ATTACHMENT

Attachment is not learnt, but born with.

We develop an internal working model (template for all future relationships)

Monotropy only one attachment, usually to the mother

Formed during the critical time period (first six months)

EVALUATION

•  LAMB (1983) babies usually prefer fathers as playmates, Bowlby doesnt mention fathers
• SCHAFFER AND EMERSON (1964)  29% babies had formed multiple attachments by 7 months (MONOTROPY)
• HAZAN AND SHAVER meta analysis in newspaper of peoples relationships when children and older, strong correlation (INTERNAL WORKING MODEL)

STRANGE SITUATION

Wanted to measure attachment types

Controlled observation of mother and child, mother left and stranger entered

found three types of attachment 

Secure

Insecure Avoidant

Insecure resistant

Big differences in infants reactions  

Child plays independantly but seeks proximity, 

regularly returns to carer,

show moderate distress and separation anxiety, require comfort when caregiver returns.

child doesn't seek proximity with caregiver, or use as a secure base

shows no sign of distress when caregiver leaves and doesn't need attention when she returns

child doesn't explore the play area, stays very close to mother

shows lots of distress when caregiver leaves

refuses to be comforted when she returns

High reliability

study was repeated a few times and similar results were obtained

Validity

children measure similar behaviour when left with a babysitter so it has ecological validity, HOWEVER done in a lab so some ecological validity is lost

Ethical Issues

children were put through stress being left alone with a stranger, mothers may get slightly stressed knowing their children are stressed

Ethnocentric

only designed for western cultures and wasn't done anywhere else

VAN IJZANDOORN AND KROONENBERG (1988)

interested in whether attachment types are universal or culturally sprecific

DID

meta analysis of 32 studies in 8 countries

FOUND

 all countries have a similar pattern- secure is highest

BUT insecure resistant and insecure avoidant vary

variations were also found between cultures

• too simplistic to class one country as having one culture, different sub cultures may differ in attachment types (INTRA CULTURE VARIATION) means that results may be difficult to generalise
• 27 studies out of 32 were done in western cultures so may not be a representation of cross cultural variations
• strange situation is an IMPOSED ETIC- ethnocentric (may not be appropriate) as the procedure was not designed to be used in these countries 

• meta analysis produces quantitive data which makes it easy to compare trends betweeen different countires

INDIVIDUALIST CULTURE

emphasise personal achievements and independancy, e.g. USA, UK and Germany

COLLECTIVIST CULTURE

emphasise goals in groups rather than individual achievement, e.g. israeli kibbutzim and African tribes

UK and USA are individualist, children go to nurseries so parents can work meaning they are partially used to strangers

Japan is individualist but mothers stay with children all the time and are rarely left-behaviour will be different as not used to strangers

West Germany, parents do not want clingy children so are left alone slightly, children learn to be independant

SEPARATION

short term,      attachment is not broken

e.g. parent going to work

DEPRIVATION

long term,    attachment is broken

e.g. parent passing away

PRIVATION

child never has attachment

e.g. child is in foster care with many different care givers

If a child is unable to make an attachment with their mother, future relationships will be damaged

Evidence taken from care homes, children had no attachment and ended up with behavioural problems

They thought that separation may not lead to deprivation if some emotional attention is given

DID

Little boy spent 8 days in a nursery with no attention and only his teddy, when his mother returned he tried to get away and for months showed anger towards her because of this.

Filmed children under 3 different separations, no attention, keep communication, talk about the person that is missing

Supported the maternal deprivation hypothesis

88 children that were sent to a guidance clinic, 4 were classed as theives as they were affectionless psychopaths

Bowlby said they were like this as they had prolonged detachment from their mother when younger

Concluded that early separation leads to later emotional and social problems

Critised for no being very accurate

Mother died shortly after givin birth,

went to a childrens home for 11 months,

then 6 months with aunt, then with father and stepmother

father of low intelligence and never home, stepmother cruel

boys never allowed out, in unheated closet and beaten

at age 7 were found and had rickets, very fearful and little speach

went on to live with 2 sisters who provided a loving home, attended specialist school and developed good intelligence and emotional bonds

POSITIVE

Her father said she was retarded and likely to die young and her mother was scared of her father, she was kept in isolation and strapped to a potty chair

suffered severe neglet and was punished if she made a sound

at age 13, her mother took her into police station, she was said to look like a 6 year old

couldnt stand upright, no social skills, couldn't understand language and couldn't speak

was given extra care, her vocabulary grew but she wasn't able to make complex sentences, language skills never reached adult level

NOT RECOVERED

LENGTH OF PRIVATION

Rutter (2007)     the longer spent in institution with no attatchment can affect

QUALITY OF CARE

Rutter (2007)     children in Romainian institution did not recover as well as those in UK as they were severley malnurished

QUALITY OF CARE AFTERWARDS

Genie- because she was moved around after being found, she did not recover

Czech Twins- went to a loving home which gave them positive care and  the opportunity for attachment

TIZARD AND HODGES (1989)

Researched whether being adopted or being returned back to their original homes affects recovery.

DID-

compared children that, after spending 4 years in Russian institution, were adopted or taken back home.

FOUND-

both those who were adopted and taken home craved attention but, those that went home did not work to have good relationships with family

CONCLUDED-

both sets did not make full attachments with peers so maybe did not make a full recovery 

RUTTER (2007)

DID-

Compared Romanian orphans that were adopted by UK families, to UK born adoptees.

FOUND-

Romanian children showed signs of disinhibition behaviour, UK didn't as much

CONCLUDED-

Children more likely to have disinhibition behaviour if they were institutions for long periods of time

EVALUATION

Attrition (only certain individuals left) may lead to skewed data as the same type of children may have been left behind for longer.

As participants in the study were people who wanted to adopt, they may have been the families that were more socially able, meaning the children would get on better

(for Rutter) It is difficult to gather information about the quality and type of care given in insititutions

A place where the child is temporarily cared for by someone that is not a family member and usually takes place outside the home (nursery, playgroup, school)

COGNITIVE:

The cognitive (mental) development that a child makes as they grow older

SOCIAL:

Development of sociability where the child leanrs to interact with others and aquires knowledge and skills that are appropriate to their society

ANDERSSON

 DID: recorded childcare arrangements for 100 children aged 3&4, socioemotional competence was then assesed at 8 & 13

 FOUND: school performance was highest in children that started day care before age of 1, school performance lowest in those that didn't go

 EVALUATION: was done in Sweden where a lot of money is put into child care, results may be due to high attachment levels and high quality care being available

OPERATION HEADSTART

 DID: gave children from deprived backgrounds learning opportunities they may not get at home

 FOUND: after a year, children gained 10 IQ points, more likely to do better at school

 EVALUATION: if not followed through in education, initial gains dissappeared 

NICHD REPORT

  DID: mothers were interviewed and children observed in day care and at home, at 6 months and 15 months

  FOUND: during strange situation infants with lots of daycare did not exhibit any more stress than those who didn't

VANDELL AND CORASANITI

  DID: got parents and teachers to rate childrens peer relationships and emotional health from extensive child care

  FOUND: children with extensive child care had poor peer realtionships and emotional health

EFFECT OF CONSISTENCY OF CARE ON ATTACHMENT

BOWLBY:

  children neeed someone that can act as a mother

TIZARD AND HODGES:

children became privated if there was a high staff turnover

KAGEN ET AL.

a key criteria is consistent emotional care

NICHD   (national institute of child health and development)

studied that a 1:3 ratio ensured that the children had sensitive and positive interactions

QUALITY OF CARE ON ATTACHMENTS

TIZARD AND HODGES:

mother and child verbal interations were more complex

CAMPBELL ET AL.

suggested that well qualified staff were very important

 research has shown the positive effects that day care has on cognitive development if care is of high quality

Research shows that mothers that stay at home are more likely to suffer from a mental illness

Working parents felt bad about leaving their children at day care

these factors can affect childrens interactions

GOOD DAY CARE HAS.....

• MINIMAL STAFF TURNOVER
• EACH CHILD HAS A MAIN CARER AND SUBSTITUTE CARER
• CONSISTENT ROUTINE AND ENVIRONMENT SO LESS UNCERTAINTY AND                   CHANGE
• GOOD QUALITY VERBAL INTERACTIONS WITH THE CHILD
• AVAILABILITY OF BOOKS/TOOKS TO PROVIDE SUITABLE STIMULATION FOR A `      CHILDS COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
• SENSITIVE EMOTIONAL CARE
• TRY TO AVOID PARENTS FEELING GUILTY ABOUT LEAVING THEIR CHILDREN BY    ENFORCING POSITIVE EXPERIENCES
• CREATE GOOD HOME-CARE LINKS USING PHOTOS, DAILY REPORTS, REVIEWS       AND NEWSLETTERS