812371
| Question | Answer |
| Attachment: the effects of disruption of attachment SHORT TERM | -the SHORT TERM effects of disruption -many children experience short-term separations from their attachment figure during their early childhood. -the separations can be planned, for example; if the child's mother goes into hospital to have another baby or it is unplanned, such as if a parent falls ill. -once children have formed their first attachment at around 8-9 months, they are likely to respond to separation from their attachment figure with a behaviour pattern characterised by 3 stages (also referred to as PDD). |
| Protest | PROTEST- the child cries, screams and protests angrily when the parent leaves. They are likely to try and cling to the parent and may struggle to escape from others who pick them up. |
| Despair | DESPAIR- after a while, the child's angry protest begins to subside and they appear calmer although still upset. The child is likely to refuse others attempts to comfort them and they may appear to be withdrawn and uninterested in anything. |
| Detachment | DETACHMENT- if the separation continues the child may begin to engage with other people again although they may be wary. They are likely to reject the caregiver when they return and show signs of anger. |
| Research into separation | A study into the effects of disruption of attachment -James and Joyce Robertson (Robertson and Robertson) 1971- JOHN -the Robertson's filmed various children under the age of 3 during short separations. -1 boy John, spent 9 days in a residential nursery. -his mother had gone into hospital to have another baby. |
| Research into separation | -John demonstrated PROTEST when...- he cried and shouted at the nurse -day 2 onwards- when his father went to leave, John was tearful and struggled to try and go with him. -left alone- he became tearful again. John demonstrated DESPAIR when ..... -day 7- he wasn't playing or eating and made few demands -hardly any response to nurses when being comforted -after his father's visit- John was inconsolable John demonstrated DETACHMENT when.... -day 9 -mother came to take John home -John started throwing himself about and crying loudly -John struggled, screamed and ran away to Joyce. -preferred to be with his father. |
| How to IMPROVE on the possible effects of disruption | -several other children were filmed while Joyce Robertson , a foster mother, cared for them in her own home. -she arranged for the children to visit their mothers in hospital and to bring things from home with them, thus maintaining emotional bonds with home during separation. -they were therefore looked after by the same carer each day. -these children ate well while staying in foster care, and welcomed their parents at the end of their stay. |
| Summary on improving the experience of separation | 1. have one main caregiver/nurse if the child's only option is a nursery home. 2. the child could take an item from home to remind him/her of their family/parents/home. e.g. blanket or a photo 3. if another family member is able to provide care for the set period of time, do so instead of residential nursery care- home environment 4. visit the parents/mother in hospital if possible -e.g. phone call/ video call (actually see their faces) |
| Facts about John's stay in nursery home | -it was a residential nursery in 1969 -naturalistic observation -John was 17 months old at the time -no nurses had responsibility for John's care, it was all duties. DAY 1- friendly- but shouted when left alone DAY 2- tearful when being left alone DAY 3-5- increasingly distressed- unresponsive DAY 6- father visited (missed 2 days)- anger when father left DAY 7-8- despair- no playing/eating, no response- inconsolable DAY 9- mother came to take John home- he cried, struggled , screamed and ran away from her towards Joyce.R John's distress was largely caused by Bond Disruption -Robertson's recorded observations in a systematic way -both supports and challenges Bolwby's (1951) maternal deprivation hypothesis |
| Attachment: the effects of disruption of attachment LONG TERM | Separation anxiety -one longer term effect of disruption is separation anxiety. -this may persist long after the separation is over and is shown by a range of behaviours: |
| 1. Extreme clinginess | -the child may 'cling' whenever the parent attempts to leave them even in situations such as nursery where they have been happy to be left before. -they may become clingy in anticipation of separation, -e.g. when a baby-sitter is due to arrive. |
| 2. detachment | -the child may appear to be detached from the caregiver and refuse to be cuddled or hugged. -this behaviour may be designed to protect them from being hurt again if they are left. -many children alternate between detachment and clinginess, making it difficult for parents to predict how they will behave. |
| 3. demanding | -the child may become more demanding of their attachment figure |
| Evaluation of disruption of attachment | -there are factors that affect a child's response to separation -young children do not always respond in the same way to short separations. |
| Factors 1. the AGE of the child | -response is strongest between the ages of about 12 and 18 months. -Schaffer and Callender (1959) studied the behaviour of 76 babies aged between 3 and 51 weeks of age who were admitted to a children's hospital. -they found that children younger than 7 months showed minimal upset, adjusted to hospital well and showed little clinginess. -after this age, the strength of the child's response increased up to about 18 months with the most severe reaction being shown between 12 and 18 months. -this may be related to the development of the child's language skills as well as the ability to understand that the attachment figure will return (Maccoby, 1980). |
| Factors 2. the type of attachment | -a securely attached child is more likely to cope better with short separations than a child with an insecure-resistant attachment type. -this may be because of their belief that the mother figure will return (Barrett 1997) |
| Factors 3. the sex of the child | -boys seem to respond more strongly to separations than girls, although there are wide differences within as well as between sexes. |
| Factors 4. whom the child is left with and the quality of care they receive | -we have noted that many children older than about 10 months have multiple attachments. -if a child is left with another attachment figure such as a grandparent, the effects of disruption may be minimal. |
| Factors 5. experience of previous separation | -the child who is accustomed to brief separations such as being left at a playgroup or with grandparents is likely to respond less strongly than the child who is very rarely separated from their attachment figure -Japanese- bad reactions, English-better reactions (cultural variations) |
| Failure to form attachment (privation) | Definition of privation: the lack of any attachment at all in early attachment |
| Research into the effects of privation The 'Czech Twins' (Koluchova 1972) | BACKGROUND -this involves identical twin boys born in 1960 who lost their mother shortly after birth and were cared for in an institution for a year before being fostered by an aunt for a further 6 months. -their father then remarried and the twins were reared by a cruel stepmothers who kept them locked in a dark, cold closet the whole time and beat them regularly. EFFECTS- -when rescued at the age of 7, the boys were severely retarded and had no speech. -they were terrified of adults. -after 2 years of intensive institutional care including physiotherapy, speech therapy and psychotherapy, a pair of exceptionally caring and attentive sisters fostered the boys. -by the age of 14, they showed no social-emotional or intellectual deficits. -by the age of 20, they both showed above average intelligence and were working and experiencing successful romantic relationships. -they both had successful relationships and careers as reported by Clarke and Clarke in 1998 -therefore, the effects of severe early privation were overcome by careful nurturing. |
| Evaluation of Czech twins STRENGTHS | -this study has high ecological validity because it is a real life example of privation. -this is a strength because the study can't have any risk of demand characteristics or extraneous variables affecting things because it is real life. -confident that the results found are accurate representations of the real effects of privation -could be generalised to other real life situations |
| Evaluation of the Czech twins STRENGTH | -this study has resulted in a unique opportunity to study a unique individual in great detail, using a case study methodology. -this is a strength because it provides researchers with a richness of data. -this is beneficial because privation is a rare and complex issue, it can not be effectively studied by numbers alone.= it was studied in great detail. |
| Evaluation of the Czech twins WEAKNESS | -it could be argued that the Czech twins is not a clear cut case of privation -there are several reasons which question whether they actually suffered from privation as 1 year and 6 months of their lives were in good, stable care. -the twins had each other, they received exceptional care from their aunt. -they went to an institution and rescued at an early age of 7. -this is a weakness because it raises Q's as to whether the study should be considered as an e.g. of privation. |
| Evaluation of the Czech twins WEAKNESS | - it cannot be replicated -it is unethical to deny any child of an attachment -this is a weakness because it makes it harder to make any firm conclusions about the results as we are not able to test for reliability. |
| More research The case of Genie (Curtiss, 1977) | BACKGROUND -Genie was discovered and rescued at the age of 13 years old. -when she was discovered she was severely undernourished, could not stand properly or walk normally, and did not know how to control her bowels. -she could not understand any language, and could not speak. -following her discovery she was adopted by psychologists who researched her at the same time as giving her intensive help in developing language skills, teaching her to walk, and trying to educate her. EFFECTS -when found she showed developmental dwarfism- she was only 4 feet and 6 inches tall -she did learn to control her bowels and to walk more or less normally after being given some care. -she improved quickly in some areas, but her language did not develop properly, and she never got beyond communicating using basic speech e.g. 'go store bananas' for 'we need to go to the store to buy some bananas. -by the age of 18 Genie could only produce short sentences. -she could hold a conversation but only those who knew her well could understand much of what she said. -she developed attachments to her foster carers, but as she grew older she was moved to a succession of short-term foster homes, in some of which she was mistreated. -these further negative experiences did then result in difficulties forming attachments with others. |
| Evaluation of Genie STRENGTH | -this study has resulted in a unique opportunity to study a unique individual in great detail, using a case study methodology. -this is a strength because it provides researchers with a richness of data. -this is beneficial because privation is a rare and complex issue, it can not be effectively studied by numbers alone.= it was studied in great detail. |
| Evaluation of Genie WEAKNESS | -a weakness of studying a unique case such as Genie's, may not be generalisable to the whole population. -this is because it is only based on 1 girl, so it can't be generalised to other children, as they may not have the same effects as her. -this is therefore a weakness because it can't be generalised, so other people could react differently- other genders, ages. |
| Evaluation of Genie WEAKNESS | -it is not known what UNDERLYING ABNORMALITIES Genie may have had when she was born. -her father stated that she was 'mentally retarded' but we only have his word for that. -we can never know, therefore, if Genie failed to develop skills in all areas including language because of her privation or because she was born with an underlying learning difficulty. -this is clearly a weakness because we are unclear of the cause and effect relationship. -this cannot be established, so we don't know the real effects. -the underlying problem could be a confounding variable =abnormality. |
| Research into the effects of institutional care | -due to certain early experiences in childhood, e.g. family breakdown or an inability of a caregiver to look after their child, some children end up experiencing privation. -this could either involve institutional care, which can include children's homes or orphanages, or children could be neglected or abandoned and experience a complete lack of both physical and emotional care. -these children may not then have the opportunity to form attachments with a main care giver. |
| Study: Rutter et al (2007) | AIM: to compare disinhibited (behaviour shown by children raised in an institution) attachment behaviour in Romanian orphans and UK-born adoptees. METHOD: 2 groups of children were followed over 11 years to see if they displayed disinhibited attachment behaviour GROUP 1- UK-born adoptees who were placed with UK families before 6 months of age. GROUP 2- Romanian orphans who entered the orphanage between 1 and 2 weeks old who were later adopted by UK families. -58 babies were adopted before they were 6 months old and 59 babies were adopted between 6 and 24 months of age. -at the time of adoption the Romanian orphans had suffered extreme physical and emotional privation. Romania= poor country and poor conditions RESULTS: these show disinhibited attachment behaviour in the children aged 6 years old. UK adoptees- 2 (3.8%) Romanian adopted before 6 months- 4 (8.9%) Romanian adopted 6-24 months- 23 (26.1%) Romanian children showed more disinhibited behaviour than UK adoptees even when they both were adopted before the age of 6 months old. -UK adoptees showed the least amount of disinhibited behaviour. -the Romanian adoptees who were adopted between the ages of 6 and 24 months old showed the most amount of disinhibited behaviour. Long term effects -54% (over half of them) of the Romanian children who showed mild or marked disinhibited attachment at the age of 6 still showed a disinhibited attachment aged 11. CONCLUSION: disinhibited attachments are more likely in children who are older in age and who have been living in poor, unpleasant living conditions. = physical and emotional privation |
| Evaluation of Rutter et al STRENGTH | -high ecological validity -because it was a natural exp -real children suffering from physical and emotional privation in a Romanian orphanage were compared with UK born adoptees to see if they displayed disinhibited attachment behaviour once they had been adopted. -therefore the results reflect the real world and children's natural reactions to events in their lives. |
| Evaluation of Rutter et al WEAKNESS | -it was a natural exp. -the researcher had very little control over variables as the situation was real and occurred naturally. -due to this lack of control it is difficult to determine what causes the children to display disinhibited attachment behaviour. -there could be other extraneous variables (relationship with new family) that influence this type of attachment to form -e.g. the adoptive parents of the children born in the UK and the adoptive parents of the children form Romania may have behaved differently towards the children and this difference in behaviour may have encouraged the children's disinhibited attachments to form. -therefore it is difficult to generalise the results to other children who have experienced institutional care. |
| Study: Tizard and Hodges (1984 and 1989) | AIM: to examine long-term effects of emotional privation on adopted children who were brought up in a children's home until they were at least 4 years old. METHOD: 65 children were raised in a home where the physical care was good, but the staff were discouraged from forming attachments to the children. -by the time the children were 2 years old, they had on average 24 carers. at age 4, 25 of the children were restored to their birth parents, 33 were adopted and the remaining 7 remained in care. -some of the children were followed up at ages 8 and 16. RESULTS: at the age of 8, up to 6 years after leaving the institution, 'over friendliness' and a great desire for adult attention were still common among the ex-institutional group. -this was despite the fact that most children, including several placed in families after the age of 4 1/2 had formed strong attachments to their parents. -as at age 4, such attachments were more commonly found between children and adoptive parents than between restored children and biological or step parents. -at 8 years of age, as well as these peculiarities of social behaviour in relation to adults, the ex-institutional children tended to be quarrelsome and unpopular with other children. -this had also been true of the institutionalised children at age 4. -at age 8 and age 16, the majority of the adopted children (over 80%) generally had good attachments to their parents and close family relationships, whereas this was true for only around half of the restored children. -both the restored and adopted children struggled with relationships with peers and were less likely to have a best friend. CONCLUSION: the study gives evidence that children who in their first years if life are deprived of close and lasting attachments to adults can make such attachments later. -but these do not arise automatically and depend rather on the adults concerned and how much they nurture such attachments. -yet, despite these attachments, certain differences and difficulties in social relationships can still remain, and since they affect relationships with peers, as well as with adults outside the family, they may have implications for the future adult relationships of people who have early experiences of emotional privation. =longitudinal study- continuous and repeated observations of the same variables over a long period of time |
| Evaluation of Tizard and Hodges STRENGTH | -longitudinal study (following the children for a long period of time -up to 16 years) -the children's progress was followed from when they were less than 4 months old, until they were 16 years old. -this is a strength because we are able to investigate the possible long term effects of emotional privation on the attachment behaviour of the children who have been in institutional care. |
| Evaluation of Tizard and Hodges STRENGTH | -high ecological validity -because it was a natural exp. -real children suffering from emotional privation in a children's home were followed to see if they developed an attachment once they left institutional care. -this is a strength because the results reflect the real world and children's natural reactions to events in their lives. |
| Evaluation of Tizard and Hodges WEAKNESS | -some of the Pps dropped out of the study -in this study 65 children were originally studied, however only 51 children were studied aged 8. -this is a weakness because those who were less well adjusted could have dropped out leaving the study with a biased sample. -if the study sample is biased the researchers have to be careful about what conclusions they can draw about institutional care. |
| Evaluation of Tizard and Hodges WEAKNESS | - it is was a natural exp. -the researcher had very little control over variables such as their school experience. -this is because the situation was real and occurred naturally. -due to this lack of control it is difficult to determine what causes the children to form an attachment. -there could be several other extraneous variables that influenced the attachment to form e.g. the children who were adopted may have been more socially skilled and therefore better able to form relationships with their adoptive parents. |
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