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Lesson 5 Attachment Theory

Attachment Theory, developed by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, emphasizes the importance of the emotional bond between infants and their primary caregivers for healthy development. Secure attachment fosters trust, emotional regulation, and social skills, while insecure attachment can lead to various emotional and behavioral issues. Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) may arise from neglect or abuse, impacting a child's ability to form healthy relationships and manage emotions.

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10 views6 pages

Lesson 5 Attachment Theory

Attachment Theory, developed by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, emphasizes the importance of the emotional bond between infants and their primary caregivers for healthy development. Secure attachment fosters trust, emotional regulation, and social skills, while insecure attachment can lead to various emotional and behavioral issues. Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) may arise from neglect or abuse, impacting a child's ability to form healthy relationships and manage emotions.

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princemightyreyes
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© © All Rights Reserved
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LESSON 5: ATTACHMENT THEORY

INTRODUCTION:
A deep emotional connection that an infant forms with his primary caregiver is
called infant attachment. It is a bond that ties an infant with the caregiver often the
mother, endures over time and leads the infant to feel pleasure, comfort and safety
while in the caregiver’s company. If the person is absent, the baby feels distress.
Soothing, comforting and providing pleasure are the elements of relationships that
enable an infant to feel secure in the presence of the caregiver
What is Attachment Theory?

Attachment Theory was developed by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth in the
early 1950’s studied the realms of attachment and bonding between an infant and his or
her primary caregivers. The theory gives emphasis on the crucial and influential effect of
attachment in an infant's development as the basis for his or her coping mechanism,
establishing relationships, and the formation of personality. In this theory, attachment
refers to a relationship that surfaced over time from a history of caregiver-infant
interaction. As adults nurture and interact with infants during the first year of life, infants
organize their behaviour around their caregivers.

What is attachment?
Attachment is a phenomenon which involves physiological, emotional, cognitive
and social processes. Since the baby manifests instinctual attachment attitudes through
giving signals from the caregiver, the process of attachment is defined as a mutual
regulatory system in which the baby and the caregiver have a significant impact on one
another over time. The presence of the caregiver gives the feeling of safety and security
for the infant. Upon building this relationship, the preference tends to remain stable and
turn to attachment behaviour to a new strange person becomes more difficult.
Some theorists claim that the attachment system progressed to make sure that
infant and caregivers remain physically close and to protect the infant. Caregiver who is
stronger and wiser has the capability to keep the infant safe, comfort him or her and to
provide security. Research has shown that infants instinctively reach out for safety and
security while caregivers instinctively protect and nurture their children. Children who
begin their lives with the important basis of secure attachment are better in all aspects
of functioning as they develop.
Attachment is the development of a mutual tie in which through interaction and
relationship established, the primary caregiver influences infant development. Infants
find it difficult to regulate themselves and are overwhelmed by different emotions
without the presence of their caregivers. In the absence of the caregivers, they are
unable to keep themselves in balance as they lack the skills to control their emotions.
They solely rely on the primary caregivers to help them navigate the world. The primary
caregivers act as the secure base while the infants form essential skills of self-
protection and intimacy. There are important functions that can help to secure
attachment between infant and his or her caregiver

● Learning basic trust to secure future emotional relationship


● Developing healthy intellectual and social through exploration of
environment with feelings of safety and security
● Effective management of impulses and emotions through developing the
ability to control behaviour
● Establishing healthy ground for the development of identity which includes
a sense of stability, self-worth and a balance between dependence and
interdependence.
● Developing moral framework that leads to empathy, compassion and
conscience
● Setting a core of beliefs
● Protecting against stress and trauma

Children will manifest different attachment styles which can determine their
feeling of security or insecurities. A child who possesses a secure style shows
consistent connection with the caregivers, established sense of trust and nurturing
response while insecure styles of attachment have features of instability.

Infancy
During the infancy stage, several milestones occur as infants establish
relationships with their primary caregiver. These milestones include the following:

0-2 months: Infants show little observable preferences towards their caregivers,
however the warm, sensitive and reliable responses of the caregiver set the stage for
the developing attachment relationship.

2-7 months: Infants still do not display solid preferences. However, they interact in
different ways with the primary caregiver than they do with the strangers.

4- 6 months: Infants are starting to develop expectations of how their primary


caregivers will respond to them when they are distressed.

7- 12 months: Infants are capable of displaying definite preference for their primary
caregiver. They begin to exhibit a wariness of strangers and symptoms of separation
anxiety.

Toddlers 12- 18 months: Children use their attachment figure in order to go out and
discover the world. The secure histories of children allow them to be enthusiastic and
competent in using their problem-solving skills.

How Insecure Attachment develops among children?

Insecure attachment develops when the primary caregiver does not consistently
respond in a warm and affectionate way to meet the needs of the infant. The three
primary insecure types are the following:

1. Resistant Attachment

This is characterized by emotional doubts in the child and physical resistance to


the primary caregiver. Unfamiliar settings cause the infants to be hesitant to be
separated with the primary caregiver and for them to display anxiety and distress.
Children demonstrate anger towards their caregivers and enable them to express their
need for comfort. This type of insecure attachment indicates the risk of having
emotional, social and behavioural problems in childhood and later in life.
2. Avoidant Attachment

This type of insecure attachment is an active avoidance of the primary caregiver


when the infant is upset. The babies readily want to explore and may be more
affectionate with strangers rather than their own mother. The child manifests the desire
to be distant from the primary caregivers.

3. Disorganized Attachment

This type of insecure attachment develops when the primary caregiver


consistently fails to respond appropriately to their child’s distress, needs and feeling of
fear. This leaves the child to be unsure of how the caregiver will respond to their needs
which result in making the child’s instinct conflicted. They would like to seek support and
security from the caregiver but they are also scared of them.

Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD)

We discussed that attachment is a deep connection established between a child


and the primary caregiver who contributes and affects the child’s development.
Attachment of the child to the caregiver also influences the ability of the child to express
his or her emotions and to build meaningful relationships later in life.
Attachment issues are problems that can be from mild that can easily addressed
to the most serious form. This is known as reactive attachment disorder (RAD). This
disorder is a condition wherein the child is unable to establish healthy attachments with
the primary caregiver. Such disorder may result in difficulty connecting with others and
managing their emotions, leading to lack of trust and self-worth, being afraid to get close
to anyone, and need to be in control. The child with RAD feels unsafe and alone and
experiences struggles relating with others. They are also often to have developmental
delays. Reactive attachment disorder is common in children who experienced abuse,
bounced around in foster care, lived in orphanages or separated from their primary
caregiver after establishing a bond. However, no matter how insecure and frustrated the
child is, it is still possible to repair an attachment disorder through being patient and
loving in order to develop a healthy relationship with them. Reactive attachment
disorder happens when:

⮚ A child cries and no one responds


⮚ A child is hungry or wet and no one attended to his or her needs
⮚ No one is paying attention and he or she feels alone
⮚ A child is mistreated or abused
⮚ The child is separated from parents
⮚ The parents are emotionally absent because of their own reasons and illness.

There are times that certain circumstances that cause attachment problems are
inevitable, but the child is too young to realize the reasons behind. For a child, it just
feels that no one cares that leads to losing trust in others and the world becomes an
unsafe place.

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