Little Girl Attachment Analysis

From an evolutionary perspective, John Bowlby made the connection that children form an attachment to their parents in the best interest of survival. Therefore, in a well functioning parent-infant relationship, infants learn to seek their parents in frightening situations and use them as a secure base (Hesse, 2014). However, Mary Ainsworth exemplifies that this is not the case for all infants. In the Strange Situation Study, Mary Ainsworth discovered three fundamental attachment styles: secure, ambivalent, and avoidant attachment. A fourth attachment style was later discovered by Main and Solomon and classified as disorganized attachment. These are known as the four fundamental unidirectional types of attachment between an infant and their caregiver. These relationship patterns are often established between infant and primary caregiver during their early stages of life. In the following, I will exemplify how these attachment styles differ when the infant experiences significant disruptions in their family relationships because of changes in caregivers and separation from imprisoned parents?

From the moment of conception all humans have basic needs that must to be met in order to ensure their survival and well-being. Children, especially babies, are dependent on others to have these needs met. This combination of dependency and provision from caregivers creates an environment that promotes attachment. In this critical period of infancy, babies develop a form of attachment to their caregiver whether it be secure, ambivalent, avoidant, or disorganized. The natural tendency of children to designate their parents as attachment figures causes them to want to be in close proximity to them at all times. When they are separated from their parents, babies will become distressed and cry until they are reunited; this is a display of separation

Psychoanalyst, John Bowlby in the mid 19th hundreds, investigated attachment theory. Over the years, we have enhanced our understanding on how children attach to their primary caregiver earlier in life. Supported by attachment theory, infants have a window for the development of attachment to the primary caregiver, which, usually happens during the first months of life (Hardy, 2007). Given that Alexander’s parents’ left when he was only 3 months and was raised by his grandparents, it is no surprise that when he reunited with his parents, they felt like complete strangers to him, because they were not the ones meeting his needs early in life.

Infant attachment is the first relationship a child experiences and is crucial to the child’s survival (BOOK). A mother’s response to her child will yield either a secure bond or insecurity with the infant. Parents who respond “more sensitively and responsively to the child’s distress” establish a secure bond faster than “parents of insecure children”. (Attachment and Emotion, page 475) The quality of the attachment has “profound implications for the child’s feelings of security and capacity to form trusting relationships” (Book). Simply stated, a positive early attachment will likely yield positive physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development for the child. (BOOK)

Attachment starts at the first ever relationship between the infant and caregiver. This relationship may be one of trust, love, security etc or the contrary, Inconsistent, uncertain, aggressive etc. This relationship will create an expectation if which all relationships will be like. Overtime an infant will develop a model about emotional relationships. This model will include concepts about relationships and expectations from others. Bowlby called this model the internal working model.

Very early will a child will attach to its caregiver, “because she fed the infant”(McLeod). At this stage the parent's behavior is becoming imprinted onto the child, and the child will continue to see their parent as their primary caregiver, and therefore, their role model as well. Bowlby’s theory of attachment relates strongly to the social learning theory. They both deal with people, whether it be infant or adult, learning and conforming to certain roles placed upon them. The infant will almost ‘study’ the parent, learning the rules the parent puts in place, and the adult will look to the majority as their parent, and conforms to their beliefs.

Therefore, the infant is a participant that acts on the environment and, in turn, the environment acts upon the child. This creates a need for mutual accommodations in order for the attachments to be positive for both parties, and the bonding relies on earliest sensitivities and responses. Additionally, Bowlby “[draws] on ethological theory and research, [by arguing] that both infants and parents are biological predisposed to form attachments (Sigelman and Rider, 2012, p. 440) and that “the security of an attachment relationship depends on both nature and nurture—on the interaction over time between a biologically prepared infant and a biologically prepared caregiver and on the sensitivity of each partner to the other’s signals” (Sigelman and Rider, 2012, p. 441). Ethologists assume that humans and animals have behavioral tendencies that have surfaced due to their aid in the continuation or survival of their species, and the bidirectional attachment aids in the survival of human infants and the continuation of the human

Attachment is a necessity in psychological development, because it has long term effects on the infant's entire life. Parents will want to develop a secure attachment with their child by building up a sense of trust. Furthermore, the development of trust and a secure attachment all depends on the parents' interactions starting at birth: neglectful parents, who don't respond within a reasonable amount of time to their crying baby, will not have a strong attachment with the baby. He or she will feel abandoned, resulting in slower brain development and difficulties at coping to new social interactions in toddlerhood. On the other hand, parents, who almost immediately respond to their child's cries, will have a strong attachment. This will lead

Attachment to the developing infant plays a crucial role in regulating stress in times of illness, anxiety and distress. Infants develop different kinds of attachment relationships. For instance, some infants can become securely attached to the parent while others find themselves in an insecure attachment relationship. The differences are determined by the social environment during the first few years of life.

The concept of infant-mother attachment is as important to the child as the birth itself. The effect this relationship has on a child shall affect that child for its entire life. A secure attachment to the mother or a primary caregiver is imperative for a child’s development. Ainsworth’s study shows that a mother is responsive to her infant’s behavioral cues which will develop into a strong infant-mother attachment. This will result in a child who can easily, without stress, be separated from his mother and without any anxiety. Of course the study shows a child with a weak infant-mother relationship will lead to mistrust, anxiety, and will never really be that close with the mother. Without the

There are many theories in regards to early infant attachment and subsequent development. One very common theory is John Bowlby’s theory, which describes the special relationship that develops over the first year of life between infants and the people who care for them (Gross, 2011). Bowlby’s theory focuses on the assumption that early life experiences will in advertently affect one’s development. Internal working models, coined by Bowlby, are defined as infants’ cognitive abilities increase and enable infants to form a representation of their relationship with the caregiver. Applying this theory, an infant uses memorable experiences, both negative and/or positive, to develop their relationship with a person. For example, if an infant experiences

Originally created by renowned social scientists, John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, Attachment Theory is primarily interested in the relationships of infants and preschool-aged children with their primary caregivers and how these relationships affect the way infants learn to build relationships with their caregivers, other persons, and environments. It is a foundational theory within the field of childhood development and the subject of many published, empirical papers, and theoretical studies. (Cassidy and

From the moment a child is born, it craves the contact of its mother and those bonds form almost instantly. Why those bonds are necessary to life as we know it are so ancient and innate in society, they are hardly questioned. However, what are the real psychological reasons behind the strong emotional attachment and bonding that takes place between a baby and a caretaker? Each psychological perspective has a different focus, and this focus then brings about seven different theories as to why this attachment takes place.

Attachments are intrinsic to a child’s development both in the short term and for the duration of their lives. Infants have an innate need to develop an attachment with their mother to ensure their survival and are equipped with evolutionary characteristics called social releasers; physical social releasers such as large eyes and a small chin are found to be more aesthetically pleasing to the parents so they are more likely to care for them and behavioural social releasers for example, crying; very young infants typically only cry if they 're hungry, cold or in pain (Gross 2015 p535) this alerts the parents to an infants immediate need. At around 7 or 8 months of age children begin to make specific attachments for reasons other than survival, children display proximity maintaining behaviour normally with the mother,

Attachment theory is a concept that explores the importance of attachment in respect to direct development. “It is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space” (Bowlby, 1969; McLeod, 2009). It is the relationship that develops within the first year of the infant’s life between them and their caregiver. The theory also relates to the quality of the attachment that is shown in the behavior of the infant (Rieser-Danner, 2016). Attachment theory shows that infants need a close nurturing relationship with their caregiver in order to have a healthy relationship. Lack of response from the caregiver