1. Describe and discuss the connection between parenting styles and attachment.
Sigelman and Rider (2006) state that “Many noted theorists have argued that no social relationship is more important than the first: the bond between parent and infant”. Both Freud and Erikson placed great emphasis on the parent-child relationship and its importance to “normal” development.
Freud believed that the human child is born with natural instincts and drives. The relationship that the caregivers had with the child has a major impact on how this child developed into a mature adult. Erikson’s psychosocial stages are also directly related to the caregiver’s responses to the child.
John Bowlby was a significant contributor to this belief and
…show more content…
They are not too concerned with whether they are there or not. Do not explore their surroundings with much interest and show little affection. Parenting style is rejecting, dismissive or intrusive and overly involved.
4. Dis-organised-disoriented attachment – This attachment style is a combination of both resistant and avoidant. The child displays confusion at whether to seek attention from the caregiver or to avoid it. These children do not appear to have a clear sense of how to behave around the caregiver indicating an uncertainty of the response they will receive. Fear may be a large component of this uncertainty. Parenting style is either frightening or frightened.
Bowlby believed that children who suffer repeated separations from caregivers might withdraw from forming relationships as a result. Sigelman and Rider (2006), state that Thomas O’Conner and colleagues named a 5th attachment style. This attachment style, dis-inhibited, applied to some children who for various reasons, such as being institutionalised for more than the first six months of life, showed behaviours such as being friendly to anyone or emotionally withdrawn.
Research suggests that securely attached children carry this into their later years becoming more open to exploration, having more emotionally rewarding lives/relationships and being more independent. Insecurely attached children are more likely than securely attached children to
Erikson was a German psychologist and psychoanalyst. He was a student of Freud, and was greatly influenced by his theories of personality development. Similarly to Winnicott, Erikson drew on his experiences as a child analyst, to inform his contributions. Erikson’s theories, like Winnicott, are highly regarded today.
The parenting style in the home will result in differences in the children’s behavior. For example, an authoritarian parent is controlling, punitive and strict. Their rules are not flexible and do not tolerate expressions of disagreement. These
The Strange Situation is meant to be a snapshot of the relationship between infant and caregiver, and provide insight into the dyadic patterns that define this bond. Securely attached children are thought to have a primary caregiver who is sensitive, available and receptive to their infants needs. Insecure-avoidant children have primary caregivers who are intrusive, controlling and hurtful. These caregivers may be present in the infant’s life but unable to understand their infants needs, and provide the correct response. Caregivers of insecure-ambivalent infants have been found to be unresponsive to the needs of the infant, and very often unavailable. The effect of this treatment is that the infant is starved for affection and attention. The infant also feels the need to amplify their needs in an effort to reach their caregiver (Barnett & Vondra, 1999).
' (Haith, 2014b, p. 466) Although a secure attachment does not occur from birth, ‘babies show signs of attachment through smiling, eye contact and crying. ' (Brandon et al., 2015) This shows the child 's main caregiver needs to begin to bond with their child for them to form a secure attachment. Bowlby believed ‘caregivers who neglect their children, bring up avoidant children. ' (Larose, & Bernier, 2001, p. 96-120). ‘Ambivalent/resistant children show negative behaviours to gain attention from others. ' (Kobak et al., 1993, p. 231-245) These statements show children who have an insecure attachment with their caregiver have a risk in behaviour problems. They will also have a less chance of developing their social and emotional skills effectively.
Concept 2 - Parenting Styles There's three parenting styles there's authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive. An authoritarian parent is someone who is strict, imposing many rules and not nurturing. An authoritative parent is someone who is allowing discussion with the kids, placing limits and nurturing. An permissive parent is someone who is inconsistent with few rules and very loving. For me, my mothers parenting style is authoritative, she can be strict, being not too
Mary Ainsworth is known for her ‘Strange Situation’ (Custance 2010) studies with children. Her theory was that the quality of an infant’s attachment depends largely on the kind of attention the infant has received. She observed the attachment styles of children, mostly aged between 12 and 24 months, by placing them in an environment and recording their reactions to their mothers (or primary caregivers) leaving the room and then returning. Based on these observations Ainsworth concluded that there are different types of attachment. Three types of attachment are: ‘anxious-avoidant’, where the child shows little upset with the stranger, but will avoid contact with the parent on their return. The ‘securely attached’ child is one that will show moderate levels of proximity seeking towards the parents and is upset by their departure but deals with the parents return positively, often returning to play. The third type is the ‘anxious-resistant’ child; greatly upset by the parent’s departure and on reunion seems angry and will not be comforted or picked up (Custance 2010).
Wang, F., Cox, M. J., Mills-Koonce, R., & Snyder, P. (2015). Parental Behaviors and Beliefs, Child Temperament, and Attachment Disorganization. Family Relations, 64(2),
Overall from what I’ve read, many people utilize the attachment parenting style by incorporating doable aspects. The goal of attachment parenting is to do the most possible to always be attentive to the child. It is known and studied by psychologists like Haslow that there is a craving in offspring for warmth and “maternal-like” stimuli, but the controversy isn’t based off of whether or not attachment is necessary but if a certain degree of attachment truly makes a significant difference on growth and development and if it outweighs the
Children with insecure attachments tend to have emotional and social behavior
In the future, a child with a secure attachment is empathetic and eager to try new things in life (Perry; Romero). A typical child has an optimistic attitude and they enjoy interacting with other people (Perry). Also, “Kids who were secure as infants
Psychoanalyst Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory is also part of the psychodynamic perspective. According to Erikson (Berk, 2007) society and culture have an influence on human development. In contrast to Freud whose theory that proposed development was complete by adolescence (Berk, 2007), Erikson’s theory argues that development is continuous throughout the lifespan and occurs in eight stages. The first stage of development, trust versus mistrust, occurs during infancy (birth to 1-year-old). During this stage if an infant’s basic needs are met by a responsive and attentive caregiver, the infant will begin to trust the caregiver, thus establishing the foundation for future trust relationships. In contrast if an infant does not receive enough or irregular care, or if caregivers are unresponsive, the infant can develop mistrust. The autonomy versus shame and doubt is the next stage, which occurs between the first and third years
Securely attached infants have a good quality of relationship with their parents. In the strange situation, where parents leave their child alone or with a stranger in a room full of toys, these children are upset when their parents leave, but easily comforted when they return. The child uses the parent as a “secure base” from which to explore the environment. In the strange situation, insecure/resistant infants
Mary S. Ainsworth was fascinated in the association between infants and their mothers that she later coined the theory of infant-mother attachment. According to Ainsworth, there are three evident attachment patterns that will develop, secure, anxious and avoidant infants. Ainsworth felt it was substantially necessary for a child to transition out from a mother’s attachment and vulnerability to autonomy and independence as a factor in normal development in personality. One of the key points of Ainsworth security theory is that infants need to “develop a sense of direction and secure dependence on parents” before leaving the nest into a strange and unfamiliar situation (Bretherton, 1992). According to Ainsworth, “Familial security in the
Caregivers play a primary role in how a child may develop. The daily interaction between the caregiver and child continually changes the pathway in which the child may take. How the child is raised and the parenting style used is a significant influence on that development by affecting the relationship between parent and child. This supports the Attachment theory in which emphasizes relationship between the child and caregiver as a key factor in development.
The last parenting style is uninvolved style. This is when the parent is cold and not strict. The parent is not involved with their children. They don’t have time for their children. Children with these parents end up acquiring many problems. “poor emotional self regulation, school achievement difficulties and frequent antisocial acts…” (Berk 389). As it mentions in Infants, Children and Adolescents, when this becomes extreme, this parenting style can be categorizes as neglect.