Bowlbys Ethological Theory of Attachment - Book Report/Review Example

RUNNING HEAD: CHILD PSYCHOLOGY: BOWLBY’S ETHOLOGICAL THEORY OF ATTACHMENT AND SUBSEQUENT WORK BY MARY AINSWORTH ON ATTACHMENT AND HOW IT HELPS UNDERSTAND THE DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTION IN CHILDREN FROM ADVERSITY Bowlby’s ethological theory of attachment and subsequent work by Mary Ainsworth on attachment and how it helps understand the development of emotion in children from adversity Name Institution of Affiliation Date Introduction Emotion is a conscious experience that involves psychological arousal, feelings, reactions to experiences, and observable activities associated with experiences. Emotion plays a big role in behavioural development, which occurs in variation. Emotional process affects people at every level of their functioning, from the physiological to cognitive, to social, and even to the spiritual (Wilson, 2003: p. 28). Analysis of ‘The Emotional Life of Children’, by R. Lewis Wilson shows variations observed in children as they develop. The child’s emotional development is impacted by all that happens to the child and mostly from the environment. Variation describes how emotions increase or alter in measure as an individual grows from one stage to another as influenced by the past attachment style between the child and the caregiver. What develops in emotional development? All children are born with basic in-built emotional expression, or reflexes and expression of emotions, and hence are innate. Wilson (2003: p. 53) states that “early infant development covers the first year of life and is the base on which a child's future emotional, social and intellectual progress is founded”. Emotional expression enables infants to attract the adults’ attention to their needs. The inbuilt emotional expressions are modified as the child develops into toddlerhood at age 1 year. Children develop the proto emotions of satisfaction, frustration, and change perception. From the proto emotions, other secondary emotions are built as the child develops awareness. Wilson (2003: p.71) asserts that “the second year of life is a period of great neurological and emotional change, and shows quite dramatically the link between development and environment”. The prototype secondary emotions manifest love, anger, and anxious fear. Emotional expressions occur in form of subjective awareness, social interaction, genetic and non-genetic emotions. The way that children manage their emotions largely depends on whether their dependency needs have been met on the basis of attachment to caregiver, and temperament. Children develop and capture the sense of trust from the daily care given by the care giver. As the children develop into adolescents, they become more self-conscious, egocentric, and have a high sense of invulnerability. Adolescents can seem to go against the norms of the society and be perceived as difficult. However, Wilson (2003: p.176) says that “their early relationships will serve as an anchor to their developing feelings and will hopefully draw them, as autonomous people, into the good side of society”. However, as they face their experiences during this period as autonomous individuals, their emotions are still influenced by their earlier emotional development from attachment to their caregivers. Outline of Bowlby Attachment theory and description of Ainsworth’s main work Attachment, dependency and temperament play a big role in shaping the child’s emotions, as described in Bowlby’s ethological theory (Berk, 2008: p. 426). John Bowlby applied his ethological theory to the infant-caregiver bond, and he bases his theory on attachment and exploration. Exploration and mastery of the environment promotes the bringing up of a healthy infant. Bowlby’s theory shows that attachment begins in infancy and that the infant has many natural in-built social signals required for survival. The in-built social signals encourage the care giver to interact with, and take care of the baby, approach, and interact with the infant and ensure that the infant is fed, stimulated, and protected. The quality of infant-caregiver attachment has “profound implications for the child’s feelings of security and capacity to form trusting relationships” (Berk, 2008: p.426). Wilson (2003: p. 103) says that “as the child grows in mother's care he or she develops an emotional tie with mother”. Moreover, an affectionate and warm emotional relationship in which the child seeks comfort from the caregiver is a feature of a secure attachment. A caregiver can be anyone from a foster parent, grandmother, or aunt among others and attachment is the relationship that the caregiver can form with the child. Children who are unable to meet their needs by their one caregiver are likely to attach to various people who will meet separate needs. Nevertheless, the main feature of such a relationship is reciprocity and the child requires at least one caregiver for the occurrence of a normal social development. Attachment occurs in two types of patterns-secure and insecure or anxious attachment. Secure attachment occurs when the bond between the child and the caregiver is formed out of emotional stability and basic needs are consistently met by the caregiver. On the other hand, anxious attachment occurs when a child “cannot rely in the caregiver for help and emotional support, or is only given these things on an inconsistent unpredictable basis (Wilson, 2003: p. 113). The attachment behaviour can be measured by the Strange Situation as designed by Ainsworth and colleagues. The Strange Situation technique was designed to measure quality of attachment for children between age 1 and 2 years. The procedure takes the baby in short reaction episodes in which brief departure and reunions with the caregiver occur as the infants’ response behaviours are observed. The findings reveal two kinds of attachments-a secure attachment pattern, and three insecurity patterns. Secure attachment occurs when the child prefers the parent to a stranger and may cry if the parent leaves. The insecure attachment patterns include disorganized disoriented, avoidant, and resistant. The disorganized/disoriented attachment occurs when the baby shows confused and contradictory behaviour during the reunion. These include looking away when the parent holds them, or approaches the parent with a non-sensual depressed emotion. The disorganized disoriented pattern “reflects the greatest insecurity” (Berk, 2008: p.428). Ainsworth and colleagues stipulated that if development of attachment has gone well, “infants and toddlers should use the parent as a secure base to explore an unfamiliar playroom” (Berk, 2008: p. 427) hence the secure attachment. Ainsworth and associates concluded that the response of the baby during reunion determines the quality of the attachment relationship with the caregiver. Critical evaluation of the work of both Bowlby and Ainsworth Ainsworth’s work emphasizes that secure attachment stems from the parent being the base onto which the infant explores unfamiliar surroundings. Berk illustrates from Ainworth’s work that “when anxious or unhappy, most babies prefer to be comforted by their mother…But this preference declines over the second year” (Berk, 2008: p. 434). However, Bowlby’s theory emphasizes that it should not always be assumed that the child’s biological mother is the primary caregiver. Moreover, children are more accustomed to separation from the caregiver today than those tested in Ainsworth experiment. If Ainsworth’s Strange Situation experiment is used today, results may not be consistent across cultures. Moreover, the behaviour toward the attachment figure at times of departure or reunion cannot be the only factors used in the attachment definition. Wilson explains that today, “day care for infants has accustomed many of them to separation and indeed taught them that such separation is only for a short time,” (Wilson, 2003, p: 114). The experimental situation is artificial to children although it represents various types of attachments that can be identified in various cultures. Situations where adversity could affect the development of emotion in children Often, the society faces adversity that could affect the emotional development of children. Abuse interferes with the satisfactory development of secondary emotions in children. Adversities occur when dependency needs are not met, or partially satisfied, and can render those children to welfare institutions. Abuse and vulnerability that affects families with low socioeconomic status (SES) can impact the emotional, psychological, lingual, physical and intellect of the growing child. Wilson explains that “children from backgrounds of adversity can develop emotions and emotional expressions that are quite different from our own” (Wilson, 2003: p. 181). A case example of impact of adversity in a child’s emotional development is that of 10 year old Nick as demonstrated by Wilson in chapter 11 (p. 208). Nick was raised in a government orphanage until age 7 when he was adopted. Other than being born of a prostitute mother, Nick also suffered the defects undernourishment, low physical development, and was denied the stimulation required for normal cognitive development. Nick also suffered a lack of affection and a government staff at the orphanage sexually assaulted the children. However, after his adoption and location to a new country, Nick showed negative behavior such as stealing food, soiling himself, causing disruptions, telling lies, and provoking and abusing other children among others. These behaviours stem from lack of nurturance in infancy, dependency needs were not met. Wilson (2003: p.209) states that Nick had “no attachments at all in infancy or else they were anxious avoidant or disorganized disoriented”. Connection between attachment and the development of emotion Attachment is a reciprocal interchange between the child and the caregiver that “satisfies the child's most basic dependency needs and allows the child to explore his or her surroundings” (Wilson, 2003: p. 109). Dependency and attachment are overlapping concepts that reflect the significance of the connection, affection, and attachment of the primary caregiver to the future attitudes, behaviours, and relationships of the child. How knowledge of such a connection will help in the understanding of the feelings of children from adversity Understanding emotional development is vital as it helps to illustrate how emotions link to physical and social development. It is important to understand all children in the capacity of individuals. Variation applies because one size cannot fit all, and attachment has a vital influence on how individuals become. Children whose instrumental needs are not met can be severely affected or die from abuse and neglect, and hence the need to assist them. Wilson asserts that when it is understood how children feel, people will “embrace knowledge of the child's emotional development and the effects of deprivation on that development” (Wilson, 2003: p. 210). Conclusively, it is important to understand the variations in emotional development as this will help to understand and assist individuals from adversity. Dependency, attachment, and emotional development are intertwined and are critical to child development. A well nurtured child experiences healthy positive emotional development and ability to comprehend and reciprocate love. On the other hand, a child can feel insecure when not nurtured well by the caregivers. References: Berk, L. (2008). Child Development, 8th Ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon Wilson, R. (2003). The Emotional Life of Children. Wagga Wagga: Keon Read More

Children develop and capture the sense of trust from the daily care given by the care giver. As the children develop into adolescents, they become more self-conscious, egocentric, and have a high sense of invulnerability. Adolescents can seem to go against the norms of the society and be perceived as difficult. However, Wilson (2003: p.176) says that “their early relationships will serve as an anchor to their developing feelings and will hopefully draw them, as autonomous people, into the good side of society”.

However, as they face their experiences during this period as autonomous individuals, their emotions are still influenced by their earlier emotional development from attachment to their caregivers. Outline of Bowlby Attachment theory and description of Ainsworth’s main work Attachment, dependency and temperament play a big role in shaping the child’s emotions, as described in Bowlby’s ethological theory (Berk, 2008: p. 426). John Bowlby applied his ethological theory to the infant-caregiver bond, and he bases his theory on attachment and exploration.

Exploration and mastery of the environment promotes the bringing up of a healthy infant. Bowlby’s theory shows that attachment begins in infancy and that the infant has many natural in-built social signals required for survival. The in-built social signals encourage the care giver to interact with, and take care of the baby, approach, and interact with the infant and ensure that the infant is fed, stimulated, and protected. The quality of infant-caregiver attachment has “profound implications for the child’s feelings of security and capacity to form trusting relationships” (Berk, 2008: p.426). Wilson (2003: p. 103) says that “as the child grows in mother's care he or she develops an emotional tie with mother”.

Moreover, an affectionate and warm emotional relationship in which the child seeks comfort from the caregiver is a feature of a secure attachment. A caregiver can be anyone from a foster parent, grandmother, or aunt among others and attachment is the relationship that the caregiver can form with the child. Children who are unable to meet their needs by their one caregiver are likely to attach to various people who will meet separate needs. Nevertheless, the main feature of such a relationship is reciprocity and the child requires at least one caregiver for the occurrence of a normal social development.

Attachment occurs in two types of patterns-secure and insecure or anxious attachment. Secure attachment occurs when the bond between the child and the caregiver is formed out of emotional stability and basic needs are consistently met by the caregiver. On the other hand, anxious attachment occurs when a child “cannot rely in the caregiver for help and emotional support, or is only given these things on an inconsistent unpredictable basis (Wilson, 2003: p. 113). The attachment behaviour can be measured by the Strange Situation as designed by Ainsworth and colleagues.

The Strange Situation technique was designed to measure quality of attachment for children between age 1 and 2 years. The procedure takes the baby in short reaction episodes in which brief departure and reunions with the caregiver occur as the infants’ response behaviours are observed. The findings reveal two kinds of attachments-a secure attachment pattern, and three insecurity patterns. Secure attachment occurs when the child prefers the parent to a stranger and may cry if the parent leaves.

The insecure attachment patterns include disorganized disoriented, avoidant, and resistant. The disorganized/disoriented attachment occurs when the baby shows confused and contradictory behaviour during the reunion. These include looking away when the parent holds them, or approaches the parent with a non-sensual depressed emotion. The disorganized disoriented pattern “reflects the greatest insecurity” (Berk, 2008: p.428). Ainsworth and colleagues stipulated that if development of attachment has gone well, “infants and toddlers should use the parent as a secure base to explore an unfamiliar playroom” (Berk, 2008: p.

Read More