The quality of the infant-parent attachment is a powerful predictor of a child’s later social and emotional outcome and a normally developing child should develop an attachment relationship with any caregiver who provides regular physical

Requirements for Assignment, 750 words

Part 1                                         400 words

Requirements

The quality of the infant-parent attachment is a powerful predictor of a child’s later social and emotional outcome and a normally developing child should develop an attachment relationship with any caregiver who provides regular physical and/or emotional care, regardless of the quality of that care  is which inherently is sad. Because of these children develop attachment relationships even with the most neglectful and abusive caregiver. Therefore, the question is never, ‘is there an attachment between this parent and this child?’ But, instead, the question is, ‘what is the quality of the attachment between this parent and this child?’

Part 2                            350 words                               (critical review of Article)

• considering the theory which you have read in this article, write critical review and answer, why you agree with this article described below
• be sure to support any claims and/or assumptions you make using the academic literature you researched.
• in the end of this Assignment – part 2, you must add minimum 2 questions and to give a chance a writer of this article to reply.

• REFERENCES ALL TOGETHER IN THE END OF THIS ASSIGNMENT

Article for Part 2 of this Assignment

Attachment theory from an evolutionary perspective posits the innate mother-infant relationship as a reciprocal interaction that is paramount to the fragile new-born infant’s survival, with the formation of self-identity, overall psychological well-being and development of interpersonal skills as an adult (Gervai, 2009). Bowlby believed maternal attachment in infancy and childhood to be fundamental to how an individual builds an understanding of their environment and the ‘scripts’ from which direct relationships with others throughout their lifetime (Malekpour, 2007). Ainsworth posits secure base attachment behaviour occurs when the caregiver meets both the physiological and psychological needs of the infant; as the child learns that the mother represents a place of safety and nurture (Boyd and Bee, 2006). The first attachment in a human’s life forms the basis for all other relationships, a concept supported by both Freud and Erikson with the establishment of trust (Gross, 1996). It is critical to note that abused children will still demonstrate strong attachments with abusive parents, driven by the anxiety of rejection; empirically evidenced in studies by Rosenblum and Harlow (1963), as cited in Gross (1996); the infant monkeys still sought proximity by clinging to the ‘abusive’ cloth monkey mothers who had repeatedly rejected them by blasting them with air, this was then further replicated with ‘rejected’ mother monkeys, revealing similar results.    

Emotional regulation is shaped in early childhood through observation and modelling of the behaviours of close family members and peers who present as role models to the child (Arnett, 2012). A meta-analysis of studies of n= 28, 097 children evidenced positive parenting styles as critical in reducing adolescent relational aggression (R.A), with both strict and detached parenting exacerbating incidences of R.A; critically, paternal psychologically controlling parenting yielded positive association to R.A whereas the maternal aspect of this parenting style did not (Kawabata, Alink, Tseng, van IJzendoorn, and Crick, 2011). A study of 380 adolescents in Tehran, evidence cultural differences as bearing influence on findings in maternal authoritarian parenting style, which uncovered a positive correlation for aggression, however, both the authoritative and indulgent forms bore negative correlations (Lotfi Azimi, Vaziri, and Lotfi Kashani, 2012).

Evaluation of attachment theory reveals a gender bias as the emphasis is upon the mother-infant dyad, ignoring the importance of father-child attachment particularly in females; it is theorised that girls forge perceptions and expectations of male behaviours based upon their interactions with their fathers in childhood (Hetherington, 1972). The 1972 study is potentially unreliable when one considers the difficulty in extrapolating factors that hold any significance for generalization from a sample size of only 24 girls (Faber and Fonseca, 2014). By the age of 5 years, children can differentiate emotional responses and the reason for the evocation of different emotions (Arnett, 2012). One therefore suggests, the 1972 study still yields credence, as the findings indicated that where the divorced father left the family home, in those females, there occurred higher rates of delinquency and proximity seeking behaviours toward males; conversely, daughters whose fathers had died displayed none of the adverse behaviours; instead appearing introverted and reluctant to interact with males (Hetherington, 1972). Furthermore, contemporary studies strongly indicate that paternal absence is a precursor to premature sexual activity and pregnancy in teenage girls, however, other contributing factors include personality, socio-economic stressors, conflict between family members and poor parenting (Ellis et al., 2003).