Human Development in Relation to Kathryn Michal - Case Study Example

Case Study: Kathryn Michal Introduction In this essay I will aim to discuss human development in relation to Kathryn Michal who is a three-year-old girl. I will also discuss Bowlby’s attachment theory and how the theory helps one understand her behaviour as well as her development. I will then compare and relate her development to to Brofenbrenner’s ecological theory. I will also talk about how it relates to social work practice. An anti-discriminatory approach is implemented. I will also discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the chosen theories. (See the attached appendix 1 enclosed in relation to case study.) Analysis Bowlby’s Attachment Theory Bowlby’s theory discusses attachment. This is the unique bond between a mother and child. It involves an exchange of comfort, care, and pleasure. Attachment can be defined as a lifelong need human beings have for affection with significant other human beings (Ainsworth, 1982 cited in Bowlby, 1993). The attachment theory consists of four major parts. Proximity maintenance, safe haven, secure base, and separation distress. The case study states that Kathryn cries every time her mum leaves her to go shopping even if it’s with Thomas whom she is familiar with. Proximity maintenance gives us an understanding of this. Proximity maintenance is the desire to be near the person delivering the care. In Kathryn’s case this is her mother Victoria. There is a special bond that develops between Kathryn and Victoria (Mother). The child and parent interact with mutual interest and care for one another and the child feels safe and secure with the parent or caretaker. Safe haven is Kathryn returning to her mother, that is, if something makes her upset she is more likely to go to her mother for comfort, this is because she is her main care provider. Secure base can be seen in cases were a child explores her surroundings but always makes sure to go back to the parent. From a basic level, it seems part of the separation distress in relation to Kathryn is shown when her mother leaves her with Thomas or someone she is not familiar with, she becomes extremely inconsolable and distressed. One considers that to a great degree Kathryn’s feelings of anxiety regarding her connection with her mother can be linked to elements of influence in her environment. While Kathryn did not experience the same levels of instability as Victoria’s other children, her development has occurred following a period where Victoria left her earlier children with her own mother and was only reunited with them at a later period. This developmental period has occurred in a household with the intermittent influence of this other children. Even as Patricia and Wendy do not regularly live in the household, it’s clear that their interactions with Victoria retain a tacit degree of resentment at having been abandoned. Additionally, Victoria has threatened to place Jackie in a foster home. This research argues that this resentment may have indirectly created a situation where Kathryn feels increased levels of worry regarding her own instability regarding her mother, as her sibling influences demonstrate varying degrees of attachment. Additionally, the resentment Victoria has incurred from her earlier children may have motivated Victoria to develop a hyper-degree of attachment with Kathryn and Harry as a means of compensating for these past mistakes. Ainsworth (1970) identified four attachment styles, these are secure, avoidant and resistant/ambivalent and disorganised. Secure is where the child plays freely using the caregiver as a secure base and might show signs of distress upon the caregiver’s departure. The child usually settles down to play after reunion with caregiver. Insecure-avoidant is when the child seems uninterested in the caregiver’s absence and continues to play freely and will ignore the caregiver on reunion. Insecure-resistant/ambivalent is where the child is distressed upon separation and does not play freely and on reunion will continue to seek and resist the caregiver’s attention whilst angry. The child may be disorganised, not playing freely nor responding to the caregiver; additionally they may cry and show fear of the parent, (Ainsworth 1973, cited in Crawford and Walker, 2011, p.52-53). She concluded that these attachment styles were the result of early interactions with the mother. It’s noted that, “Attachment also assists self-development. In order for a child to form a separate identity, they need confidence gained from a secure relationship”, (Flanagan 1996, p36). This gives us insight into why Kathryn cries and behaves the way she does towards Thomas; it might be because she has yet to form that trusting relationship that she has with her mum. It appears that ambivalent attachment constitutes a strong explain for Kathryn’s behaviour because she is very wary of people who she is not familiar with and she shows signs of being highly distressed when mother leaves her and goes shopping. The anxiety or distress may also be due to the inconsistency in behaviours and failure of the parent to display affection and attention in a consistent manner. One recognizes the earlier established considerations regarding Victoria’s conflicted relationship with her earlier children, and the lack of a strong functional child relationship that Kathryn view as a potential path of her own relationship with her mother. Kathryn may view herself as unworthy of obtaining a comfortable, loving relationship. Additionally, it’s noted that “Attachment is seen as an emotional anchor and it is a source of security. Attachment behaviour assists in ways, such as providing infants with an emotional secure base from which to explore the world” (Flanagan 1996, p36). This can be explained by (Bowlby 1979 cited in Beckett, 2002, p125) when he states that, “they are confident that standing behind them, there are one or more trusted persons who will come to their aid should difficulties arise. The person trusted is also known as the attachment figure”. Ultimately, rather than supplying Kathryn with this secure base, Victoria has presented an environment of either hyper-attachment, as with Harry, or resentment and instability, as with Jackie, Patricia, and Wendy. Ecological System’s Theory Urie Brofenbrenner’s ecological system looks at how a child forms relationships based on their environment. This theory looks at different things within the environment which all have an effect on a child’s development e.g. culture, religion family etc. If families are systems, they have properties that are more than the sum of their parts. Thus we cannot fully understand the behaviour of an individual in isolation, without looking at the systems she is a part of (Beckett, 2002.p157). Brofenbrenner believed that one couldn’t understand an individual without taking their background into consideration. Brofenbrenner examined Microsystems. This is the closest thing that the child had direct contact to; in Kathryn’s case this would be her family. Microsystems consist of relationships and interactions that a child has which includes family, religion etc. The mesosystem, then, is the link between the child’s microsystems. For instance, Kathryn’s relationship between her home and school environment would be a mesosystem. One considers that Kathryn has not attended nursery school, as her mother believes she is best taken care of at home. This research argues that this lack of mesosystem development could potentially contribute to Kathryn’s anxiety when leaving her mother. As previously established this could potentially be a result of Victoria’s own hyper-connectedness to Kathryn, or simply a result of a lack of peer connections established within the mesosystem. Exosystem is the social setting that influences the experience in an immediate context’ for example a mother’s experience at home is based on the kind of day that the father has had at work. In relation to Kathryn, because her father feels that he needs to work more in order to help change their situation, this may also affect the way she sees her family. Additionally his lack of involvement in the home environment may hinder his relationship with Kathryn and led to her increasing reliance on her mother. Still, perhaps the great exosystem element is the relationship Victoria has with Patricia and Wendy. While these children are not generally involved in Kathryn’s immediate environment their resentment towards Victoria for her abandonment may more strongly motivate Victoria’s connection with Kathryn. Macrosystem includes an individual’s social and economic status etc. In relation to the case study, Kathryn is half British and half Polish. Brofenbrenner’s theory suggests that it would affect how Kathryn views her family as well as the position she feels they hold within the community. Kathryn’s family would be seen as having an effect on the community because of the services they may later need and also because since they live in a community, their vote counts as it influences who gets elected. Their tax contributions also affect the community. This view can change at any time because if Thomas stops working he will no longer be paying taxes and if he fails to vote he will not be contributing to the community. Chronosystem refers to the events in people’s lives. It also refers to transitions, as well as sociohistorical circumstances e.g. divorce. The effect of divorce during the first year or two is less impactful after the second. This theory emphasises the environment as having a huge effect on an individual’s development. In relation to the case study, Kathryn is a child whose family is going through a lot of hardships; for example, her brother Harry was born premature, and he is frequently in and out of the hospital. Socially this might affect Kathryn because she may feel that her mother Victoria does not spend enough time with her because she is constantly spending time with Harry and is overprotective towards him. It also states that her siblings refer to Harry as the “little lord of the house”, this might make Kathryn feel like she has to compete even though she is the youngest, as it seems as if harry gets most of the attention and her older siblings seem to recognise this. In addition to these major ecological elements, there are a variety of smaller elements that fall within the spectrum of Brofenbrenner’s systems theory that may give insight into Kathryn’s behaviour. The case study states that Jackie who is 9 years old has behaved inappropriately at school and stole money, this might affect Kathryn because if it’s not dealt with properly by Victoria and Thomas, Kathryn might feel that this behaviour is appropriate and also that it’s ok to steal from others when it’s not. If it’s not addressed Kathryn is more likely to pick up her sister’s behaviour thru observation and modelling. One considers that Maureen Nelson is 15 years old and has mild learning difficulties, Kathryn might feel distant towards her because they have different dads. If Victoria decides to send Maureen away to the special school to help her with her learning, this will mean that they will be unable to form a relationship because she will be too far away. This might affect Kathryn because she will be unable to form a bond with Maureen. Wendy and Michael are both 17, It states in the case study that Wendy always speaks of her grandmother, because Kathryn is too young to understand she won’t know the sort of relationship she missed out on with her grandmother. When she is old enough to understand, this might make her mourn the relationship she never had with her grandmother because Maureen talks about what a good person she was. This might later affect her emotionally. Kathryn will not be able to get a chance to form a relationship with Michael because of the amount of time he spends with his girlfriend. She won’t be able to form a bond with him because he is hardly at home and he is planning to get married when he turns 18. This will affect her because she might feel as if she hardly knows him even though they are family. Patricia does not speak to Kathryn because they are half siblings, this might affect Kathryn because Patricia has not given her a chance based on the simple fact that they do not have the same father. Patricia also feels Victoria is not a good mother. Kathryn, when old enough to understand, might feel angry that she is being blamed for something she had no part in. She might feel she has missed out on a relationship with her sister. Case Recommendations In relation to the case study, when the environment provides support through networks such as family, school, friends, neighbours, the impact of stressful life events appear to be potentially alleviated. In contrast, when environments provide insufficient social support, the interaction between the individual and the environment is likely to be more complex with the risk of harm to the individual (Hepworth, Rooney & Larson, 2002 cited in Parrish, 2010). When a social worker is working with Kathryn, after an assessment has been conducted, they need to take into consideration the part of her life that needs intervention in order to help her. The mother figure has been used by Bowlby to describe the child’s primary attachment figure. This research argues that Bowlby’s theory fails to recognise the important role that fathers play. Additionally, it overlooks the bond that a father may be able to form. Beckett (2002) argued that if a child relies too exclusively on the care from one person -- for example her mother -- this may in the long run be damaging, placing undue pressure on the mother which will itself harm the relationship if she becomes worn out, bored or becomes resentful to the child. Ainsworth’s theory similarly does not consider the different types of attachment, or look at the fact that children can form attachment with different people. Ainsworths conclusion to the stranger situation can be used to identify the childs type of attachment. This has been criticised on the grounds that it identifies only the type of attachment to the mother. The child may have a different type of attachment to the father or grandmother (Lamb 1977). This means that this perspective lacks validity, as it is not measuring a general attachment style, but instead an attachment style specific to the mother (Mcleod 2007). Still, there are elements of attachment theory that are highly applicable for this case. This research argues that the strengths of Bowlby’s theory is that it is able to single out the importance of attachment and identify the stages, so it is easy to link it to a child because one is able to see what stage the child is at. Indeed, it’s noted that “Bowlby was correct in identifying the importance of attachment, but incorrect in overemphasising the single maternal role” (Flanagan 1996, p43). The collection of these considerations on attachment theory then indicates that the issue may be strongly rooted in Kathryn’s lack of attachments outside the home. Thomas (1998) has made it clear that children will benefit from a variety of attachment styles provided by different caregivers, so for example an attachment to a father figure will provide benefits to the child that a mother alone could not provide. A father’s style is often more physically stimulating and unpredictable, whereas mothers are more likely to hold infants and sooth them and attend to their needs. One also considers that Kathryn does not attend nursery school outside the home. Following Thomas (1998) not achieving relationships in this outside context has detrimentally impacted her development. There is the potential then that Victoria’s alienation from her past children has contributed to When utilising the ecological perspective in the social work context, the social worker conducts an assessment of the individual in order to determine which system requires an intervention (Teater, 2010). In relation to Kathryn this would be her Microsystems which consists of relationships and interactions she has with her family etc. The client’s system and target system may be the same, that is, a child is the client system and the intervention is conducted with the child to bring out change (Teater, 2010). The social worker/client relationship can also be influenced by the relationship and quality of attachments in the client’s past. In Kathryn’s case there is the potential that nursery will help her gain confidence, as it represents the potential for outside relationships that theorists such as Thomas (1988) have recommended. It’s recognized then that the nursery has the potential of making Kathryn less attached to her mother through potentially help her build new relationships with others, as well as allowing her to explore and understand her environment. Nurseries offer many activities that encourage children to interact. There is the potential then that this will help Kathryn by making her less dependent on her mother. Even though Victoria and Thomas feel that she is best kept at home, presenting them with these benefits it will help demonstrate what Kathryn can gain from going to nursery school. Additionally, it will empower and help them to make the decision based on the fact that it’s in Kathryn’s best interest. Conclusion In conclusion I think that Bowlbys theory has helped me to understand the different attachment styles and also given me an understanding of why children form attachments. I think that Brofenbrenners theory has helped me to put things in perspective and has made me realise how our environment, our family life, and our religion all play a crucial part on how we see ourselves and the world we live in. Ultimately, it’s clear that these perspectives augment and supplement each other in a comprehensive paradigm of human development. References Beckett,C.(2002) Human development and growth: Sage publications Bowlby,R.(1993)The Making and Breaking Of Affectional Bonds:Routledge Crawford.K. Walker. J. (2011),Social Work and Human Development: Learning Matters Flanagan.C.( 1996) Applying Psychology to early childhood development: British Library Mcleod, S, (2007), Bowlby Attachment Theory, Available from: , : http://www.simplypsychology.org/bowlby.html [Accessed: May 12, 2012]. Parrish.M.(2010) Social Work Perspective on Human Behaviour: Library of Congress Robinson.L. (2007), Cross-Culture Child development for Social Workers:Palgave Macmillan Teater,B. (2010), An introduction to applying Social Work theories and methods: Open University Press Read More