning of the attachment system. Interactions with attachment figures who are available in times of need, and who are sensitive and responsive to bids for proximity and support, promote a stable sense of attachment security and build positive mental representations of self and others (Mikulincer & Shaver,2012).

Bowlby (1969) wrote, fully functional attachment behavior always matures early in the life-cycle and is soon active at intense levels; whereas, in adulthood, attachment behavior is usually active at lower levels of intensity or, in some species, hardly active at all. Sexual behavior, by contrast, matures later; and, when seen in the immature, it is usually only in fragmentary and nonfunctional form. Attachment behavior is made up of a number of component patterns and the same is true of sexual behavior. Some components are shared. They are thus seen as elements in both sorts of behavior, though usually more typically in one than in the other.

Now when it comes to cultural attachment personality, most attachment theorists recognize the role of culture. They suggest that culture influences only specific behaviors that demonstrate the theory and that there is a substantial core of attachment that is immune from cultural influence (Main, 1990). Because of socioeconomic, traditions, and religious beliefs, that the Latin community has unconsciously influenced attachment personalities by proxy. Moreover, the Latin community will influence younger individuals by reminding them of their migrating heritage and struggling past to ensure cultural attachment. Furthermore, Mexican-American females tend to stay at home longer than males, unless they are going to attend a university that is away from home. Now, because of religious beliefs, that they cannot leave home unless they are engaged. Another example is, attachment personality by tradition, if you are the youngest female or an unmarried male of your family, you are expected to take care of your parents during retirement and old age (Barragan, 2019).

Freud defined anxiety under three models, 1) reality or objective anxiety, 2) neurotic anxiety, and 3) moral anxiety. All three manifest over the situation of stress someone is having at that particular moment. As an example, America is currently living through Reality Anxiety that has been caused by real-world situations, current events, police brutality, current political administration, or the mass shootings that have happened over the years. Now, Neurotic Anxiety is when someone displaced in a situation or predicament that can cause them to act on impulse, to cause harm to others, themselves, or contribute to an unmoral action. Finally, Moral Anxiety, which is also known as the superego killer, is normally manifested when confronted during a conflict, being punished for doing something ethically wrong, or providing inaccurate information without backup. The distinction between these three types of anxiety does not mean that the person who is experiencing anxiety is aware of its actual source (Hall, 1955).

References

1. John Bowlby. (2014). FamousPsychologists.org. Retrieved 04:07, December 19, 2018 from http://www.famouspsychologists.org/john-bowlby/
2. Schultz, D. P. and Schultz, S. E. (2017). “Theories of Personality”. Australia: Cengage Learning.
3. Hall, C.S. (1955). “Pastoral Psychol: Freud’s concept of anxiety”. Unknow State: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02009440
4. Bowlby J. (1969). Attachment. Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Loss. New York: Basic Books.
5. Grobman, Kevin H. (2008). Learning & teaching developmental psychology: Attachment theory, infancy, & infant memory development. Retrieved from: http://www.devpsy.org/questions/attachment_theory_memory.html
6. Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2012). An attachment perspective on psychopathology. World psychiatry: official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), 11(1), 11–15. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3266769/#B2
7. Cassidy, J., Jones, J. D., & Shaver, P. R. (2013). Contributions of attachment theory and research: a framework for future research, translation, and policy. Development and psychopathology, 25(4 Pt 2), 1415–1434. doi:10.1017/S0954579413000692
8. Barrett, L.F. & Pietramonaco, P.R. (2000). Review of General Psychology: The Internal Working Models Concept: What Do We Really Know? Educational Publishing Foundation Retrieved from: https://www.affective-science.org/pubs/2000/PietromonacoFB2000.pdf
9. Berger, K.S. (2017). “The Developing Person Through the Life Span”. New York: Worth Publishers.
10. Bowlby J. (1969). Attachment. Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Loss. New York: Basic Books.
11. Flores, P.J. (2004). “Addiction as an Attachment Disorder”. New York: Jason Aronson.
12. Grobman, Kevin H. (2008). Learning & teaching developmental psychology: Attachment theory, infancy, & infant memory development. Retrieved from: http://www.devpsy.org/questions/attachment_theory_memory.html
13. Grobman, Kevin H. (2015). Attachment Theory & Canalization in a Social Psychology Class. Retrieved from: http://www.devpsy.org/teaching/individual_differences/attachment_canalization.html
14. Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2012). An attachment perspective on psychopathology. World psychiatry: official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), 11(1), 11–15. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3266769/#B2
15. Rodriguez, A. (2014). “Personality Theories: From Freud to Fran The Effects of Attachment and Acculturation on Latino College Students’ Relationship Satisfaction with a Close Friend”. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education: SAGE Retrieved from: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
16. Main, M. (1990). Cross-cultural studies of attachment organization: Recent studies, changing methodologies, and the concept of conditional strategies. Human Development Department

Many developmental psychologists claim that a person’s childhood can be fundamental for their afterwards role in society and relationships. Developmental psychology is the study of changes in conduct and mental procedures during one’s life stages and the components that impact the course of these progressions. A critical extent of theories focus on the development that happens during childhood, which is considered the most important stage of life when relationships develop and the attachment style is shaped.

Firstly, one of the most important factors of their evolution is the attachment they form with one of their care-givers during their early stage of life. The attachment theory has been debated by many psychologists but there are a few worth mentioning, such as John Bowlby, who was a psychoanalyst that introduced his evolutionary theory of attachment to the world and it stated that a child has an innate need to attach to one main figure (Bowlby, 1988). Bowlby was keen on understanding the separation anxiety and trouble that kids encounter when isolated for a longer period of time from their maternal figure and how that can lead to distress and consequences such as delinquency, depression, affectionless psychopathy etc. Robertson and Bowlby (1952) believed that the short-term separation between the infant and primary care-giver can cause distress and it is expressed in 3 stages: protest, despair, and detachment. Bowlby also believed that the first 5 years were the most important for the developing relationship between the infant and maternal figure. He conducted a study called 44 Thieves Study (Bowlby, 1944) in which he tried to prove that there is a direct link between the disruption of that primary relationship and delinquency. 44 Thieves were compared with 44 non-thieves and 15 / 17 of these thieves were classed as affectionless psychopaths (no feelings of remorse or guilt), while just 2 / 44 non-criminals had encountered such partition. Although this research had a break-through at the time it was conducted, now it is harshly critiqued due to the inaccuracies that may have happened during the interviews with the criminals and non-criminals. Bowlby found a connection between early separation and misconduct/affectionless psychopathy, yet we can’t presume that the detachment was the reason. The reliability and validity of Bowlby’s research is questionable but it did open a path to studying the relationship between childhood attachment and future behavior.

On the other side, Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found what showed up as intrinsic contrasts in sociability in children; a few infants favored cuddling more than others, from early on, before much communication had happened to cause such contrasts. This rejects Bowlby’s statement that attachment is formed in the first 5 years and it instead implies that infants are born with certain sociable preference. The issue with this type of research is that it is carried out on infants so psychologists have to plan a research without interfering because it may influence the overall result of the attachment, which is why many are using the observational method.

The observational method was used by another psychologist worth mentioning, Mary Ainsworth, who devised an assessment technique called the Strange Situation Classification (SSC) to see how attachments might vary between children. The Strange Situation Classification was conducted by Ainsworth & Wittig (1969) and was based on Ainsworth’s previous Uganda (1967). A sample of 100 middle-class American families were used to observe the different types of attachment between mothers and their infants by placing them in a small room with a one-way glass so the behavior of the infant can be observed in the absence of the mother (for a brief amount of time) without involving others. Based on their responses, Ainsworth explained that there are 3 attachment styles: secure attachment, anxious-avoidant attachment, and anxious-resistant attachment. Later on, a fourth attachment style was discovered by Main and Solomon (1986) which was named disorganized-insecure attachment. Furthermore, Ainsworth described the traits of each attachment: children with the secure attachment type tend to be slightly more optimistic than the rest and better at perceiving others perspectives as well as more trusting in them; anxious-avoidant attachment types are generally less prepared for stressful situations and less effective in managing them, they rarely can form satisfying relationships to others due to their antisocial behavior and resistance to seek assistance; anxious-resistant attachment is based on the opposite end of spectrum from anxious-avoidant children and they manifest in an exaggerated manner about their emotions while pushing their peers away; the last attachment type is the disorganized-insecure attachment where children cannot cope with separation distress and tend to see other as threats rather than supportive.

Similar studies followed this pattern and tried to observe the effects of adult emotions on infants, in this case two-year-olds, (Cummings, Iannotti & Zahn-Waxler, 1985) who were placed in a room along their mothers while other adults entered and engaged in different types of interaction (friendly interaction, angry exchange, and friendly, conciliatory manner). During these episodes, the infant’s reactions were observed, particularly body movements and facial expressions generating feelings of distress, anxiety or vocalizations like crying. This study led to the conclusion that the angry exchanges between the adults produced greater distress to the infants than the friendly interaction.

To sum up, several studies mentioned above are based on empirical evidence and imply that the attachment patterns can be detrimental to one’s future and even predict the likelihood of a certain pattern, but as Natalia Shirvanian said, attachment-based child care is a Western world product and might not be directly relevant to other societies. (Cassidy et al., 2013; Bell, 2012; Mikulincer et al., 2003) Therefore, the attachment theory and attachment type do play a role in our youngster’s life, but do not necessarily direct them towards a certain behavior.

Childhood has played a critical role in human’s life. It constructs the enormous rest portion of people’s life which involve in relationships with an intimate partner, reactions with an unfamiliar stranger or even the using the approach, experiences once receive in childhood and to pass it to the next generation. Although it is quite essential to form a secure type of attachment but having an Insecure and ambivalence child can still be frame into a secure type of adult after a period associated with the secure sort of people.

The Attachment Theory included ‘The Nature of the Child’s Tie to His Mother’ (1958), ‘Separation Anxiety’ (1959), and ‘Grief and Mourning in Infancy and Early Childhood’ (1960) written by John Bowlby was a derivation of Konrad Loren’s study on geese it appears to follow the first living creature and consider it as its mother after hatched from the shell. In 1971, Bowlby’s former college Mary Ainsworth established a study to psychoanalysis the child age from one to two years old to support the attachment theory. The children were investigated by the test called the Strange Situation Classification (SSC) and be classified into three types of attachment, secure, insecure and ambivalent. In George, Main and Goldwyn’s Adult Attachment Interview in 1984 establishes a new approach which focuses on examining the coherence of individual childhood experiences with their caregiver rather than attempting to retrospect the account of individual childhood experiences. Main and Goldwyn in 1991 have found that secure attachment is associated with the parent’s or caregiver’s consistent sensitivity or responsiveness. On the other hand, Insecure and ambivalent attachment is related to the lack of responsiveness, incoherence sensitivity and ejecting, dismissing or neglecting responses to infant signal.

Individual differences in infant attachment relationship are mainly caused by nurture rather than nature; this leads to the importance of forming a strong relationship bond between parent and child.

This connection in the first year, after decades of studies, no matters the quality is good or bad, it would then become the template of the future relationship for the person and his or her partner. Because the template represents the experiences they have with their attachment figure in childhood, it will then trigger the behaviour specifically under the same circumstances. In another word, the parent-child relationship is the prototype for the later love relationship.(Chodorow,1978; Dinnerstein,1976; Freud, 1949) Although the attachment people form in their childhood will affect later experiences with the intimate partner. However, some researchers have found that after having a relationship with a secure type of partner, the attachment style such as insecure or ambivalent form up while growing up can gradually be changed.

However, temperament researchers have kept emphasising that the SSC reflects the infant’s temperament rather than its attachment. On the extensive research, Vaughn and Bost claim that attachment and temperament are constructs separately. Moreover, attachment theorists have suggested that temperament has no direct impact on the quality of attachment since such a difficult temperament can be accommodated by sensitive caregivers, who can still develop a secure attachment bond. However, on the other hand, temperament researchers have kept reiterating that the interactions between the child and parent in the Strange Situation reveal the infant’s temperament rather than the quality of the relationship. Mangelsdorf and Frosch have suggested that the results of infant temperament on attachment may be indirect and modified by other maternal and social variables.

The development of molecular genetic studies has changed the perspective of research toward specific genes, finding some genetical evidence in twins. The strategy of it is whether the relationship between parent and child are prescripted before the child had been born. The research done by Finkel and Matheny in Louisville Twin Study (LTS) found out some environmental factors, but the genetic effect on secure vs insecure attachment was not significant.

The childhood attachment the infant forms with their primary caregiver will subsequently affect the relationship with their partner. Because in the end, people seek the closeness with each other and that recall the reaction they once have with their parent. There are three basic kinds of attachment people can have with other adults. Firstly is secure attachment which consists of about 60 per cent of people. Secondly, anxious attachment, it might appear that people with this kind of attachment could be coercive, demanding and neglecting the need of their partner. Thirdly people with avoidant attachment are more likely to reject intimate contact or be close to others. However, the study shows that people who are an avoidant type of attachment other teams up with people who are an anxious attachment.

Although infants might have differences on their temperament, genes or have raised by various kind of parenting style; the only thing that surely matters is the quality of the closeness child feel which is how a parent responds to the child’s signal. The attachment theory helps people to understand more with themselves in order to properly interact with people who are a different kind of attachment. Almost no person is purely anxious, or avoidance people were just a bit like that some of the time.

The parental interaction towards children during their development is what shapes their further development into later life. This review of secure-attachment, sensitive parenting and later social-emotional development will examine literature that supports the hypothesis that secure-attachment in infancy predicts a positive development and benefits compared to other attachment styles.

Bowlby (1973; 1980) notes that attachments between caretakers and children begin at infancy. Children learn how to maximise and maintain proximity and elicit protection and care through their own perception of their caregiver (Bowlby, 1980). The attachment theory was mainly contributed to by Ainsworth, which displays the concept of the parent acting as a secure base that allows the infant to explore. Secure attachment has been linked to positive developmental outcomes, as generally these infants tend to have better social-emotional outcomes compared to those infants who are insecurely attached (Ramsdal, Bergvik, & Winn, 2015). The quality of the relationship and attachment between parents and children is important for the social-emotional development of that child, and if this attachment is detrimental it can have great consequences later in life (van der Voort, Femmie Juffer, and Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2014). Children feel confident to experience and explore if they are assured in their attachment figures, providing a system that regulates proximity and exploratory needs (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007).

There has been in-depth research into this topic as it is essential to development. Secure-attachment is the most desirable attachment style, this being characterised as a positive outlook on oneself, and others inclusive of relationships. Researchers have outlined four attachment styles being secure, anxious-ambivalent, disorganised and anxious-avoidant (Ainsworth, Belhar, Waters, & Wall, 1978). Anxious-ambivalent attachment arises if the infant is separated from the caregiver and is not comforted upon their return, where as anxious-avoidant attachment occurs if the infant avoids the caregivers. (Ainsworth et al., 1978). Disorganised attachment is simply when there is a lack of behavioural attachment. In order to develop the secure attachment style (the most desirable), sensitive parenting is crucial (Ainsworth et al., 1978). The literature explores the benefits of this attachment style with thorough research into later life aspects such as relationships with peers, emotion regulation, and behavioural adjustment. Majority of the literature uses methods to assess peer competence such as questionnaires from parents, teachers, and/or children (Hubbs-tait, Osofsky, Hann & McDonald Culp, 1994; Fagot, 1997), sociometric ratings by peers either with target child, alone or in groups (Waters, Wippman, & Sroufe, 1978), or dyads coded by trained observers (Park & Waters, 1992). Many studies also make use of meta-analysis, merging data from numerous other studies.

Maternal sensitivity and secure attachment relationships are necessary in order to predict behavioural problems in later social development. In a study conducted with an adoption sample it was shown that a secure attachment relationship during infancy, childhood and adolescence are important in order to predicts positive outcomes in social development in later life (Jaffari-Bimmel, Juffer, Van IJzendoorn, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & Mooijaart, 2006). The Erickson scales were utilised and adapted, taking into account that as one grows older the interaction between child and mother becomes less physical and more verbal. It was also confirmed that maternal sensitivity during the adolescent period was a predictor of less reckless and delinquent behaviour (Van der Voort, Linting, Juffer, Bakermans-Kranenburg, Schoenmaker, and Van IJzendoorn, 2014), and in relation to adopted adolescent’s maternal sensitivity predicted less hindered behaviour (Van der Voort et al., 2014). Ultimately these findings present that parental sensitivity has the potential to inhibit development of problem behaviour even in the context of genetically unrelated parents and children, meaning that the nurture from the parent is essential for social-emotional development (Lamb et al., 1985).

In terms of social competence, attachment theory articulates that children acquire working models that set expectations based on former interactions and experiences, then guiding how their social interactions play out (Bretherton & Munholland, 2008). Positive working models are created by securely attached children with sensitive caregivers, meaning they approach different social situations with trust. Henceforth contrasting with children who have insecure attachment, developing a sense of incompetence with their experiences influencing expectations towards future potential relationships (Bretherton & Munholland 2008). Bowlby noted that secure attachment will promote positive expectations of relationships with peers and will have a predisposition to be involved with others. Sroufe, Egeland, Carlson, & Collins (2005) found that there were significant links from early childhood to adulthood in terms of secure attachment and social competence, using a range of techniques inclusive of observation, teacher ratings, peer sociometric as well as interviews with the subjects. Those who had history of secure attachment had higher social competence due to their representations and expectations of relationships, and their engagement and interaction with others (Sroufe et al., 2005). Pre-schoolers and middle childhood participants were more active in the group and less isolated. Furthermore, Sroufe et al., (2005) found in middle childhood that relationships were reciprocated, and these children were able to keep a close friendship whilst interacting with a group of others (coordinated friendships). In adolescence, it was found those with secure attachment history were found to be more effective in mixed-gender peer groups and had notable leadership qualities which in a camp group study, the adolescents were more frequently chosen as spokespersons and were also looked to for difficult discussions (Englund, Levy, Hyson, & Scroufe, 2000). Groh, Fearon, Bakermans-Kranenburg, Van IJzendoorn, Steel, and Roisman (2014) conducted four different meta-analyses in relation to social competence construct. They tested for relations between social competence and attachment security, avoidance, resistance and disorganisation. The children who rated as secure demonstrated higher social competence. Results found that the study provided evidence that predicted effects in early adolescence did not decrease in later life due to age (Groh et al., 2014).

Those who experience insensitive parenting and develop insecure and disorganised attachments are found to be less able to regulate their emotions which potentially aids in the child developing feelings of anger and fear as well as externalisation of problem behaviour in the later stages of their development (Thompson, 2008). This was demonstrated in Fearon, Bakermans-Kranenburg, Van IJzendoorn, Lapsley, and Roisman, (2010) as both were shown to predict externalisation problems that was predicted by their mothers via meta-analyses. This supports the finding that insecurity is generally found to relate to externalisation behaviour, partially confirming findings that emphasise roles of disorganised attachment. Insecurity and disorganisation are linked to behavioural problems of externalising problems as shown in (van der Voort et al., 2014). It was concluded that middle childhood security was considerably linked with the coping of stress, with similar findings reported during middle adolescent attachment (Kerns, Abraham, Schlegelmich, and Morgan, 2007). Forty-two studies conducted on internalising behaviour problems presented that internalising problems is related to insecurity and avoidance (Cohen’s d = 0.15 and 0.17).

Limitations with these studies is that they focus on observation and report. Namely, Fearon et al., 2010, focused on mother’s report of their children through meta analyses, meaning that there can be some bias to the reports, whether that be too critical or too lenient. A limitation is also that it is difficult to identify internalising problem behaviour compared to the latter, therefore making it difficult to report by parents and teachers. Having the report methods such as teacher and peer reports, self-evaluation, and observation, one can never truly have the ultimate unbiased results. Even though meta-analytic reviews are important to further our understanding, there are still questions that lie in terms of the causal implications of attachment security for development (Groh et al., 2014). A further area of research could potentially to look into understanding the underlying mechanisms and causational chains in the development of externalisation of behaviour problems (Fearon et al., 2010). It would also benefit the field from studies that use experimental and non-experimental designs, focusing on identification of mechanisms that early attachment experiences have on development.

The extent of the research presents convincing evidence that a secure attachment relationship created via sensitive parenting has positive benefits in the social-emotional development stage from infancy to adulthood. It promotes a positive outlook on one’s self and others and helps with emotional regulation, relationships and behavioural adjustment. The literature has presented that secure attachment is the most beneficial style to promote positive and beneficial social-emotional development for children later in life. Potential improved methods, instead of just observation and report methods would aid further research into this field in order to prevent bias in overall outcomes.

The idea of Attachment Theory is that ​as an infant we form these attachments with our caregivers that will later affect how the child behaviorally and emotionally develops into adulthood. These attachments the child makes with their caregiver from the very beginning can affect their relationships in the future; this concept lately has become a big debate on whether or not these attachments you form as an infant really do determine the kind of relationships you’ll have in the future. There are four styles of attachment; secure attachment where the child is distressed when their caregiver leaves but is able to compose themselves and is willing to explore, avoidant attachment where they are unattached to their caregiver and will explore without going back to the caregiver to check with them, ambivalent attachment when the child is insecurely attached to their caregiver and becomes upset when the caregiver leaves as well as angry when they return, and lastly disorganized-disoriented when the child is insecurely attached and is sometimes abused or neglected by their caregiver, the child seems fearful, dazed, and depressed. Some psychologists also believe attachment happens in stages and that there is a critical period for developing an attachment which is about zero to five years. They believe that if an attachment has not developed during this period, the child will suffer from developmental consequences that are irreversible like reduced intelligence and increased aggression. While others believe that the attachment you make as an infant has no way of predicting the kinds of relationships you have in future years as attachments change as well as your environment and situations therefore if you develop one as a baby or not has no effect on your future.

A research study was conducted by Davies, P. T., Thompson, M. J., Coe, J. L., Sturge-Apple, M. L., & Martin, M. J. on “Child Response Processes as Mediators of the Association Between Caregiver Intimate Relationship Instability and Children’s Externalizing Symptoms”. The hypothesis of their study was whether the amount of intimate relationships the parents engaged with their children during the preschool period would increase risk for externalizing problems, as well as unpredictability in family relationships increases externalizing symptoms. In this research study they used a case study and a survey to conduct their study, which resulted in the amount/degree of intimate relationship with the child being the independent variable and how unstable during the preschool period the child is being the dependent variable. (Davies, P. T.​et al. ​1244–1258)

In addition for this particular research study there were 243 mothers and children participants who were living in a moderate-sized metropolitan area in the Northeastern part of the United States and were recruited through a variety of agencies. Also according to the research study the demographic characteristics of the participants are as followed, “56% of the sample consisting of girls. Median household income of the families was $36,000 per year (range = $2,000–$121,000), with most families (69%) receiving public assistance. Approximately 19% of the parents did not earn a high school diploma or GED, with the median education for the sample consisting of a GED or high school diploma. Almost half of the families were Black or African American (48%), followed by smaller percentages of families who identified as White (43%), multiracial (6%), or another race (3%). Approximately 16% of the family members were Latino. At Wave 1, 99% of the mothers and 74% of their partners were biological parents. Approximately half of the adults (47%) were married.” (Davies, P. T.​et al. ​1244–1258) Furthermore the major findings from the research study concluded that the findings revealed that “early exposure to caregiver intimate relationship instability predicted children’s endorsement of a domineering, coercive style of responding to peer challenges over a 1-year period. Changes in a dominant interpersonal style, in turn, were associated with rises or less marked declines in externalizing symptoms over a 2-year span.These results support the hypothesis that unpredictability in family relationships increases externalizing symptoms by sustaining children’s tendencies to endorse toughness as a way of regulating their social standing and access to resources.” (Davies, P. T.​et al. ​1244–1258). In addition the researchers also state that in future research to this general topic the study could be improved by expanding mediational tests of relationship instability to include other mechanisms, integration of multiple levels of analysis approaches and selecting mediating mechanisms that more precisely test the comparative explanatory power of these theories in models of relationship instability. Also there was a confounding variable present in their study was that the measurement battery does not capture all possible explanatory processes.

In the case study done by Davies, P. T., Thompson, M. J., Coe, J. L., Sturge-Apple, M. L., & Martin, M. J. on “Child Response Processes as Mediators of the Association Between Caregiver Intimate Relationship Instability and Children’s Externalizing Symptoms” I feel as though it is a credible source because all of the authors are part of the Department of Clinical and

Social Sciences in Psychology for the University of Rochester, except for Martin Meredith who is part of the Department of Educational Psychology for the University of Nebraska. Another reason why I believe this source to be credible is because it was published by the US : American Psychological Association and the study was ​Submitted: ​May 22, 2018​ Revised: ​January 12, 2019​ Accepted: ​January 25, 2019, meaning it has been recently revised as well as it is a sixth issue indicating that the work has become a standard source in the area and is reliable. In addition this source audience was intended for other psychologists, health professionals, and teachers in that field making the language a little too technical but they did a good job or explaining everything so if someone from the public were to read the study they would be able to understand what was going on. Coupled with the other reasons above this source is credible because they use all their data to back up their opinions and to support their claims to show they are fact based and not just opinions. Lastly​ their findings were accurate and supported the hypothesis in the end regardless of the confounding variables that were involved as mentioned earlier in the paper. In the end I believe this article to be credible due to it being written based offof all the data from the conducted study holding their opinions and facts true, its many pair of eyes overseeing the study, as well as the authors positions of Department of Clinical and Social

Sciences in Psychology and Martin Meredith position as the Department of Educational Psychology. The second source provided by ​Lauren Vinopal​ titled ​Attachment Theory Is All Wrong. Here’s What the Science Really Says,​ I believe is not a credible source for a few reasons. Lauren Vinopal is not a professor nor does she have a degree in psychology, she wrote this paper with the help and information from psychologist Dr. Jerome Kagan, a Professor Emeritus at Harvard University which is how she got all her facts. In addition this article was published July 08 2019, which does make the psychologist and information relevant and up to date with all the new findings thus far but she only used one psychologist opinion and insight on the topic. Also the article was not published by an association the website itself is created to help dads become better parents; they even say in the “about us” section “Fatherly offers original reporting, expert parenting advice, and hard-won insights into a challenging, but profoundly rewarding stage of life.” Coupled with all of that the author’s intended audience is fathers therefore made the language the text more simplified and well explained so the fathers could benefit from psychologist Dr. Jerome Kagan insight. Except in this article it is mainly filled with an opinion already preset which was then just backed up with facts from a credible source. Which shows this article was already written with a bias and the opposing view was not even looked into by the author as she made sure all her information would support her bold title/claim stating that Attachment Theory is all wrong. In the end I believe this article to not be credible due to its already pre bias when writing and researching the claim, its lack of insight from more than just one psychologist, as well as its authors lack of a psychology or social science background.

Overall if I were to do a scientific study on the effects of parental relationship with their child and the effects it has on children with mentally my hypothesis would be, the less attention and affection shown to the child will result in a child feeling isolated, alone, as well as depressed. With all of this factored together it will lead to the child internalizing their problems and having trust issues with adults as well as their peers.My variables in my study would have an independent variable being the emotional state of the children who are given different degrees of affection and attention and my dependent variable would be the children. To begin in my study I would begin with picking children at random from the age range of three to five who have been with their parents since birth (so no children who are adopted) . Then over the course of time for three years I would have random people with no medical, psychology background, or who knows the families to go to the houses and survey the children separate from their parents to prevent the children feeling pressured to say certain things to please their parents. I would also ask the parents to allow cameras to be set up so I can see exactly how each child is being given affection and attention so it can eliminate the parents giving answers to make themselves look better. In the end I feel as though my hypothesis would be supported if there isn’t enough affection and attention given to a child their mental health will suffer due to the fact that they are not receiving the love and support from the beginning as young children so as they develop they do not know that feeling yet they see it being given to other children which would lead to the child feeling isolated, alone, as well as depressed.

Work Cited

1. Davies, P. T., Thompson, M. J., Coe, J. L., Sturge-Apple, M. L., & Martin, M. J. (2019). Child response processes as mediators of the association between caregiver intimate relationship instability and children’s externalizing symptoms. ​Developmental Psychology​, ​55​(6), 1244–1258. doi: 10.1037/dev0000717
2. Vinopal, L. (2019, July 10). Attachment Theory Is All Wrong. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://www.fatherly.com/health-science/attachment-theory-wrong-attachment-styles-dont-matter/​.
3. https://www.fatherly.com/health-science/attachment-theory-wrong-attachment-styles-dont-matter/
4. https://www.fatherly.com/health-science/attachment-theory-wrong-attachment-styles-dont-matter/

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to review relevant literature surrounding the topic of John Bowlby’s Attachment theory. Firstly we will be highlighting the key principles of Louise Harms Multidimensional approach to human development and how an individuals inner and outer worlds are interconnected, followed by an examination of what Bowlby’s Attachment theory is and how it is used in practice. With the use of pertinent research we will explore Attachment theories strengths in understanding an individuals behaviours from early childhood to adulthood, while also recognising its limitations as well as the gaps in research in regard to culture and non-nuclear families.

Multidimensional Approach to Human Development

To understand Harm’s multidimensional framework, we need to first understand that an individuals experience is influenced simultaneously and continuously by their individual an environmental factors (Harms, L. 2010). These factors can also be called an individuals inner and outer worlds and are comprised of several different dimensions with all of them being interconnected and influenced by each other. Our inner world is inhabited uniquely, which is to say no other individual can experience the same experiences, this world is comprised of three dimensions. The biological dimension encompasses the basic processes required for our body to function and these systems develop and change over time as we mature or as a result of outer world environmental stressors, social interactions and diet, again highlighting the fact our worlds are connected and effected by one another (Harms, L. 2010). Our dreams, primary drives and motivations as well as our capacity for thought, memory and emotion all occur within our Psychological dimension. This effects our feelings, moods and how we understand the world and how we innately act within it or adapt to fit (Harms, L. 2010). The final inner world dimension is the spiritual, this dimension is different to the religious sense. It is where we do our deepest searching within trying to understand purpose in our own existence and our sense of having a place in the world. Often this search for meaning beyond ourselves begins following exposure to trauma or other adverse effects in an individuals life (Harms, L. 2010). Individuals outer worlds consists of the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem and the macrosystem. The microsystem or relational system comprises of an individuals close interpersonal relationships, this includes places they work and live, to analyse this setting, we are looking at who they interact with face to face and how (Harms, L. 2010). Looking at a larger scale, the mesosystem also referred to as the social dimension takes a look at the different settings themselves and the links between them, for example an individuals schooling institution and their workplace. It is important to note the effects of a persons exosystem or structural dimension, an individual does not have face-to-face contact with this dimension, but it does in fact shape ones experiences, social context and interpersonal relationships. Included in this setting is legal systems and political systems as well as educational and health systems (Harms, L. 2010). When examining a persons macrosystem, we are taking a look at how culture defines what is normal or socially acceptable for that time and place, this cultural context in where we are situated correlates directly with how an individual will view things such as gender roles, religious beliefs, sexuality and ethnicity (Harms, L. 2010). With this knowledge, when we attempt to understand an individual, what is taking place in their lives and how to assist them overcoming any kinds of adversity, it is extremely important to understand the impact of each of these above-discussed dimensions on the individual themselves and also upon each other respective dimension. Harms (2010) states, that we are encouraged to think of things from not just an introspective point, but to think more broadly in terms of the influence of social and political environment. Using this multidimensional framework, we will now look at John Bowlbys’ theory of attachment which was later expanded upon by Mary Ainsworth, exploring how it informs our understanding of human development.

Attachment theory

Attachment theory takes a biosocial look at how close relationships form between a primary caregiver and child, how these relationships are maintained and how they influence the individuals involved in them (Rholes, W. S., & Simpson, J. A. (Eds.). (2014).). John Bowlby’s early work showed that intense feelings of pain, withdrawal, apathy and despair were experienced in adults as well as children who were separated or bereaved. It has been shown that this can have serious long term effects on individuals such as difficulty forming bonds and relationships and even the development of mental health issues in adulthood (Holmes, J. (2014)). The basis of attachment theory is that it is essential for a child to develop a close relationship with their primary care giver in order for both social and emotional development to occur conventionally (Becnel, K. (2012). Standardly, infants become attached to those who are consistently responsive in social interactions and sensitive to the infants needs. During stressful situations, an infant will seek the proximity of their care giver for comfort and emotional regulation while in later years of childhood this caregiver will be used as a “secure base” that the child can go off and explore their world from and return to when in need. The parental response during these stages typically leads to patterns of attachment; which begin the formation of an individuals internal working model informing their expectations of relationships later in life as well as their feelings and thoughts (Becnel, K. (2012)). There are four different types of attachment styles; Secure, Avoidant, Disorganised and Ambivalent. Typically those who develop a secure attachment receive readily available helpful, responsible and sensitive care from their primary care giver as a child; whereas infants who experience varying degrees of separation, rejection or inconsistency in parental responses will develop either an avoidant, ambivalent or disorganised attachment style of attachment (Rholes, W. S., & Simpson, J. A. (Eds.). (2014).

It is important that we practice using a multidimensional framework approach by understanding how attachment theory informs us of human development and behaviour. Attachment theory has the potential to enhance our understanding of an individuals on a micro level, focusing on, or emotional, cognative, physiological behviours, how we form relationships and interact with others interpersonally, be that with a romantic partner, our own children, friends and even collegues at work (Rholes, W. S., & Simpson, J. A. (Eds.). (2014). Studies have shown that we can use attachment theory can be used practically within job design and organisational support (Yip, J., Ehrhardt, K., Black, H., & Walker, D. (2018). We are able to enhance our understanding of behaviours even within this organisational setting by understanding that attachment anxiety and avoidance can assist in predicting how some one will be able to regulate their emotions at work, be it seeking support, their commitment to the organisation and even the intention to quit (Richards, D., & Schat, A. 2011).

When looking at attachment theory through a multidimensional lens there is certainly an area that requires further research and consideration. It is important to look at the different forms of attachment cross-culturally, parenting practices and care giver relationships within non-western societies should be understood in their own culturally meaningful terms (Quinn, N., & Mageo, J. (2013). A study was conducted in North Germany and Japan which highlighted interesting differences within core culturally social values therefore impacting common parenting practices. In Germany, independence is considered important, so caregivers tend to keep larger interpersonal distance and once a child is mobile care givers feel they should lessen close bodily contact, promoting a childs independence (Quinn, N., & Mageo, J. (2013). Japanese culture promotes an emphasis on close physical contact and the desire to avoid stress to infants by keeping them close. Parental figures will sleep with the child, co bathe, hold the child above the toilet to toilet train and transport the child on their back (Quinn, N., & Mageo, J. (2013). Bretherton (1992) states that to better explore such cultural variations in attachment organisation, attachment researchers need to develop ecologically valid, theory-driven measures, tailored to specific cultures and based on a deeper knowledge of parents’ and children’s culture-specific folk theories about family relationships and attachment.- paraphrase this

Conclusion

Overall John Bowlbys theory of attachment helps us to understand the complexities of the human condition from infancy to adulthood. The creation of this theory has greatly contributed to our understanding of human development by examining the development and lasting effects of our relationship with our primary care giver from birth. It takes a psychological, evolutionary and ethological look at relationships between humans. When using a multidimensional approach to human development is important to then note that further research should be conducted in regards to the difference in forms of attachment cross-culturally to gain a greater understanding of how other societies cultural values effect parenting styles and therefore a childs attachment style.

The detailed study of language, usually interpersonal communication, came in the history of humanity and we consciously or unconsciously interpret what the body of the other says to give meaning to words. However, interpersonal communication is defined by the exchange of messages and codes between two individuals. The implication of the notion of distance constitutes an important point of communication because it identifies what kind of communication the interlocutors are granted. The concept of proximity refers to this interpersonal distance between two people. Interpersonal communication takes place in our daily life whenever we are in contact with someone. Whether it’s for a question, a request, a remark, an order, we use interpersonal communication to convey our intention. Our ability to use interpersonal communication will help us a lot in our projects. However, less incompetence or conflict to communicate can be obstacles to our success and success. According to D. O. Braithwaite & P. Schrodt (2015), interpersonal communication can be described as the production and process of all verbal and nonverbal interactions between individuals in society. We can also say that it is the process of interaction that we use to transmit our ideas, thoughts, and emotions to other people and trigger a reaction. It includes aspects such as face-to-face: verbal (words voice) and non-verbal (gestures, posture, facial expression) and fits into a specific spatial and temporal context with a conscious or unconscious intention, that of the issuer. Its challenge is mutual understanding, which is sometimes difficult to achieve for a variety of reasons, such as word choice, lack of listening, or a noisy environment. This interpersonal communication makes it possible to give an identity to our person, and certain theories allow to better discern certain actions and reactions of our person during a conversation.

Part 1.

Attachment theory

The theory of attachment is more or less focused between the biological bond and communication, this theory shows how the human being since a young age is brought to attach his caregiver, by the emission of certain hormones. A bond that can be positive or harmful to the human being in the field of health and at the same time creates an openness between individuals that facilitates interpersonal communication. It is a primary and innate social need to relate to others. The function of attachment is for Bowlby (1951) cited in D. O. Braithwaite & P. Schrodt (2015), an adaptive function of both protection and exploration. For example, the mother, or her surrogate, is a safety net for her child. The newborn has a lot of instinctive behaviors, such as clinging, sucking, crying, and smiling, that can be used for the benefit of attachment. After a few months, a relationship of attachment, open and selective, and unique relationship to a privileged person, is established. And attachment styles can vary based on the function of relation with whom we are interacting, and attachment gets stronger when people keep engaging in social interaction. However, it can be said that the theory of attachment is one of the human motivations that promote interpersonal communication between the individual. This theory facilitates and brings individuals to be open to each other during the interaction (mother and child bond, romantic partners). Since childhood, the bond between mother and child or substitute and child grows stronger over time. Mothers who are sensitive to the signals of their children will develop a secure relationship with them, mother-child attachment is relatively stable over time, and children who have benefited, at a young age, from a secure relationship with their mother, might develop more social skills than insecure children. The attachment theory for adult describes different variables that an individual has developed throughout his life to communicate with others. And Depending on his attachment style such as secure, fearful, insecure or preoccupied can determine his or her relationship with others.

Attribution theory

As humans we have a tendency to interpret, at some point, the behavior, being our behavior or others. Attribution Theory is can be used to judge how people perceive their own behavior and others by assigning them meaning. It also tries to elaborate how people give causal explanations.

The attribution theory of Heider (1958) stated in D. O. Braithwaite & P. Schrodt (2015) attempts to analyze how we explain the behavior of others and the events of life. In other words, how do we assign attributions on behavior? However, we tend to attribute the behavior to one of two causes, which can be an internal cause for instance personality traits, intelligence, motivation, or an external cause chance, situation, or interventions of other people. Heider’s attributions help to better understand certain personal behavior. Locus, for example, may be internal or external depending on the person or context. This is related to self-esteem. An individual who attributes his or her failures to personal factors will experience a significant decline in self-esteem. It will use an internal control locus. Stability refers to the assessment, and effort we make of the stability of behavior over time. If a subject attributes the failure to factors that he considers to be stable over time for example career difficulty, his or her motivation for accomplishing that goal will decrease. On the contrary, if we attribute it to unstable factors, our motivation will not be reduced. Responsibility is the extent to which a person can be held responsible for an event.

These attributions can be realized for the behaviors performed by ourselves or by other people. they may have an internal or external locus, stable or unstable. The different combinations that appear are those that will indicate motivation and self-esteem. For example, if a young man wins in a competition, we could say that this is because he has trained a lot and prepared himself persistently. This attribution is internal and refers to another person. However, if we attribute the fact that the young man won a race because the other participants were not prepared, it would be an external attribution. Moreover, the internal attributions of the successes to which we attribute stability and controllability are positive. This type of assignment increases self-esteem and, by the same token, motivation. On the contrary, if these same attributions are attributed to failures, self-esteem is reduced, as well as motivation. In their explanation of Attribution Bippus and Young’s theory described that when people do positive actions or have positive actions they place the responsibility on themselves but blame others whenever negative actions or emotions happened (Bippus, A. M., & Young, S. L.2005).

It would not be surprising to make different assumptions for similar events. In the same way, different people can assign different attributions to the same event. For example, for some people, failing an exam would be due to a lack of ability (internal cause and stability), for others it would be a result of the difficulty of the exam (external cause and unstable). These variations, in addition to influencing self-esteem and motivation, also have a decisive influence on expectations.

Strengths and weakness

Attribution theory is practicable and its principles and dimension are identifiable in our daily interactions the process of negotiating attribution for example happens in our conversation when we try to determine and give meaning to why something happened, (D. O. Braithwaite & P. Schrodt, 2015) this aspect can be a strength of this theory. As the strength of Attachment theory is generalized and found in many perceptions of emotion and behavior that happens in life which discern it applicability in a relationship (Guerrerro, 2015). In addition to it applicability, it is intuitively appealing as individuals can relate to the four attachments to see where they fit in relation with others.

Regarding the limits of this theory, depending on how we interpret the behavior of others, we will think of them in many ways. But these attributions are not always perfect, or objective. We often make mistakes in interpreting behaviors. Therefore, attribution theory has given rise to other related areas of research like the theory of fundamental attribution error. When we interpret behaviors, we use shortcuts and detours that lead us to make erroneous assignments. Our previous beliefs often motivate these attributions. In addition, attributions will influence our relationship with the people for whom we attribute behaviors. As a result, we will tend to pay attention to those who have better attributes than others, we will accept them more and take their opinion more seriously. On the other hand, the weakness of attachment theory since some individuals are comfortable in showing and giving affection and other are less comfortable which show the attachment style difference and as result, it makes the argument for some researcher that it is not a theory but something to glorified individual difference variable and because the attachment style is treated exclusively as a personality variable.

Contrast similarity

Overall, The Attribution Theory focuses on assigning meaning to individual behavior during their interactions. It’s a theory that relates to the psychological, and cognitive aspects to assign meanings to our behaviors in the interaction. Whereas Attachment theory explains the biological traits of individuals as closeness to each other. Researchers see attachment theory and affection exchange theory as more biology evolutionary. Like a natural state of humans to protect and connect with offspring according to evolutionary theorists.

I like the attachment theory over the attribution theory because for people attachment can be one big motivation to engage in communication. We feel more comfortable and open when we feel a closeness in a relationship (relatives or romantic). It seems to have a biologic aspect that makes people caregiver bond and being protective for their offspring relationship and make communication easy.

Part 2.

Politeness theory

In a conversation actions that can affect (modify or maintain) the relationships of oneself and others in face-to-face or distant communication. Politeness communication can be done through in e-mails or even in social networks. An important part during the interaction or conversation is justified mainly by the relational value we have with others, in other words, either seeking a closeness or supremacy, concern to protect our face, to spare others, or to lose our face, even though this relational value that we have for other is hidden or minimal. One of the most remarkable features of recent developments in conversational linguistics is the interest in the functioning of politeness in verbal and nonverbal interactions, which is seen in everyday society during our interactions. In this perception, politeness is seen as a set of processes by which the desire for the preservation of the faces can be united with the fact that most of the acts performed during the interaction risk threatening one or another of the faces in the presence. In other words, politeness gives an identity, a self-image that we want to present to our audience. However, certain strategies allow us to engage in a conversation, or to respond to a situation by giving an opinion, support, or hints to our interlocutor. We do not want to engage any actions that might be threatening our face want, considering that everyone wants to be free from imposition when performing their identity to be accepted by others, negative face want (Goldsmith, Normand, 2015). We can be direct or indirect in our strategy. The way to apply the strategies depends on numerous factors such as how the power between individuals ( who in more in control in the relation), the distance referring to how close individuals are to each other, and the rank which is about the cultural aspect of how a topic can be threatening. Bald on record is considered to be more direct in requesting or replying to someone. It is mostly used by people who are romantic partner or close intimate friends. However, with positive face redress, this is where we talk about some issue to our audience or listener by bringing our support, support to him or her. Whereas, with the negative face redress we can announce and talk about a problem by staying respectful to minimize hurtful action or speeches. In contrast Off record, individuals have a tendency to give hints to their listeners during interaction and an issue or topic. Or often they will do anything to address an issue and leave it the way it is.

Face Theory

In the theory of the face, the interaction is presented as a place similar to a theater scene, where we do perform our identity, among other things, dramaturgical. The participants in the interaction then define themselves as actors, convey an image of themselves, their faces, and try to promote it through their actions. The face is defined by Goffman as the image that someone puts into play in a given interaction, (D. O. Braithwaite & P. Schrodt, 2015)

The face can be challenged at each interaction for example in case of poor performance. An individual has a concern in preserving his or her face when it is threatened, and not lose it. To help in this task, there are different types of strategies to allow the actor to present a good face and not losing face in the interaction. Expressive rituals are procedures that aim to protect everyone’s images in interaction. As we prepare ourselves for the front region “Face threats can occur when a speaker threatens his or her own face or another person’s. Face threats, then, can be directed toward the speaker or the hearer” (Hasting, Bell, 2018, p 98). However, there are moves that can reduce the face threat, such as humor, and apologizing. These rules will allow everyone not to lose face to the other, (consideration) and to look good (self-esteem). This face work, as we daily prepare ourselves in our back region to perform our acts, work, when manage to not be caught on our front region to not be in the wrong face, be out of face or losing face, however, individuals can use the process of preventive or corrective face work such as apologizing, justification or avoidance to move out of a situation that might affect their face.

Strength, limit, Contrast, similarity

As common points these two theories are practicable, in our daily routine we apply consciously or unconsciously the politeness theory and the face theory. Politeness theory’s ability to understand and evaluate behavior when they happen can be considered a strength. Moreover, it directs our attention on judging the behavior of people’s action during the interaction, and the use of language to enact identity. However, politeness theory is limited by some notion which can be its weakness. Some researchers argue that culture can limit the notion of the universality of this theory. Because cultures are different, people cannot apply this theory of politeness everywhere. For example, some culture might consider bald on record as an efficient strategy of politeness that other might find offensive or aggressive to people feel. In addition to culture, gender can also be considering a weakness of this theory. Some society might accept women being on record where others rather like to see women adopting the positive face redress or negative face redress approach because women are more caring and supportive. Therefore, bald on record can be seen as a sign of defiance. Compared to politeness, face theory has broad scope and explains phenomena that make us communicate and follow rules that guide us to understand the actions of ours and others. On the other hand, because of its broad scope, this theory gets weakened by the criterion of parsimony. However it does cross the cultural boundary, because we always rehearse, and get reading in the back region to perform our identity on the front region our identity (work, profession).

Both of these theories seem very useful and practicable as they are almost noticeable in our everyday life, however, I will lean more toward the face theory because every time an interact we always try to show and protect a better image of ourselves. In addition, we learn and apply everyday corrective moves to fix any wrong face or out of face that some circumstance might put us against.

Conclusion

All these four theories have the notion of applicability as strength in interpersonal communication. This shows that although interpersonal communication offer more theories, the applicability allows to promote and makes the interaction more meaningful and rational. However, these theories present many benefits on practicing interpersonal communication in a supportive and productive way. First and foremost they benefit oneself and others, to help us to perform our identities and to understand the behavior of others. They allow understanding of physical and emotional connection, without crossing the freedom of others by imposing our needs and so understanding aspects of relationships.

The movie ‘Babies’ by Thomas Balmès takes us on a trip around the world to observe four newborn babies for the first two years of their lives. The movie looks at the relationship infants have with their parents and compares their development through a series of vignettes when each child accomplishes certain milestones. Throughout this paper I will discuss two theories that I felt were evident in the movie ‘Babies’. John Piaget’s theory of cognitive development and Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachment both touch on major developmental factors that an infant should reach in the first 2 years.

John Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

John Piaget’s theory of cognitive development stresses that children actively construct their own knowledge as they manipulate and explore the world around them. He focused on understanding how children attain knowledge and concluded that their cognitive development takes place in multiple stages. Piaget believed that children adapt their thinking and behavior as they learn new information every day. His theory allows educators and parents to fully appreciate and understand the cognitive, social, physical, and educational growth that children go through from birth into early adulthood.

Piaget’s theory suggests that children go through four broad stages of cognitive development, each stage is age-related and characterized by a specific way of thinking. First, is the sensorimotor stage, which starts from birth and goes to 2 years of age. This stage is very important and can be seen fluently throughout the film. An example of this stage would be sucking, grasping, looking, and listening. Following that stage would be the preoperational stage, which is from 2 to 7 years. During this stage children learn to think more symbolically and use words and pictures to represent objects. From years 7 to 11 is the concrete operational stage; children begin to think logically and critically about life events. The final is the formal operational stage; during this stage adolescents begin to think more abstractly and reason about hypothetical problems. A critical stage that I want to examine further is the sensorimotor stage. This stage has six subset stages that provide specific detailed descriptions of developmental events occurring at critical periods in the infants first two years of life.

The first stage is simple reflexes, and lasts for the first month of life. During this period, the multiple reflexes that determine the infant’s interactions with the world around them are based on their cognitive experiences. An example of this stage is the sucking reflex, this reflex causes the infant to suck on anything placed in its lips. In the movie we saw each child experience this stage. Mari from Tokyo and Hattie from San Francisco both sucked on soothers while Ponijao from Namibia sucked on various objects like sticks and rocks and Bayar from Mongolia sucked on a homemade soother from animal fat and objects around the house. Similar to the soothers or various objects, all four of the children had no trouble with breastfeeding which is a prime example of the simple reflex sucking.

The second substage is primary circular reactions. This stage is from 1 to 4 months. In this stage infants learn to coordinate single actions into integrated actives. For example, an infant might combine grasping an object and sucking on it or looking at a toy and touching it. In the movie we see the infants start to do this at various stages. Mari is a great example of this when she is playing with toys by herself in one scene, she grasps the toy and then puts it into her mouth and sucks on it. Ponijao also does this quite a lot, the child looks at something-usually a stick – picks it up and will then put it on their mouth. Hattie demonstrates this as well when she is peeling the banana and eating it. In this action she is also demonstrating her ‘pincer grasp’ which is the ability to hold an item between your index finger and thumb.

The third stage is secondary circular reactions. This stage is from 4 to 8 months and during this time infants take major strides in their cognitive horizons. They start to shift their focus from themselves and begin to act on the outside world. A child playing with a rattle and shaking it in different way to experience the different sounds it will make is an example of secondary circular reactions. We see Bayar from Mongolia playing with water in a bucket with his older brother. Bayar is splashing the water around in the bucket then dumps some onto the floor and begins to splash it. He is experiencing the different ways he can play with the water instead of just in the bucket and is demonstrating his ability to modify his cognitive scheme about playing with the water. Mari also does this when she is playing with a stick and a donut shape object. She keeps finding new ways to put the stick through the whole.

Coordination of reactions is the fourth stage and is from 8 to 12 months. During this stage infants start to use more calculated approaches to produce events and coordinating acts. They also achieve object permanence during this stage. Object permanence is the child’s ability to know that objects still exist even when they can no longer see or hear them. An example of this is when a child will push a toy out of the way to get to another toy that is under it but partially exposed.

The fifth stage is tertiary circular reactions. This stage is from 12 to 18 months. During this period infants develop deliberate variation of actions that bring desirable consequences. Rather than infants just repeating enjoyable actives they try new ones to observe weather or not there is a consequence. An example of this stage can be a child dropping a toy multiple times and observing the way it falls and it they get in trouble from their parents or not. In this movie we primarily one saw the infants up until their first birthday, so this stage was not permanent in the documentary and not observable in their behavior.

The final stage is the early representational thought/ beginnings of thoughts. It starts at 18 months and goes to 2 years. In this final period the major achievement is the capacity for mental representation or symbolic thought. Only in this final stage did Piaget argue that infants can imagine where objects are even when they cannot see them. An example for this stage is a ball rolling under a piece of furniture. Earlier on a child would not be able to predict where it would come out but now the infant has enough knowledge to be able to predict its trajectory. Again, with this category the children in the movie were too young to reach this stage so there are no movie specific examples.

Bowlby’s Evolutionary Theory of Attachment

Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachment suggests that children are born pre-programmed to form attachments with others. He argued that a child would only form one attachment and that attachment figure would make them feel safe and secure to explore the world around them. Bowlby believed that there should be a primary bond with the child and caregiver that was more important than other bonds, this bond was usually with the mother. The attachment figure is very important because it acts as a guide for all future social relationships the child will have in their life and if it is not properly developed then it can cause major issues for the child in the future. This theory is an example of how babies form their trust with their parents and the other caregivers in their life. If a child knows that their parent can take care of them properly, they will have an attachment to the parent because they have trust. This bodes well for children in the future when they are making new relationships with people, they won’t have a tainted view of trusting relationships because of a bad childhood experience with attachment.

According to Bowlby there are four phases of attachment. The first phase is Pre-Attachment and spans from birth to 6 weeks and involves the innate signals of the caregiver. Things like grasping, crying, smiling while looking into the adult’s or caregivers’ eyes. When the infant has a positive response, the caregivers stay close by which encourages the infant to take comfort in the adult. In this stage the infant will also recognize the mother’s face, voice and smell. They don’t yet have an attachment to the mothers and won’t become upset being left with an unfamiliar adult. The second phase is called Attachment in Making and is from 6 weeks to 6 to 8 months. In this stage infants will respond differently to familiar caregiver than strangers. The infant will interact more with someone they know compared to a complete stranger. At this stage they start to develop a sense of trust with the caregiver but do not get upset when separated from them. Clear-Cut Attachment is phase 3 and is from 6-8 months to 18 months-2 years. This is the stage when attachment to familiar caregivers starts to become prevalent. Infants will also start to show separation anxiety when their caretaker is not present and will show signs of distress or anxiety. Formation of Reciprocal Relationship is the last phase in Bowlby’s theory. This stage ranges from18 months to 2 years and on. During this phase children are not able to understand why their parents come and go but comprehend that they will come back, thus reducing their separation anxiety. At this time the child is also able to manipulate their caregiver to get his or hers way. As the child gets older, they relay less and less on their caregivers.

Bowlby also talks about secure and insecure attachment. Infants who have negative or unreliable relationship with their caregiver are more likely to develop insecure attachment. Infants that have insecure attachment have learned through experience that their caregiver is unreliable and not trustworthy. Infants with secure attachment are more trusting of adults because they have positive experiences that foster trust in the relationship. Infants with this type of attachment tend to have less extreme reactions in stressful situations because they can rely on their caregiver to calm them down.

I feel as though Ponijao, the baby from Namibia, showed secure attachment. He was able to play by himself and with others but always knew his mother was close by if he needed her. When Ponijao became upset or bothered, he was very easily soothed by his mother and seemed to have a very positive and curious attitude throughout the film. Bayar the baby from Mongolia showed the biggest insecure attachment in my opinion. He spent the most time alone out of all four babies and had the lest parental interaction. His mother only held him a handful of times and did not show affection very often. The father was only seen a few times throughout the film but never really interacting with Bayar or showing affection either. Hattie from San Francisco and Mari from Tokyo had a very similar upbringing, and both demonstrated secure attachment to their caregivers. From the start both parents of each child were very involved and made an effort to have a meaningful connection with their child. The parents would lay in bed with their child and talk to them often. They did not hessite to show affection and were constantly supervising their child which I feel will foster a positive relationship with child and parent.

Contextual Influences

Ponijao was very in touch with nature playing with rocks, sticks and dirt most of the time. Although Ponijao didn’t have any materialistic toys or books, he seemed completely content with the natural recourses around him. One thing I observed right away was the lack of a father figure in Ponijao’s life. This could be a cultural factor but, not having a father figure around for the first year of life could have a negative impact on Ponijao in the future.

Bayar was forced to entertain himself alone in the house throughout the day and had very minimal parental interaction. He did not have many toys to play with and often he just laid in bed, staring at the ceiling. We saw the mother bathing him with a very limited supply of water and I noticed early on that Bayar did not have diapers. Once Bayar was old enough to crawl, there was a scene when he was tied to the bed so he wouldn’t crawl too far. This scene upset me because not only was the infant left alone but was actually tied to something like an animal. Later on, we see him crawling in the field and interacting with the farm animals with no parental supervision once again. I think it was good for Bayar to have some interaction with the animals but being alone with them is still dangerous as animals could kick or step on the infant and hurt Bayar unintentionally. Surprisingly through all of that Bayar still seemed to be a happy baby and enjoyed being on his own.

Hattie from San Francisco and Mari from Tokyo had a very similar upbringing. They both lived in very populated cities with many resources. The girls were born in a hospital with both parents present. They both seemed to have a secure attachment with their parents from the start. The parents spent a lot of time with each infant to make a special connection. I will say, Mari’s father didn’t seem as present as the mother. For example, whenever he was watching Mari, he was always trying to do something else like talking on the phone, watching television or bringing her to his work. Both parents took their child to infant classes where they could interact with other babies. The girls didn’t seem to care for the classes and didn’t interact with any other children. Hatti and Mari had more luxuries than Ponijao and Bayar like clean water, new toys, books, doctor visits, play groups and both parents around to care for them.

What Did I Learn?

After watching this movie, it changed my opinion on parenting. I thought that Mari and Hattie would have a definite advantage over Bayar and Ponijao. Being in a big city Mari and Hattie have access to more resources than Bayar and Ponijao would never have. While saying this, the lack of resources didn’t seem to have any effect on Ponijao. His mother was always around to feed, clean and support him. They seemed to have a very strong connection right from the beginning. Unlike Ponijao, Bayar’s mother didn’t spend much time with him. She would bathe him but made minimal effort to connect with her child. From this situation I took away that even if you have limited resources, that should not affect the effort you put into parenting and hinder your connection with your child. Hattie and Mari’s parents were able to provide for their children materialistically but also made an effort emotionally.

Conclusion

To conclude, the early years of a human’s life is the foundation for one’s future. When shaping and supporting the experiences of children, it is important that parents are educated with the appropriate knowledge to support and encourage their infant’s development accordingly. A caregiver’s love and affection can set their child up for positive relationships in their future. Having a strong foundation from a young age sets up children to have trusting relationships with peers and adults in their later years.

Introduction to Attachment in Social Work

Social work is a profession which aims to improve the lives of people by supporting them with social needs, personal difficulties, promoting human rights and wellbeing. Social workers also protect vulnerable people from harm. (BASW 2015) In this essay, I will be illustrating how social workers do this through the use of the concept of attachment. I will also be analysing how the concept of attachment is beneficial for social workers as well as highlighting some limitations. In order to do this, I will be demonstrating how social workers use the concept of attachment in relation to children and families and I will be giving some examples of how attachment theory is used in social work practice today by using a case study.

The Essence of Attachment Theory and Its Relevance to Social Workers

Attachment is a type of emotional bond which is made between a mother and a child from when a child is born. It is usually the ‘main’ person that is consistently meets a child’s needs. This connection does not come to an end after birth but continues and has an impact on relationships for the rest of a person’s life. (Bowlby, 1969). According to Lopez (2009), attachment is made up of three factors which consists of the mental construct that permits a relationship with a sense of belonging and unconditionality to form, the emotional bond that happiness and well-being brings, and an attachment behaviour system focused on maintaining privileged contact. It is essential for social workers to use attachment theory in practice as it helps social workers organise their thoughts, understanding and views of a situation regarding children and families for example.

John Bowlby’s Pioneering Work on Attachment Theory

Attachment theory was developed by John Bowlby (1953) who was interested in understanding the anxiety and distress that children experience as a result of being separated from the primary caregivers. Bowlby believed that there are four types of characteristics of attachment which include proximity maintenance so the desire to be near to people that we are connected to and a safe haven which is returning to the attachment figure for comfort and safety in the face of fear and threat. It also includes secure base so the attachment figure acts as a base of security from which the child can explore the surrounding environment and lastly separation distress which is anxiety that happens in the absence of the attachment figure.

Applying Attachment Theory in Social Work: Case Studies and Strategies

These characteristics highlighted by Bowlby are useful for social workers as research illustrates that social workers may temporarily need to offer a ‘safe haven’ and ‘secure base’ as a form of support for children and families so they can have someone to help them feel safe when they are going through a struggle. Social workers then support them, so they can get back to a place where they can be more independent by the supporting themselves again so support family members towards change for the better. An example, of how a social worker may do this is by putting a child into foster care. Therefore, the theory also illustrates that if a social worker has an insecure childhood history themselves, they will need to understand how the past is likely to have an effect on their ability to be a secure base as they have a duty to provide a secure base and safe haven’t for families. (Community Care ,2015)

Furthermore, what Bowlby (1953) found that attachment was characterized by clear behavioural and motivation patterns. When children are frightened, they will seek care and a loving relationship from their primary caregiver in order to receive comfort. Therefore, Bowlby illustrated three propositions about attachment theory which included that when children are raised with confidence that their parent or caregiver will be available to them, they are less likely to experience fear than those who are raised in a neglectful manner. Secondly, he suggested that this confidence is formed during infancy and childhood which is a vital period of development. The expectations that are formed in relation to attachment during this period tend to remain unchanged for the rest of a person’s life. Lastly, Bowlby believed that these expectations that are formed are linked to what a person has experienced.

Bowlby’s Attachment theory is an important concept for social worker as the ability for carers to provide secure attachment and emotional warmth is an essential concept of any assessment taken by children services in the United Kingdom as their wellbeing is essential to their development. This is shown in the policy guidance in the Framework assessment of children in need and their families (Department of Health, 2000). Therefore, attachment is important in order to make links between children’s emotional development and behaviour as well as the quality of their relationships with their carers. (Trevithick 2000). Attachment theory also enables social workers form interventions which recognise the need for enhanced relationships that are more supportive and consistent. (Howe ,2000).

Challenges and Limitations of Using Attachment Theory in Social Work

Despite this even though attachment offers a framework of theory and research about patterns of thinking, behaviour and relationships social workers must also consider other aspects of a service users’ life. For example, the assessment triangle determined by the framework for the assessment of children in need and their families (2000) as shown in London safeguarding Children’s Board (2017) is used by social workers takes and ecological approach to assessment as it highlights child’s development needs, parenting capacity as well as family and environmental factors. The ecological approach highlights the importance of interrelating different aspects of a child’s life which come together to form an individual’s world which includes things from a microsystem such as immediate family, mesosystem such as education, social welfare and hospital and wider society things within wider society and much more is taken into consideration. (Bronfenbrenner 1979). This demonstrates that even though attachment is central to the assessment triangle it must be understood with a range of other key factors that interact to form the individual holistic health.

In the 1970s psychologist Mary Ainsworth (1991) expanded on this in her study of ‘stranger situation’ which revealed the effects of attachment on behaviour. In this study researchers observed children as they responded to a being left alone for a short period of time and then re-united with their mother or caregiver. As a result of this study Ainsworth introduced four types of attachment which included secure attachment. Securely attached children feel confident their parent or care giver will meet their needs. This is because they distressed when separated from their mother and happy when they return. If a social worker was to observe a child who acts in this way, they would not be worried as infants that develop a secure attachment usually have caregivers that are sensitive to their signals and responds appropriately to their needs. (Main, & Solomon, 1990).

Another type of attachment is avoidant attachment and children who have this type of attachment with their caregiver do not seek contact with them when distressed. When offered a choice, these children will show no preference between their mother and a complete stranger. Children that develop an avoidant attachment usually have parents or caregivers who are insensitive and reject their needs. (Stevenson-Hinde, and Verschueren, 2002). Social workers would relate this attachment style to a child being a victim of abuse or neglect. Children who are punished for relying on a caregiver will learn to avoid seeking help in the future.

Ambivalent attachment is another form of attachment and this is when a child is clingy and has dependant behaviour but will sometimes be rejecting of the attachment figure. Ambivalently attached children usually become very distressed when a parent leaves. This type of attachment may be the result of poor parent availability (Mikulincer and Shaver, 2007). A social worker who observes a child is ambivalently attached their mother may conclude that the child cannot depend on their mother to be there when they are in need.

The last type of attachment is disorganized attachment and children with this type of attachment usually develop a confusing mix of behaviour which may come across as disoriented or confused. Children may both want or resist the caregiver or parent. This lack of clear attachment pattern may be the result of inconsistent behaviour from the parent or caregiver. This may be because the parent may serve as both a source of comfort as well as a source of fear, leading to disorganized behaviour. Social workers see disorganised attachment is a more reliable indicator of maltreatment due to a caregiver’s inconsistent behaviour towards the child. (David and Yvonne Shemmings,2011).

Ainsworths attachment theory is useful for social workers when working with children and families as they must understand the inner world of children and their carers. For example, they need to have a good understanding and be aware of children’s experience of unpredictability, anxiety provoking behaviour from cruel or violent behaviour leading to constant fear. As illustrated in Ainsworths attachment theory these experiences may show themselves as disorganised attachment behaviour. (Community Care ,2015)

Despite this even though Ainsworths attachment theory demonstrates how you can have an insight into a child and caregivers’ relationship it tends to focus on one primary figure of attachment which is most likely the mother. However, it could be possible for children to form attachments with other people in their lives such as father or auntie. Also, developing relationships with other people alongside the attachment figure is important, this is because having to rely on the caregiver relationship of one person can be harmful. This is because it results in dependency on one person and does not allow other relationships to be formed with others which can then affect a child’s social and emotional development. Furthermore, social workers will work with people who form attachments with variety of different people and the family’s they work with are dynamic therefore it could be a misleading guide. (Walker and Crawford, 2010).

Furthermore, Ainsworths Attachment theory is also useful for social workers when working with children and families as it informs them of the likely impact on individuals of their experience of problematic parenting such as abuse, neglect, separation and loss. Therefore, social workers can use this knowledge to teach parents or carers to care for children in a way which is secure, and which will in the future assist children to develop good role models and compensate for previous negative experiences. However, although social workers are often asked by agencies and courts to ‘assess the attachment between ‘a child and their carer giver they would not rely on this alone to justify removing a child from their current care environment. Assessment of attachment is part of a holistic assessment of a child’s life. (Allen, 2005)

However, Ainsworths types of attachment could be misunderstood and in social work practice one way in which they assess a child’s attachment to their carers is through professional judgement that without specific training can lead to misinterpretation (Milner and O’Byrne 2002). For example, assessment observations of insecure or anxious children who have been neglected may witness children who retreat to the caregiver when they are upset and cling to the caregiver most of the time. This relationship may be mistaken and describes as a “strong attachment bond” whereas actually the relationship is not secure. (Schofield and Beek, 2006).

Case Study Analysis: Practical Application of Attachment Theory

In order to illustrate how attachment is used in social work practice today I will be referring to a case study which I created. The facts of the case involve of a 2-year-old girl named Joanna who is currently not attending any nursery or play school and a 5-year-old boy named Jordan who is currently in year 1. Their father is absent, and they are currently living with their mother who is 24-years old in a one bedroom flat. Her mother dropped out of school at the age of 14 and does not currently have a permanent job. She was also a looked after child and suffers from borderline personality disorder. Furthermore, her mother has history of violence and convictions. When Jordan goes to school he comes across as quite reserved and seems hungry as he steals other people’s lunches. Also, while the mother is at work which is most of everyday Joanna is either left with a relative or friend but the care in inconsistent as the mother cannot afford childcare. Upon social work visits it was noticed that Joanna has bruising on her arm and when addressed it was noticed that her mother fails to take them to hospital or to see a doctor when they are ill or hurt. As a result, the children are now referred as children who are in need under the Children Act 1989 section 17.

Attachment theory is an essential concept that a social worker would have to consider in the case above especially when working with children and families. This is because it is shown that Jordan and Joanna’s relationship with their mother is distant and the mothers parenting skills comes across as inadequate. As evident in the case study it does not come across as if Joanna would have a close bond with her mother as they do not spend enough time together. Furthermore, a social worker may recognise signs of abuse and neglect within the relationship as she has bruising on her arm and is not taken to the doctor when necessary. Therefore, it looks as though she has more of a disorganised attachment as suppose to a secure attachment. This is because it looks as though the mother is not always their when she needs her and there are allegations of abuse. Also, this would have a negative impact on her socially physically and emotionally as it is argued that infants should not be separated from their mothers for long periods of time. (Walker, 2017) Social workers may use these ideas to support Joanna as through knowing this they will know what type of questions to ask her and what direction to take the conversation as well as what services to refer to .

Also, it is shown in the case study that Jordan is reserved and hungry when he is at school. For social workers this may illustrate that he has an avoidant attachment with his mother and is maybe being neglected at home. This is because people who have an avoidant attachment type with their care giver are usually independent and uncomfortable with intimacy so keep to themselves. (Mason and Fattore, 2005). This would also have a negative effect on Jordan’s social and emotional development as it is argued that how we are, and our wellbeing depend on how we experience early relationships (Payne,2014). One way in which a social worker can support Jordan in this situation is through providing his mother the opportunity to watch herself parenting on film with a sensitive support worker as it is known as one of the most effective attachment-based intervention. Through watching the video together, the social worker can support the parent’s strengths while encouraging new parenting styles and sensitively- directed discipline. (Community Care ,2015).

Furthermore, as the mother was a looked after child herself and suffers from borderline personality disorder this may explain her behaviour to an extent towards her children. Child hood is a crucial time to our emotional development so if it is jeopardised in one way or another it may have a negative impact on the way you form relationships for the rest of your life. Our parents who are our primary attachment figures play an important role in how we experience the world as they lay the foundation of what the world is going to look like for us. (Psych Central, 2016). However, as the mother was a looked after child, she did not have this foundation so may struggle to form a secure attachment with her children which has had a negative impact on her family. A social worker may use these ideas to support the mother support her children by offering her both individual and family counselling.

Despite the use of attachment theory to support this family a social worker may also have to use another theory such as Ecological system theory as there are other systems or institutions such as education, family members and health factors within their environment which interact and have an effect on their development and general holistic health. (Bronfenbrenner,1979)

Also, while a social worker is working with this family and children and families in general, they should uphold anti-oppressive practice so therefore provide services in an inclusive manner. Social workers should be mindful of the experience and not the judge the situation even though it may be different from their own. Even though they may have done t

Things differently they should still try help and support them. (Domineli , 2002)

To conclude, the concept of attachment in relation to social workers is useful as its fundamental in social work practice as it can help social workers make sense of behaviour of service users across the lifespan that otherwise may be impossible to do. Also, it provides a framework for understanding relationships in the lives of service users. It is also beneficial for social workers because as it is a well-researched and evidence-based area of study social workers can use it to help undertake assessments, planning, interventions and making decisions that can improve the quality of lives of children and families. However, it is not a concept which can be used in isolation for social workers but instead be used alongside other concepts such as an ecological form of practice. Also, attachment theory is too restricted to the mother being the primary caregiver but that is not always the case especially with the people social workers work with as it is a diverse range of people. Furthermore, the word ‘attachment’ is a complex word and it could sometimes be challenging to apply to different situations.