Attachment Theory:Main Principles,Insecure Attachments and Social Implications - Essay Example

Attachment Theory: Main Principles, Insecure Attachments and Social Implications Introduction A wealth of empirical data demonstrates that secureand nurturing family relationships are essential in the early developmental context. How individuals eventually conform socially or deviate from social expectations can, in many important and insightful ways, be traced to the early childhood context. Attachment theory is essentially concerned with this early childhood developmental period and how it affects subsequent behavioural tendencies. The identification of the factors underlying insecure attachments is therefore of paramount concern. This area of inquiry is of paramount concern because research indicates that a person's relationships throughout life will in many ways be affected by that person's initial relationships with the family. There is additional research which indicates that a person's earliest experiences "become biologically rooted in our brain structure and chemistry from the time of our gestation and most profoundly in the first month of life" (Balbernie, 2003: np.). To the extant that babies become biologically programmed, and the research suggests that to a certain extant they do, it becomes a moral and social imperative to ensure that family relationships contribute positively to early development. British psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, John Bowlby, whom is credited with having pioneered Attachment Theory, created an early framework for studying the consequences of family relationships on the developing child. This type of framework is significant because "the patterning or organization of attachment relationships during infancy is associated with characteristic processes of emotional regulation, social relatedness, access to autobiographical memory, and the development of self-reflection and narrative." (Siegal, 1999:67). Attachment Theory, most generally, addresses both secure and insecure attachments. Secure attachments refer to family relationships which make the child feel safe and secure. These relationships tend to better promote confidence and adaptability in children. There is, of course, no guarantee of mental health in the future; nonetheless, research studies do demonstrate that secure attachments lead children to explore the world around them more completely and from a broader perspective. They are often more inquisitive and more emotionally balanced. Insecure attachments refer to family relationships characterised by abuse, distance, or dysfunction. Numerous studies point out that mental and psychological disorder can very often be traced to the early developmental years. Studies, for instance, have consistently demonstrated: "a high rate of insecure attachments among clinic-referred boys and their mothers." (Greenberg, et al., 1997: 216). These insecure attachments become manifest in later life in such behaviours as aggression, non-compliance, withdrawal, and violence. There are various types of insecure attachments noted in the literature, to be discussed more fully below. The first main type is classified as avoidance attachment. This results when families discourage overt demonstrations of affection or distress in the early years. The parents may tend to be unsympathetic and distant. The biological imprinting is that the child is "unworthy of love" (Balbernie, 2003: np.). This frequently results in low self-esteem and subsequent outbursts of aggression. Research also demonstrates that people with compulsive personalities are often the products of this type of avoidance attachment. The second main type, resistant attachment, is known to arise in situations where a child has an inconsistent and unpredictable relationship with family members. This type of attachment, in the early years, can result in children developing a low threshold for distress and craving comfort. In adults, the manifestations of this type of insecure attachment include relationship dependencies, relationship compulsions, and other relationship difficulties. One "longitudinal study found that adolescents diagnosed with anxiety disorders were significantly more likely to have had resistant attachments with their parents when they were infants" (Warren, et al., 1997). This essay will outline the main principles of attachment theory; particular attention will be paid to the precise ways in which insecure attachments have been shown to arise and develop. It will conclude with a discussion of the social consequences of various types of insecure attachment in the early developmental context. 1.1 Main Principles of Attachment Theory Generally speaking, attachment theory is derived from psychology. In practice, however, it is much more complex; indeed, as stated by Garelli, Bowlby's Attachment Theory advances a multidisciplinary stance in which psychoanalysis is integrated with ethology and sociobiology, psychobiology, the cybernetic theory of control systems and modern structural approach to cognitive development (Garelli, 2003: np). This integration of disciplines leads to several different aspects of Attachment Theory; as a preliminary matter, however, it is first necessary to define what is meant by attachment. It refers to an affectional connection that a person or an animal develops with another specific person or animal (Ainsworth, et al, 1974: 113). This affectional bond binds them together in time and in space. The attachment to which this theory refers, therefore, is based upon a single relationship or a set of relationships. Most commonly, the relationship under analysis is that between a baby and its parents. Caregivers may substitute for parents in certain circumstances. In short, the focus is on formative relationships during the formative years. Much of the inspiration for the early development of attachment theory can be attributed in part to Harlow and Harlow's research on rhesus monkeys, to John Bowlby's development of a theoretical model for better understanding and studying attachment, and to Ainsworth's subsequent research efforts using Bowlby's theoretical contributions as a guiding framework. Curiously, some scholars point to animal research as providing the truest inspirational origins of attachment theory. More particularly, in the 1950s, there were a series of experiments conducted on infant monkeys. These experiments, designed and conducted by Harlow and Harlow, yielded surprising results at the time. It was generally expected that animal attachments were the products of practical needs. An infant monkey, according to this logic, would develop a bond with its mother to the extant that she was able to provide food. This was a rather narrow conception of attachment in the early developmental period of infant monkeys, and the notions of broader social and psychological factors were considered tangential at best. Indeed, as demonstrated by Harlow and Harlow, the nature of attachment was quite different than the notion of sustenance, In these experiments, young monkeys were separated from their mother shortly after birth. They were offered two wire monkeys to serve as surrogate mothers. The first monkey had a body of wire mesh. The second monkey had a body of wire mesh covered in terry cloth and foam rubber. The wire mesh doll was secured with a bottle of milk, the softer doll had no sustenance. (In the control group, the soft doll provided milk as well). The young monkeys nursed at the wire monkey and then promptly sought contact with the cloth monkey. The experiment proved that what a baby ultimately seeks is a mother's warmth and the familiar feeling of being with the mother. The experiment also hushed psychoanalyst's claims that mother was based on sustenance alone, as the monkeys preferred a mother's proximity and comfort (Harlow and Harlow, 1969: 178). The contribution to knowledge was significant. It was significant because the experiments demonstrated that attachments were more complex than previously thought. Issues such as proximity and comfort were thusly injected into the attachment equation. It would be for other theorists and researchers to figure out how proximity and comfort, for instance, affected the relationships underlying attachments. Further studies demonstrated that deprivations of proximity and comfort resulted in certain negative types of behaviour such as aggression and conflict. The stage was thus set for the writing of a more accurate theoretical framework to deal with attachment theory. John Bowlby was the key figure in the creation of this new analytical framework. As an initial matter, when discussing Bowlby's framework, it is important to note that he represented a break from certain traditional theories; he did not, for instance, subscribe to the view that mere sustenance or fantasy explained developmental disorders (Bretherton, 1992: 760). Instead, Bowlby both proposed and pursued an analytical approach which emphasised a linear and causal approach to disorder and a more focussed concentration on the immediate infant-caregiver relationship. In an early paper, Bowlby wrote that mothers experiencing difficulties in parenting ought to reflect logically in order to find the source of their particular difficuly; more particularly, he observed, based upon his own experience in the field, that a weekly interview in which their problems are approached analytically and traced hack to childhood has sometimes been remarkably effective. Having once been helped to recognize and recapture the feelings which she herself had as a child and to find that they are accepted tolerantly and understandingly, a mother will become increasingly sympathetic and tolerant toward the same things in her child. (Bowlby, 1940, p. 23). The focus more clearly defined, and the causal factors placed on a linear timeline for analysis and interpretation, Bowlby proceeded to engage in his larger contributions to Attachment Theory. The most significant premise was that attachment styles become established during infancy. These attachment styles, in turn, become established by virtue of the nature of the infant/caregiver relationship. These early attachments are lasting, the effects of these early attachments are enduring, and they remain influential throughout a person's lifespan. How people establish bonds later in life, and how they function as social organisms, is to a large extant the product of these early attachments. In this view, human beings are predisposed to some extant to certain tendencies and certain behaviours as a consequence of events in these early developmental years. Though he has produced a tremendous amount of writing on the topic, four distinguising features can be said to represent Bowlby's theoretical model. First, there was the proximity concept; as formulated by Bowlby, he stressed proximity in terms of maintenance. Attachment was fundamentally affected by an infant's proximity to its mother or primary caregiver. This was a factor which could be measured and upon which the other distinguishing features of attachment theory were predicated. The second distinguishing feature was the concept of a physically safe place or a safe haven. If proximity referred to attachment spatially, then this second feature focussed on the notions of predictibility and permanance in the underlying attachment relationship. This feature assumed, that for many reasons, separation of the infant from the mother was natural and ordinary; however, attachment was affected by the nature and the conditions of the infant returning to the mother following a separation. What was the nature of a return What were there conditions, and what were their individualised effects Would an infant anticipate and expect a place of comfort and safety in the face of certain fears and threats The existance of this safe haven, and the conditions if any attached to the infant's accessing this safe have, characterise Bowlby's second distinguishing feature of Attachment Theory. The third distinguishing feature, and related closely to the second feature, envisoned and articulated the notion of a secure base for the infant. The attachment figure functions as a central unifying force for the infant; that is, how the infant develops revolves around the perception of the mother as a secure or an insecure base. Security, according to Bowlby, was represented by an infant or a child who felt confident to explore his surroundings. This infant felt secure in instances where the mother or caregiver represented a secure base in the child's perception. A child unwilling to explore his surrounding environment, on the other hand, evinced a lack of a secure base. Insecurities begin to affect early childhood development, and as argued Bowlby and later demonstrated by Ainsworth, these insecurities could become enduring and disruptive in later life. The fourth and final feature of Bowlby's Attachment Theory addressed the concept of separation. More particularly, Bowlby argued and demonstrated that separation of the infant from the mother quite naturally caused distress. This distress manifest itself in varying degrees, both emotionally and pysiologically, and helped to characterise the nature of early attachment styles and patterns. In sum, following Harlow and Harlow's interesting studies on Rhesus monkeys, John Bowlby spent a lifetime creating a theoretical model of attachment which broke from traditional notions of sustenance and fantasy. This theoretical model, most generally, concentrated on proximity, a safe haven, a secure base, and the nature of separation distress. Further significant contributions were made by Ainsworth and Main. Ainsworth helped to more firmly establish the analytical features of the secure base feature of Bowlby's Attachment Theory and engaged in numerous research studies ; she did this mostly by establishing empiracally the realtionship between the sesitivity of mothers to certain types of signals exhibited by infants (Bretherton, 1992: 763). One consequence was the creation of a set of infant-mother attachment patterns which could be compared with later behaviours and tendencies. Additional significant contributions, particularly with regard to practical applications, were offered by Main. Her research studied certain links between early attachment patterns and later attatchment patterns in adult life. In sum, the patterns previously articulated by Bowlby and Ainsworth did, in fact, turn out to be enduring and fairly predicatable (Main and Solomon, 2000). The remainder of this essay will discuss how insecure developments arise and some of the social consequences. 1.2 Development of Insecure Attachments It is important to note at the outset that insecure attachments are an influence rather than a sole causal factor when examining mental disorder. There are, for instance, very real genetic conditions and predispositions which cause or influence mental disorder. That said, insecure attachments do influence mental disorder and they can exacerbate certain tendencies and behaviours. The question thus becomes, what types of conditions, variables, or situations lead to insecure attachments. There are a number of factors. Generally speaking, there are family situations which may lead to the development of insecure attachments. Parental depression, severe patterns of parental discord, substance abuse, large family groups, and abuse may all contribute to the development of an insecure attachment type. Some research takes a narrow view and focuses rather narrowly on the mother's relationship with the infant; this school of thought suggests that abnormal or insecure forms of attachment are largely the product of maternal problems, such as depression and substance abuse, rather than of individual differences in the child (Overview of Risk Factors, 2001: np). Other research argues that family dynamics can lead to insecure attachments as well as the more specific mother-infant relationship. Conditions of poverty, deprivation, and unsatisfactory relationships with certain members of a larger family group may affect attachment patterns. That said, maternal influences remain predominant. Ainsworth's study in Uganda is illustrative in this respect. If larger issues, such as poverty and abuse, affected the mother, then how the mother ultimately related with her infant was more telling in terms of the development of secure and insecure attachment patterns. Ainsworth, to this end, sought to determine how sensitive mothers were to signals sent by their infants. Her methodology included a sensitivity scale, a set of signals, and the data drawn from this study was and remains important in terms of identifying the factors influencing the development of insecure attachments. It turned out that secure attachment was significantly correlated with maternal sensitivity. Babies of sensitive mothers tended to be securely attached, whereas babies of less sensitive mothers were more likely to he classified as insecure. Mothers' enjoyment of breast-feeding also correlated with infant security (Bretherton, 1992: 769). Maternal sensitivity to infant signals and infant needs and desires was thus established as a legitimate area of concern in terms of attachment. This is significant for many reasons. First, a mother is a direct and primary influence of secure or insecure attachments. This means, according to the research findings cited above, that mental disorder can very often be traced to these formative years. A mother's sensitivity is critical to emotional health. Second, and discussed more in the recent literature than in Bowlby and Ainsworth's early days, is the fact that there are secondary influences of insecure attachments patterns. This means that factors affecting a mother, her own mental disorder or deprivations, may influence how she interacts with and relates to her infant. This takes us even further back than Bowlby's early work, which sought to trace mental disorder backwards to gestation and birth. Indeed, these influences become inter-generational to that the extant that a mother is herself the product of her own previous secure or insecure attachments with her mother. These broader approaches to the development of Attachment Theory have been noted by Bretherton, we are now beginning to empirically explore the psychological, internal, or representational aspects of attachment, including the intergenerational transmission of attachment patterns that had been at the center of Bowlby's interests since his beginnings in psychiatry but that are most clearly elaborated in volumes 2 and 3 of the attachment trilogy (1992: 771). A more accurate description of those factors which contribute to insecure attachments, therefore, might include all factors which affect or otherwise interfere with the maternal-infant bonding and nurturing process. These factors may arise from immediate circumstances, physical abuse, and they also may arise as a consequence of inter-generational transmissions of mental disorder. The linear time frame, thinking backwards, has come a long way since Bowlby's initial ponderings. 1.3 Social Consequences of Insecure Attachments How an infant behaves, how a child behaves, and how an adult later behaves can in many ways be traced to the early developmental context. The empirical data is persuasive in many respects: Ainsworth has established that children are more curious and adventurous when there mothers are nearby; Greenberg et al established correlations between insecure attachments and clinic-referred boys and their mothers; Balbernie discovered evidence that insecure attachments contributed to a particular resistant attachment which followed infants into adulthood; and, Warren et al traced adolescent anxiety disorder to previous cases of a child's prolonged separation from their mothers. The immediate social consequences, such as deficiencies in social adaptability, confidence and emotional balance, can lead to more serious problems. Older people, having experienced insecure attachments, may cope by abusing substances, by withdrawing from fearful or challenging situations, or by resorting to violence and aggression in order to satisfy needs and desires. The possibilities, really, are endless. Biological predispositions to mental disorder remain difficult to treat; on the other hand, relying on the well-developed history of Attachment Theory, some treatments are currently being offered to deal with insecure attachments in an effort to moderate or to eliminate the negative consequences. In terms of public policy, it is difficult to intrude into every mother-infant relationship in order to promote the development of secure attachments; to be sure, such an objective would be foolhardy and impossible. Educating caregivers and the public, however, is important. Educating teachers and family physicians is also important. Attachment Theory is so abstract and so practical at the same time that it requires, perhaps, a more concerted effort by concerned governmental officials as well as public and private institutions in order to make all levels of society aware of the links between insecure attachments and mental disorder. 1.4 Conclusions In the final analysis, family relationships are critically important to early development. The relationship between a mother and her child is of particular significance. Research indicates that these relationships, good and bad, become "biologically rooted" in the brains of young children. Adult habits and behaviours, therefore, owe much to these family relationships. Recent scholarship suggests that these patterns of insecure attachment may pass on in an inter-generational fashion; it becomes imperative, therefore that we attempt to stop the transmission of these destructive psychosocial traits and behaviours. Futures are determined and scripted, to a certain extant, during these formative years. Attachment theory can aid us in learning how to script a better and emotionally healthier future. References Ainsworth, Bell, & Stayton (1974) "Infant-mother attachment". In M.P.M. Richards (Ed.) Integratin of a child into a social world.. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Balbernie, R. (2003). "An Infant Mental Health Service: The Importance of the Early Years and Evidence-Based Practice." Available: http://www.aimh.org.uk/the_importance_of_the_early_years.htm Bowlby, J. (1940). "The influence of early environment in the development of neurosis and neurotic character." International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, XXI, 1-25. Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base. Clinical applications of attachment theory-Routledge Bretherton, I. (1992). "The Origins of Attachment Theory: John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth." Developmental Psychology, 28, 759-775. Reprinted in from R. Parke, P. Ornstein, J. Reiser, & C. Zahn-Waxler (Eds.) (1994). A century of developmental psychology. (Chapter 15, pp. 431-471). Garelli, J.C. (2003). " Outline of the Theory of Attachment." AR University WebPage. Available: http://attachment.edu.ar/outline.html Greenberg, M. T., De Klyer, M., Speltz, M. L. & Endriga, M. C. (1997) "The role of attachment processes in externalizing psychopathology in young children" pp 196-222 in: Atkinson, L. & Zucker, K. J. (Eds) (1997) Attachment and Psychopathology. Harlow, H. F. & Harlow, M. K. (1969) "Effects of various mother-infant relationships on rhesus monkey behaviors". In B. M. Foss (Ed.) Determinants of infant behavior (Vol. 4). London: Methuen. Main, M. and Solomon (1990) cited in Bee, H. (2000) The Developing Child (9th Ed). Ma: Allyn & Bacon "Overview of Risk Factors and Prevention" (2003). Mental Health: Report of the Surgeon General, Chapter 3, Children and Mental Health. Available: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/chapter3/sec2.html Siegal, D. J. (1999) The Developing Mind: Towards a Neurobiology of Interpersonal Experience. New York: The Guilford Press. Warren, S. L., Huston, L., Egeland, B., & Sroufe, L. A. (1997) "Child and adolescent anxiety disorders and early attachment." Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 36, 637- 644. Read More