Attachment theory suggests that a child’s attachment style with caregivers can have lifelong effects. The more reliable and comforting the caregiver, the more confident the child will feel. Mary Ainsworth’s “strange situation” experiment identified four attachment types: secure, anxious-resistant, insecure anxious-avoidant, and disorganized. Critics argue that attachment style does not necessarily prevent forming attachments with others.
Attachment theory is a psychological concept that states that the type of attachment style that children form with caregivers can cause important lifelong effects. “Attachment” refers to the emotional bond a child forms with their primary caregivers. According to this theory, the more reliable and comforting the caregiver is, the more likely the child is to feel confident in other people and safe in her environment.
British psychologist John Bowl first invented attachment theory in 1969. He was primarily interested in child development and through his research came to the conclusion that children require the attention and help of reliable and trustworthy caregivers during times when children feel scared or helpless. If caregivers don’t respond adequately to children during these times, according to Bowlby, children won’t feel protected or secure, and those feelings of insecurity will affect their social interactions with others as they develop.
Canadian psychologist Mary Ainsworth has expanded upon the foundations of Bowle’s attachment theory and developed an experiment known as the “strange situation.” This is a procedure where you watch a child play for about 20 minutes. During this period of time, the child’s caregiver systematically leaves and returns. The child’s reactions are carefully observed to see how he behaves when he is the caregiver during periods of separation and reunion.
It was concluded that children tend to fall into one of four attachment types. “Secure attachment” describes a child who is anxious when the caregiver leaves but is content when the caregiver returns. This type of attachment means that the child trusts the caregiver. “Anxious-Resistant Insecure Attachment” is when a child is extremely upset when the caregiver leaves, but acts resistant or angry when the caregiver returns and shows attention; this is thought to be the result of a caregiver being attentive only at times when it is convenient for him or her.
Another type of attachment is “insecure anxious-avoidant attachment,” or a child who seems distant from his caregiver and ignores the caregiver during a meeting. This usually occurs when a caregiver is often inattentive and the child feels that the interaction is useless in meeting her needs. The final style is called “disorganized attachment,” in which an infant is distraught when separated from his or her caregiver and may freeze, rock back and forth, or even hit each other when reunited; children whose caregivers experienced severe trauma and became depressed around the time the child was born tend to be more likely to have this type of attachment.
Critics of attachment theory often argue that there is no evidence that a child’s attachment style with his or her caregiver prevents the child from forming attachments with friends or lovers. Critics may believe that insecure attachments may lead a person to be more desperate to form a secure attachment with another person since she has never been able to experience it with a caregiver.
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