Attachment Theory)

UNIT 2 RELATIONSHIP IN EARLY YEARS (ATTACHMENT THEORY) Structure 2.0 Introduction 2.1 Objectives 2.2 Relationship with Parents 2.3 Attachment Theory 2.3.1 Concepts and Terminology 2.3.2 Development of Attachment in Early Years 2.3.3 Internal Working Model of Social Relationships 2.4 Attachment Patterns 2.4.1 Secure Attachment 2.4.2 Avoidant Insecure Attachment 2.4.3 Resistant Insecure Attachment 2.4.4 Disorganised Attachment 2.4.5 Significance of Patterns 2.4.6 Factors Promoting Secure Attachments 2.5 Let Us Sum Up 2.6 Unit End Questions 2.7 Suggested Readings 2.0 INTRODUCTION You have probably come across people proclaiming that mothers must have immediate contact with their newborns if they are to become properly bonded with the baby. What is essential in the formation of an early bond is the opportunity for the parents and infant to develop a mutual, interlocking pattern of attachment behaviours. The baby signals her needs by crying or smiling, giving cues to the mother that she needs to be attended. Mother, in turn, responds with required care giving behaviours in that situation. In other words, mother and infant show distinctive patterns of interactive behaviours. Present unit emphasises that quality of relationship in early years of child gives rise to affectional bonds in which the presence of the caregiver i.e. mother adds a special sense of security, a safe base for the individual. 2.1 OBJECTIVES After reading this unit, you will be able to: identify the significance of child and parent relationship in early years; describe attachment; explain different models of attachment; classify different patterns of attachment; distinguish between secure and insecure attachments; 2 1 Development During Early analyse Judge the significance of patterns of attachment styles in day to day and Late Childhood life situation; and create factors promoting the secure attachment style. 2.2 RELATIONSHIP WITH PARENTS While all of us are aware of the need for an attachment figure in infancy and later, an experiment conducted by Harry Harlow in his laboratory on monkeys clearly demonstrated the need for attachment figure and how this need if catered to is able to result in normal development of children and how not catering to this need may end up in children developing abnormal traits. The experiment conducted by Harlow is given below: The famous experiments that psychologist Harry Harlow conducted in the 1950s on maternal deprivation in rhesus monkeys were landmarks not only in primatology, but in the evolving science of attachment and loss. (Adapted from Adoption History project) (Website reference: http://www.uoregon.edu/~adoption/studies/ HarlowMLE.htm) In his University of Wisconsin laboratory, Harlow probed the nature of love. He separated infant monkeys from their mothers a few hours after birth, then arranged for the young animals to be “raised” by two kinds of surrogate monkey mother machines, both equipped to dispense milk. One mother was made out of bare wire mesh. The other was a wire mother covered with soft terry cloth. Harlow’s first observation was that monkeys who had a choice of mothers spent far more time clinging to the terry cloth surrogates, even when their physical nourishment came from bottles mounted on the bare wire mothers. This suggested that infant love was no simple response to the satisfaction of physiological needs. Attachment was not primarily about hunger or thirst. It could not be reduced to nursing. In regard to attachment, he also observed that monkeys who had soft, tactile contact with their terry cloth mothers behaved quite differently than monkeys whose mothers were made out of cold, hard wire. Harlow hypothesised that the infant monkey with terry cloth mother benefitted from a psychological resource— emotional attachment—unavailable to the infant monky with wire mesh mother. He opined that the terry cloth mother provided reassurance and security to the infant monkey as the infant cuddled against the cloth mother for security. When the experimental subjects were frightened by strange, loud objects, such as teddy bears beating drums, infant raised by terry cloth surrogates made bodily contact with their mothers, rubbed against them, and eventually calmed down. But this was not so the case with the wiremesh mother, as the infant never went to the wire mesh mother but rolled on the floor, clutched the floor and screamed and behaved abnormally. Thus Harlow was able to show that physical contact, cuddling etc. are equally important for attachment to develop and thereon towards development and growth of the child. On further experimentation with infant monkeys, Harlow and his colleagues, subjected infant monkeys to varied periods of motherlessness. They concluded that the impact of early maternal deprivation could be reversed in monkeys only if it had lasted less than 90 days, and estimated that the equivalent for humans was six months. After these critical periods, no amount of exposure to mothers or peers could alter the monkeys’ abnormal behaviours and make up for the emotional 2 2 damage that had already occurred. Starting with these experiments attachment theory has made great strides in regard Relatiohsnip in Early Years to our understanding of children’s development in the last few decades. Though (Attachment Theory) it is a fact that development of children depends on hereditary factors , one must realise that environment plays a very significant role in their development. Growth and development are not complete by mere physical growth but emotional development and personality development are significant in a human child. The emotional development starts initially with the emotional attachment that the infant has with the mother. As pointed out in the monkey experiment, attachment to the mother is crucial for the very survival of the child. However rich the environment may be and however good genes the child may have inherited, these have no importance if there is no emotional attachment between the infant and the mother. Cuddling, lifting the child, bodily contact with the child and many such factors are essential for a healthy growth and development of children. Though one cannot undermine the significance of biological characteristics such as genes, hormones and temperament, it is also erroneous to conclude that it is all nature not nurture, that shapes child development. It is the interplay of nature and nurture that matters. The strongest theoretical influence in the study of parent child relationship is attachment theory particularly the work of John Bowlby( 1963). Bowlby advocated that making strong emotional bonds between parent and child is a basic component of human nature. Such a relationship has survival value because it ensures that the infant will receive nurturance. The relationship is built and maintained by instinctive behaviour that creates and sustains proximity between parent and child. When it comes to parenting, it is a sensitive–responsive caregiver, one who sees the world from the child’s point of view and seeks to meet the child’s needs. Attachment is an emotional bond to another person. Psychologist John Bowlby was the first attachment theorist, describing attachment as a “lasting psychological connectedness between human beings” (Bowlby, 1969, p. 194). Bowlby believed that the earliest bonds formed by children with their caregivers have a tremendous impact that continues throughout life. According to Bowlby, attachment also serves to keep the infant close to the mother, thus improving the child’s chances of survival. The central theme of attachment theory is that mothers who are available and responsive to their infant’s needs establish a sense of security. The infant knows that the caregiver is dependable, which creates a secure base for the child to then explore the world. Characteristics of Attachment Safe Haven: When the child feel threatened or afraid, he or she can return to the caregiver for comfort and soothing. Secure Base: The caregiver provides a secure and dependable base for the child to explore the world. Proximity Maintenance: The child strives to stay near the caregiver, thus keeping the child safe. Separation Distress: When separated from the caregiver, the child will become upset and distressed. In 1970’s Mary Qinswoth a psychologist put forward the concept of strange situation, which according to her when children are left alone for a brief period, 2 3 Development During Early they tend to develop three types of attachment, namely (i) secure attachment, (ii) and Late Childhood ambivalent insecure attachment, and (iii) avoidant insecure attachment. To this a fourth style was added namely the disorganised-insecure attachment. In secure attachment, children exhibit distress when separated from caregivers and are happy when their caregiver returns. When the adult leaves, the child may be upset but he or she feels assured that the parent or caregiver will return. When frightened, securely attached children will seek comfort from caregivers. These children know their parent or caregiver will provide comfort and reassurance, so they are comfortable seeking them out in times of need. In Ambivalent attachment, children usually become very distressed when a parent leaves. And it is stated that ambivalent attachment is a result of poor maternal availability. These children cannot depend on their mother (or caregiver) to be there when the child is in need. In the avoidant attachment, children tend to avoid parents or caregivers. When offered a choice, these children will show no preference between a caregiver and a complete stranger. This attachment style might be a result of abusive or neglectful caregivers. Secure attachment is very essential as failure to form secure attachments early in life can have a negative impact on behaviour in later childhood and throughout the life. Children diagnosed with oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder (CD), or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) frequently display attachment problems, possibly due to early abuse, neglect, or trauma.

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