Types of Attachment

Types of Attachment

1. Types of attachment can be secure or insecure

   • Secure - strong bond between child and caregiver, if separated child becomes distressed; when reunited they are easily comforted (secure is associated with healthy cognitive and emotional development
   • Insecure avoidant (type A) - if separated from caregiver the child does not become distressed and can be comforted by a stranger (type of attachment displayed by children that avoid social interaction and intimacy)
   • Insecure Resistant (Type C) - often uneasy around caregiver but becomes upset when separated. comfort can't be given by strangers and is often resisted by caregiver. (kids with this attachment accept and reject social interaction and intimacy)
   • Causes of attachment types may be due to sensitivity of their carers and their temperament

2. Strange Situation Research

   • Ainsworths Strange Situation (1978) - Method: controlled observation, 12-18 month olds were left in room with their mother. 8 different scenarios occurred e.g. being approached by a stranger, infant being left alone, mother returning. Results: 15% were Insecure-avoidant (type A), 70% were securely attached (Type B) and 15% were Insecure-resistant (Type C). Conclusion: infants showing different reactions to their carers had different types of attachment.
     • Variables were controlled, increases reliability of results.
     • Lab experiment so low ecological validity
     • demand characteristics as mothers may have changed behaviour as they know they are being observed
     • mother may have not been main attachment
     • new situation in experiment may have affected child's behaviour. may not represent the real life behaviour of the child; low mundane realism
   • Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) - Meta-analysis of 32 strange situation studies in different countries (Japan, Britain, Sweden etc.) analysed to find patterns. Results: percentages of kids classified as secure and insecure were similar between countries, more variety inside the individual countries (most common type of insecure attachment in west was avoidant - germany had highest proportion - in other countries the dominant insecure was resistant - japan had highest proportion. Conclusion: cross cultural similarities in regards to child rearing.
     • children bought up differently depending on culture, might be responsible for distribution of attachment types.
     • assumes different countries is the same as different cultures (there are hundreds of distinct cultures in china alone)
     • meta analysis hides individual unusual or interesting results
     • strange situation is american design and may not be good way of measuring in other countries.
     • idea of secure attachment is imposed etic as assumes it is the best one but may not be best in other cultures.
     • Grossman et al (1985) - germans may have highest rate for insecure avoidant due value germans put on independence, may be good in their culture
   • doesn't illustrate characteristics of the child, just their relationship and responses to their mother (may not even be their main attachment)

3. Disruption of Attachment

   • Separation: when a child is away from an attached caregiver for a short space of time
     • Robertson and Robertson (1968) - Method: Naturalistic observation of children who experienced short separations (observed and filmed), one 18 month old called john was admitted into residential nursery for 9 days whilst mother was in labour. Results: first 2 days john protested bc of separation from mother, he then tried to get attention from nurses however they were busy so he gave up; then started showing signs of detachment (more active and content than he had been) when mother returned he was reluctant to be affectionate. Conclusion: short term separation had negative effects and may have caused long term damage to attachment with his mother
       • john's behaviour could have other sources e.g. strange location or less attention
       • poor control of variables, not reliable or replicable
       • high ecological validity as naturalistic
         • makes study even less reliable
   • Deprivation: loss of mother or attachment figure, long term and permanent
     • Bowlby's deprivation Hypothesis - deprivation during critical period will have harmful effects to social, intellectual and emotional development. long term effects may include pronounced separation anxiety
       • Bowlby (1944) 44 thieves - Method:case studies of 44 juvenile thieves referred to clinic where bowlby worked, control of 44 non-thief kids. Results: 17 of 44 had experienced frequent separations with mother before age 2 compared to 2/44 in control; 14/44 were diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths, 12 of these 14 had experienced separation from mothers. Conclusion: deprivation of child from mother in early life can have long lasting consequences.
         • Correlation can be established but not causality.
         • other factors such as poverty may have caused stealing
         • case study; lots of detailed info
         • relies on retrospective data which can be unreliable
         • low internal validity as doesn't actually measure deprivation, rather measures separation which is shorter term
       • Goldfarb (1943) found that orphanage children who were socially and maternally deprived were later less intellectually and socially developed
         • may have been harmed by social deprivation rather than maternal
       • bowlby linked thieves behaviour to maternal deprivation but may have just been poverty
   • Bowlby assumed that effects of deprivation were irreversible however there is much evidence to the contrary
     • Skeels and Dye (1939) - found orphanage children who had been socially and maternally deprived during critical period quickly improved IQ scores if they were transferred to school with one to one care
     • Koluchova (1976) - czech twin boys whose mother had died, father remarried and stepmother treated them cruelly, often locked in cellar and were beaten. found with rickets and little social or intellectual development. later adopted and by adulthood had above average intelligence and had normal social relationships