Safe Haven - Returning to the attachment figure for comfort and safety in the face of a fear or threat. Secure Base - The attachment figure acts as a base of security from which the child can explore the surrounding environment. Separation Distress - Anxiety that occurs in the absence of the attachment figure. Erik Erikson Erik Erikson was a psychoanalyst who developed the theory of psychosocial development. He was born on June 15,
Also this essay will discuss the impact on children and adults of disrupted attachment and separation. Bowlby’s theory of attachment is the idea that children form a two way attachment with their primary caregiver, and this relationship should be warm, intimate and continuous in order for the child to develop properly. Bowlby believed that the relationship between a mother or primary caregiver and their child was most crucial during the first 18 to 24 months of life and that is, was this time, which affected later socialisation. He also thought that there was a sensitive period in the first few years of life and if an attachment was not formed. In addition he suggested the idea of monotropy, which is the suggestion that infants tend to direct attachment behaviours towards a single attachment figure, and that there is one special bond and this is typically between a mother and its child.
These include safety, where the child will feel safe in their attachment to their mother but separation will lead to anxiety. Also it is seen as a safe base for the infant as they feel they have a safe place to return to. This also leads onto the independent working model, which based on freuds idea of the mother and child relationship, bowlbys believes that the first attachment forms a relationship template that allows the child to understand a relationship and the future be able to form a comfortable relationship they and familiar of. This relates to bowlbys continuity hypothesis, where the internal working model ensures that attachments will be reflected in relationships in the persons later life. For example if a child has insecure attachments as a child, this would lead to be shown in difficulties with later relationships.
Bowlby argued that attachment was an "evolved mechanism;" an innate response that ensured the survival of the child. Bowlby argued that the first attachment between a baby and its caregiver provided the child with an internal working model. This is referred to as the continuity hypothesis and it gives the child an idea of themselves as lovable (or not) and of other people as trustworthy (or not.) Bowlby suggested the idea of monotropy in his attachment theory; the idea that an attachment to a single caregiver provides the experience of an intense emotional relationship and forms the basis of the internal working model; it is the schema a child has for forming future relationships, both socially and personally. He also described social releasers; sucking, smiling, crying and cuddling.
In response to fear, children develop patterned behaviors in order to manage the stress, difficulty, and overwhelming situations. Ainsworth and her colleagues (1978) along with Main and Solomon (1990) identified four types of attachment patterns in children: secure attachment, insecure-avoidant attachment, and insecure-ambivalent attachment, and disorganized-disoriented attachment. (See Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall (1978) and Main & Solomon (1990) for details on the four different attachment styles.) Attachment patterns formed in infancy remain relatively stable throughout childhood and adulthood (Hazan & Shaver, 1990). According to Bowlby (1973), a child’s attachment pattern forms in relationship to the primary caregiver and is usually generalized to subsequent relationships.
CBT 3 Cognitive behavioral therapy is generally psychotherapy and behavioral therapy combined. Psychotherapy expresses the importance of personal meaning and our thinking patterns which begin in the stage of childhood. Cognitive behavioral therapy also known as CBT is a short term psychotherapy treatment that uses a concrete approach to problem solving. Its goal is the change the process of thinking for people with difficulties and in bad situation and their behavior with is associated with distress. CBT is
According to Bowlby (1973) a strong emotional bond between the mother figure and the infant called attachment has the biological origin. He hypothesised that for the baby to survive, it has to for an attachment, it needs to have a secure base, from which it can explore the environment and in times of danger or distress, a base it can return to for comfort and security. Bowlby argued that lack of such a secure base leads to infant developing an extreme distress called by developmental psychologists a 'separation anxiety'. The research by Robertson and Robertson (1989) into parent-child separations when either a primary caregiver or a child becomes hospitalized validates Bowlby's reasoning. This idea of attachment as innate adaptation mechanism is also supported by Harlow's (1958) research on primates into maternal deprivation.
A person characteristically forms an attachment to their primary caregiver, in one of three ways that will affect their love relations. Secure attachment, as children the parents would be warm and responsive and secure children feel safe and comfortable, and are able to discover and build up new skills with minimum anxiety or concern (Bolt, 2004). A person with a secure style of attachment will have more pleasing and longer lasting relationships. Secure individuals are comfortable being close to their partners (Attachment Styles, or Comfort with Intimacy, Influence How People Behave, 2004). They are more accepting to depend on them, and they are comfortable being dependent on another individual.
He proposed a theory of continuation; individuals who are securely attached during infancy develop to be socially and emotionally competent in the future, on the other hand, insecurely attached children have more social and emotional difficulties later on in childhood and adulthood. The reason behind this is because the mother’s behaviour creates an internal working model of relationships that in effect leads the infants to expect the same in later relationships. According to Bowlby, children have an innate determination to become attached to a caregiver because it has long-term benefits as does Imprinting. This is because both attachment and imprinting ensures that a young child/animal stays close to a caregiver who can provide it with food, comfort and protection. In this way, attachment and imprinting are adaptive behaviours.
Though they begin to trust in these reactions, they still are not officially attached. • From 6-8 until somewhere between 18-24month, infants enter into phase three also is known as the “clear-cut” attachment phase. During this time there should be evidence in the infant’s behavior of attachment to their primary care givers. This attachment is proved by the serration anxiety that is experienced by most infants this age, it seems that it is at its worst somewhere between 6 and 15 months. Just like adults, all infants react differently in different situations and this is no different, some infants do not experience separation anxiety while