...CHAPTER 11: The Development of Social Relationships 4/16/14 1. How did Bowlby and Ainsworth characterize affectional bonds, attachments, and internal working models? Bowlby and Ainsworth distinguished between an affectional bond and an attachment, which involves feelings of security and having a safe base. An attachment is deduced from the existence of attachment behaviors. Once established, an attachment relationship becomes the basis of an internal working model that the child applies to future interactions with the attachment figure and with others. 2. What factors influence the parent’s bond to the child? For parents to form a strong bond to their infant, what is most crucial is not immediate contact at birth but the development and repetition of mutually reinforcing and interlocking attachment behaviors. 3. How does the child’s attachment to the parent change across infancy, early childhood, and middle childhood? Beginning around 6 months of age, which signals the presence of a clear attachment. Attachment behaviors become less visible during the preschool years, except when the child is stressed. School-aged children exhibit less safe behaviors than infants and preschoolers do, but extended separations can still be stressful. 4. What are the characteristics of parent-child relationships in adolescence? The child’s basic attachment to the parents remains strong in adolescence, despite an increase in parent-child conflict, the greater independence of the teenager...
Words: 1086 - Pages: 5
...people who are or have been important to them) have affected their development?’ Abstract John Bowlby’s theory of attachment asserts that in childhood attachments are formed between the infant and the caregiver. It also asserts that these attachments form the basis of adult relationships. This qualitative thematic analysis of an interview with Chloe attempts to show how early attachments form a framework of later development. This study shows some support for Bowlby’s theory of the continuity of attachment behaviour but also shows that the nature of attachments can change throughout life in particular due to adult relationships and life experience. Introduction The field of developmental psychology is concerned with understanding how our mental outlook can change over the course of a lifetime. It considers both the effects of cultural and environmental factors and the internal motivations of the individual. One of the main area of research is understanding the degree of continuity in how behaviour is formed and to what degree it can be influenced by past experience. In the area of human relationships, Attachment theory (as cited in Wood et al., 2007) explores how relationships develop. Bowlby (as cited in Wood et al., 2007) proposed that we have a basic biological drive to form an attachment to a ‘mother figure’ at birth. The nature of the attachment gives rise to a ‘internal working model’ in the mind of the child that has three components, a model of the self, the...
Words: 2434 - Pages: 10
...Bowlby’s Ethological Attachment Theory Rhonda Lawson Excelsior College Lifespan Developmental Psychology June 10, 2014 Bowlby’s Ethological Attachment Theory I) Abstract a) A natural inclination b) Strength and stability c) Theory of lifespan development II) Introduction a) Evolution and biology b) Critical periods c) Behavioral study on graylag geese d) Creation of attachment III) Bowlby’s perspectives a) Biological preparation b) Ethological theory c) Adaptive value d) Physical, social as well as cultural e) Lasting relationships IV) Application of Bowlby’s ethological attachment a) Survival b) Increases in cortisol levels and heart rates c) Psychotherapy d) Anxiety and avoidance with depression e) Development of a new attachment with a therapist f) Outcomes of a therapy process g) Diagnosis of the reactive attachment disorder V) Conclusion a) Begins at birth b) Develop attachments to primary caregivers c) Widespread acceptance d) Diagnosis of reactive attachment disorder VI) References Abstract Bowlby’s ethological attachment theory bases its argument on the premise that human individuals, just like animals have a tendency to have a natural inclination to establish and maintain lasting affectionate bonds (attachments) to the familiar and irreplaceable others. Bowlby further asserts that once the attachments are established, the strength, and stability of the...
Words: 2577 - Pages: 11
...Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples Key Concepts Dr. Sue Johnson www.holdmetight.com Copyright: Dr. Susan Johnson 2011 www.iceeft.com 1 Couples Therapy – New Era New Knowledge : Power of relationships on mental & physical health (eg. Heart disease, immune functioning, depression), on resilience. Lovers are regulators of each other’s physiology, emotional functioning. Nature of relationships (positive/negative – the problem in CT-John Gottman and Ted Huston). Powerful proven interventions such as EFT –Empirical validation. In session change process (in EFT heightened emotion & alliance crucial). New science of love (offers a focus/goal for CT-adult attachment). New targetsfor CT-people in context of key relationships. CT used for individual problems (depression, anxiety). For the first time there is convergence. A potent integration of theory/research/practice is possible. 2 EFT – Couples Therapy For The First Time : The couple therapist is in territory of the: Understandable Predictable Explainable Changeable We Know: The Territory – The Problem The Destination – Goal The Map – Key Moves/Moments New Science- based on observation of distress, satisfaction, bonding in action, change in therapy. 3 EFT is an Experiential Approach All knowledge is experience. Everything else is just information. Einstein Change occurs in therapy though a “Corrective emotional experience”. Frank 4 Empathic Responsiveness is the essence of Emotionally Focused Therapy – The empathic responsiveness...
Words: 2775 - Pages: 12
...Influence of Early Life Experiences on Anxiety disorders Anxiety disorder is a mental health description for all forms of uneasiness, excessive worry,and phobias of life events. Such fears can based on events that happened or just imagination and it affects the physical well-being of a person. Different studies have shown that anxiety disorders in different family members overlap. This may be due to the factors experienced while growing up, family factors and genetic transmission. A Childs needs and issues are diverse but a general assessment would indicate that all early experiences can lead to psychological problems. For example, a need to over-achieve, an anxiety disorder of a generalized nature or dysthymic disorder (mood disorder characterized by chronic depression). Such disorders can be traced to a long standing inability to derive satisfaction from one’s life alongside the family issues that worry people, the expectations from the society that leave one apprehensive and a person’s coping strategies which mostly are maladaptive (Corey, 2012). The details do not present a clear diagnosis as to anxiety disorder’s root cause in many cases, hence the need to be cautious when deciding on a therapeutic course of action. Everyone’s unique experiences bring up psychosocial challenges which may become the main focus of the clinical therapies. People may experience phase-of-life issues; present parent-child problems while at the same time having partner...
Words: 3185 - Pages: 13
...feeling safe and valued in order to have a healthy emotional development. This early emotional development involves developing relationships with others, which build the foundation for young children to develop their ability. Instead of feeling anxious about the possibility of being abandoned, children feel secured enable them to start exploring their environment and becoming independent. The very first relationship is usually built between a baby and a primary caregiver, usually the mother or mother substitute. This relationship is of particular significance as it develops the attachment, which is vital as the foundation of developing subsequent relationship (MCI, undated). "The propensity to make strong emotional bonds to particular individuals [is] a basic component of human nature" (Bowlby, 1988, p3) Attachment is described as “an enduring bond” (MCI, undated) and further elaborated by the attachment theorist, John Bowlby. He famously stated “what is believed to be essential for mental health is that an infant and young child should experience a warm, intimate and continuous relationship with his mother (or permanent mother substitute – one person who steadily ‘mothers’ him) in which both find satisfaction and enjoyment” (Bowlby, 1953). Bowlby was very much influenced by ethological studies in general, especially by Harry Harlow’s research with monkeys and Konrad Lorenz’s study of imprinting (McLeod, 2007). Harlow’s...
Words: 1920 - Pages: 8
...Attachment Paper Life Span Human Development Lela Lambe 10/25/15 Kristin Scott-Grove Introduction: Attachment is a strong, affectionate bond we have with our mother. Also, with special people in our lives during a lifetime. Attachment leads us to experience pleasure when we interact with time. Besides, to be comforted by nearness in times of stress. Lasting emotional connection that connects people to another within space and time. Attachment is a strong emotional and social bond of trust between the child and parents. That is very important for social and emotional development. In childhood, particular the first couple of years of life, attachment relationships help the immature brain use the mature functions of the parent’s brain to develop important capacities related to interpersonal functioning. The baby’s bond with their attachment caregiver. Offer experience-dependent neural avenue to develop. Particularly in the frontal lobes where the capacities are wire into the developing brain. Attachment Theory devised by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth to account for the impact of early separation and trauma on the child. Has revolutionized our views of development, psychopathology, and clinical work. Is the most prominent theory today regarding early socio-emotional development. The empirically based and support the research. The child is highly motivated beginning birth to form and maintain attachments to a few caregivers. Healthy attachments have successful...
Words: 787 - Pages: 4
...feelings. Attachment theory in psychology originates with the seminal work of John Bowlby (1958). In the 1930’s John Bowlby worked as a psychiatrist in a Child Guidance Clinic in London, where he treated many emotionally disturbed children. This experience led Bowlby to consider the importance of the child’s relationship with their mother in terms of their social, emotional and cognitive development. Specifically, it shaped his belief about the link between early infant separations with the mother and later maladjustment, and led Bowlby to formulate his attachment theory. Bowlby defined attachment as a “lasting psychological connectedness between human beings” Attachment theory has become the dominant theory used today in the study of infant and toddler behavior and in the fields of infant mental health, treatment of children, and related fields. Secure attachment is considered to be the best attachment style. Secure attachment is when children feel secure in the presence of their caregivers. When the caregiver leaves the infant alone, the infant feels separation anxiety. Separation anxiety is what infants feel when they are separated from their caregivers. Anxious-ambivalent attachment is when the infant feels separation anxiety when separated from his caregiver and does not feel reassured when the caregiver returns to the infant. Anxious-avoidant attachment is when the infant avoids their parents. Disorganized attachment is when there is a lack of attachment behavior....
Words: 1063 - Pages: 5
...The first eighteen months of life is filled with rapid changes for parents and infants across every aspect of human development. At the stage of infancy the influence of a positive attachment can enrich an infant’s behavioural development (Peterson 2010, pp.140-150). Erikson (1968 cited in Peterson 2010, p.51) theorises that to mould a positive attachment an infant must achieve a balance of the psychosocial stage of ‘trust versus mistrust’. The achievement of this stage combined with the infant’s environment, social arena, and how infants see themselves as individuals is dependent on a positive attachment. With an understanding of Erikson’s theory and knowledge of attachment principles a nurse can help parents achieve this stage of infancy. This essay will concentrate on how having an understanding of Erikson’s theory can help nurses when advising positive attachment strategies to parents. And also reflect on how parents can achieve a positive attachment with a nurse’s intervention. Erikson assembled eight stages of human development that ‘remain within the proper rate and proper sequence which govern the growth of personality’ (Erikson 1959, p. 52). In other words, a person cannot advance to the next stage of development without achieving a resolution of conflict with the one before. The first stage of ‘trust versus mistrust’ (Peterson 2010, p. 51) is between birth to eighteen months and is described as a time of potential ‘crisis’ for an infant (Erikson 1959, p, 50). During...
Words: 1095 - Pages: 5
...Running Head: BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL ASSESMENT OF ANTWONE 1 Assignment 2:Biopsychosocial Assessment of Antwone Fisher Robert LeVeille October 16, 2013 Professor Rogers BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL ASSESMENT OF ANTWONE 2 Biopsychosocial Assessment of Antwone Fisher Identity Client- Antwone Fisher Age- 24 years Ethnicity – African American Occupation- Seaman with US Navy Referral: Captain Reason for referral: Anger and repeated fighting Background: Antwone was born on 8th of august, 1976 in a correctional facility home for women in Ohio State. Antwone does not know the reason of his mother, Eva mae’s imprisonment. Antwone, never saw his father, Edward Elkins who was killed before Antwone’s birth. In fact he came to know about his father’s last name very recently. After his birth, Antwone was sent to an orphanage by state social services. Antwone states that his mother never came to see him. He says how he always wanted to see his mother and used to fantasize about her but never tried to search her. After spending two years in the orphanage, he was sent to a foster home of Mrs. Tate in Cleveland. In his new home, he experienced some very bitter things. He was beaten and burnt and was also sexually assaulted by Mrs. Tate and Nadine, her relative. Antwone was accompanied by other kids who also faced similar things in the home of mrs. Tate. He was often beaten, tied up in a dark basement. He remembers that how Mrs. Tate, An ardent Christian in BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL...
Words: 2069 - Pages: 9
...particular focus, on the role played by parent’s attachment styles, in cohesion with the parent’s physical and psychological health. The essay will further highlight an existence of additional complex factors, above and above parenting, that affect children’s mental health, varying from, social, environmental, cultural, stigma and poverty effects. Mental health can described as state of emotional and psychological well-being in which an individual is able to use his or her cognitive and emotional capabilities, function in society and meet the ordinary demands of everyday life. Research outlines that, a child mental well being is thought to depend a combination of factors such healthy and balanced nutrition, socialization, and nurturing, provided by primary caregivers, extended family, and the community of residence, a potential impact to which, the child development process can proceeds along a healthy, or potentially traumatic trajectory (Gardner, & Gunn, 2012). From a social and nurturing perspective, the attachment theory supports the above notion, by stating that the quality of mother-child (or primary caregiver) attachment, is regarded as a pervasive factor in the development of an individual’s relational psychology throughout the entire lifespan (Bowlby, 1982; Freud, 1932). Attachment theory evolves from a basic premise that attachment behaviours are part of a drive behavioural system, organised around specific attachment figures (Bowlby, 1969). The theory further...
Words: 2646 - Pages: 11
...Introduction Attachment is the bond that links humans to vital people in their lives. This bond begins to develop early on in life. According to Berk (2012), infants can become attached to regular people in their lives before the second half of their first year of life. These early attachments are normally to the primary caregivers of the infant. An infant with an attachment disorder is an infant who is unable to connect with his or her caregiver. This can also be called insecure attachment, meaning that the infant is indifferent or opposed to the affections of his or her caregiver. Reactive attachment disorder, or RAD, is a common attachment disorder that causes an infant to show either no attachment to anyone or sweeping attachment to everyone (Lubit, 2009). Multiple studies have been performed to reveal the how individual situations affect the development of attachment disorders. Depressed mothers, parental divorce, and maltreatment situations have all been investigated to establish their connections to attachments disorders in children. By identifying the factors related to attachment disorders, the development of attachment disorders can be reduced by taking actions against these factors. Maternal Depression A great deal of research has found a link between maternal depression and the appearance of attachment disorders in children. A study performed by Campbell, Brownell, Hungerford, Spieker, Mohan, & Blessing (2004) examined...
Words: 1805 - Pages: 8
...reference to Attachment Theory discuss the importance of early childhood to emotional development. With reference to Attachment Theory this topic will discuss the importance of early childhood to emotional development. This work will be more focused in the development of the emotion of fear, anxiety and security or insecurity. For that reason, Bowlby’s theory is going to be considered due to the fact what he is the first attachment theorist, describing attachment as a ‘lasting psychological connectedness between human beings’ (Bowlby, 1964,p. 194). Bowlby believed that the earliest bonds formed by children with their caregivers have a great impact than will go on later on. Moreover, Bowlby will deal in “Basic Postulates in Theories of Anxiety and Fear” where we can find also Freud’s point of view and other theorists where they try to explain the concepts of “anxiety” and “fear”. Later, we find Schaffer and Emerson whom did a studio with sixty babies to see the measure of anxiety they could experiment. No less important is when a child start to go to school. There is going to be a separation of the child from their family so as a result fears and anxiety can also be found in early ages. The main point of attachment theory is that mothers who take care and are responsible with their infants’ needs creates at the same time a base of security for the child. All these points will be discussed through the topic. Psychologist John Bowlby was the first attachment theorist who...
Words: 1876 - Pages: 8
...Influence of early attachment relationship on development Introduction: It is understood, through lifespan psychology, that the psychological development of an individual is a process that continues throughout an individual's life, this development consists of both internal and external dynamics. The well theorised theme of attachment forms the basis of this study. Attachment focuses on the formation of early relationships and their influence on later developmental outcomes. The social constructionist perspective explores "how knowledge about sex and gender has been constructed within particular historical and social contexts" (Wood et al 2007) this perspective assumes that the knowledge comes from social contexts and is evidenced predominately by an individual's use of language. This study explores the paradigm of attachment from the social constructionist perspective. The paradigm of attachment is concerned with a "strong, ongoing emotional bond between two people" (Wood et al 2007) and suggests that attachment is fundamental to emotional, social and cognitive progression. Bowlby, an attachment theorist purports that attachment is a survival instinct in infancy, and once established it remains relatively fixed throughout life. Positive attachments created in vertical relationships, that is an "attachment to someone who has greater knowledge or social power - a typical example is a child's relationship with a parent or a teacher" (Wood et al 2007) forms a secure foundation...
Words: 2168 - Pages: 9
...Bowlby's Ethological Theory of Attachment Bowlby’s theory of attachment suggests that children come into the world biologically pre-programmed to form attachments with others, because this will help them to survive. He also believed that attachment behaviors are instinctive and will be activated by any conditions that seen to threaten the achievement of proximity, such as separation, insecurity and fear. (McLeod, 2007) He believed that infants are born with the need to attach to a caregiver. He suggested it is the child’s need for response and caring from the adults rather that of the feeding or changing. The baby and the immediate caregiver form a bond that is a basis for relationships as the child grows; it can either be secure or unsecure. Attachment develops in four phases: Preattachment phase (birth to 6 weeks), Attachment in the Making phase (6 weeks to 6-8 months), Clear Cut phase (6-8 months to 18 months), and Formation of a reciprocal relationship (18 months to 2 years and on). (Berk, 2014, p. 196) At the first stage between birth to 6 weeks, there is no formal attachment. The newborn does recoginize features and senses the mother, but also does not reject new caretakers. During the next few months of infancy, the baby becomes more self aware and can inititate a response from the caregiver. Bowlby called this a sense of trust. (Berk, p. 196) Even at this phase, the infant will not get upset when away from the caregiver. Between 8 months and 2 years the...
Words: 581 - Pages: 3
