Mother-Child Relationship - Essay Example

1) Mother-child relationship... From what both Smith and Small discuss, is the relationship of the mother and child synchronous or sometimes ambivalent? What would bond the mother and child, and what would lead to tension between them? Numerous studies have been done in the investigation of the relationship between a mother and her child. One such celebrated study is by Harlow. His attachment experiment on baby rhesus monkeys preferring to snuggle up to an inanimate terry-cloth covered wire mesh mother over a wire mesh mother with flowing milk indicates that touch and warmth are considered more important than hunger satisfaction. Applied to humans, emotions and the attachment relationships are sought more than biological needs. Meredith Small reports that mothers are biologically predisposed to care for their infants. Nine long months in the womb, the fetus affects the mother and its dependence on her likewise affects her. For example, a stressed mother can hinder the normal brain processes of brain masculinization of her unborn child. T. Berry Brazelton, a prominent child psychologist claims, in a good interaction mother and baby synchronize with each other from the beginning, and that the pathways may be set up in intrauterine life ready to be entrained, especially by the mothers, immediately after birth" I agree with Harriet Smith when she claims that whatever the biological forces, parenting style is more influenced by other factors. Inexperienced mothers may not necessarily know how to care for their newborn infants automatically, but can learn it from observation of other mothers caring for their young. This gives hope to parents who doubt their parenting skills as inadequate. Cases of adoptive mothers or caregivers other than the birth mother developing an attachment to the infant are widespread. It just proves that an infant may be responsive to, and form attachments to persons who provide him with all his needs. Biological connections between mother and child if present at birth may or may not be sustained. If mothers and infants are physically distanced, then this connection is disrupted. A child’s well-being is dependent on secure attachments combined with basic competencies in parenting like reading a baby’s signals for food, comfort, need to be held or worse, need for medical intervention. Biological studies indicate that when human babies are born, their brains are underdeveloped, hence are “born highly dependent and inconstant need of care.” Unlike other mammals like horses or cows whose offspring can stand on their own minutes after their birth, human biology draws both mother and newborn towards each other to ensure the survival of the infant. Immediately after separation from his mother, an infant may vehemently protest by crying, screaming and throwing tantrums. This emotional response reflects his biologically-derived distress. From experience, he knows that his mother satisfies all his needs and can be appeased by his reunion with her. Although Small recognizes that from an evolutionary view, mothers and their babies are adapted to be in sync, this synchronicity does not always develop. . "Such lack of synchrony can occur because…there is extensive variation in how parents play with and respond to infants. Sometimes it just does not work" Usually, the sensitivity of the mother to her child boosts in making him feel secure. The kind of response of the child to his attachment to his mother may be secure, avoidant, ambivalent and disorganized. Some factors that may disrupt the synchronicity of a mother and child may be mismatches between the temperaments of mothers and infants. Clashing temperaments may create tension in the bond between mother and child.“.  Temperament is a biological predisposition towards behaving in certain characteristic ways.  The mixture of the disposition of mother and child then is where biology and experience interconnect.” Another source of tension or ambivalence in the mother-child bond is a mother’s inconsistency in giving due attention to her child. When a crucial change takes place such as the birth of a sibling or a mother’s return to employment, a child reacts by seeking the attention he used to enjoy constantly. Since children are not pleased with the change in their mother’s treatment of them, they resort to attention-seeking behaviors that almost always are not pleasant, hence, ensuing stress and tension in the mother-child relationship. 2) Anthropology and family... What does anthropology tell us about families that biology does not? In my study of family dynamics, I have always had the perspective that much of it is based on psychological factors. Sure, I have come across debates of nature vs. nurture in child rearing issues, but reading the books of Harriet Smith and Meredith Small have given me new dimensions in looking at family life. Smith’s mostly biological and Small’s mostly anthropological points in their works had me thinking of just how much both biological and anthropological factors affect a person’s development first in terms of his relationship with his family, and then, the building of his character and values as a person. Biology has bestowed its own powers of predispositions to human beings, hence, there are standard expectations as how a human should develop. Anthropology on the other hand, builds on the foundations of biology, and creates diversity among people of different cultures. Although basically the same biologically, human beings from various cultures are better understood in the context of their way of life, thoughts and customs. Families are not only viewed as kin in the sense of individuals being connected by blood, but they are bonded by "particular social or cultural interpretations of the biological universals" For example, in some cultures, having more children is encouraged so that more members of the family help out in its livelihood or simply because they are considered “blessings from God” that are always welcomed by loving homes. However, in other cultures, parents having more than the prescribed number of children are penalized, as its cultures’ value is maintaining small, solid families and being able to adequately provide for all their needs. Small’s book contributes much to the anthropological understanding of different families. Her cross-cultural investigations yield information and better understanding of how people of certain racial groups behave. Her comparison of western and eastern ideals give much insight to the psychological development of multicultural children. American families value a child’s development of independence and self-expression and encourage their children to cultivate qualities related to these. Asian families give due priority to conforming to group expectations and train their children to obey authority and cultural norms and minimize, if not ignore their personal opinions if they contradict the majority’s. Such nuances in family dynamics are not provided by biology, as it is mostly concerned with physiological underpinnings of human development. Read More