Comparing and Contrasting Harry Harlows and Diana Baumrinds Theories - Essay Example

Comparing and Contrasting Harry Harlow’s (1958) and Diana Baumrind’s (1967) Parenting Theories Introduction Parenting theory is mainly based on thestandards of development psychology and attachment theory. Generally, attachment theory holds it that during childhood, children form strong emotional bonds with their caregivers, the result always bearing long-term consequences. When caregivers neglect their children therefore, they (children) end up being insecure with high risks of developing mental health complications. Diana Baumrind’s theory of parenting (1967) groups parenting styles into three main models. Her claims are vital in establishing the impacts of parenting styles on the psychological development of the child. In addition, Harry Harlow’s 1958 attachment parenting perspective, based on John Bowlby’s attachment theory, enumerates the impact of mother-child relationship during early infancy for psychological development. To this end, there are several parenting contributions that can be drawn from attachment theory to make positive parenting interventions on the child’s development. In this discourse, a comparison of the two theorists’ approaches on parenting is made followed by contrasts drawn from their work. Harry Harlow’s Parenting Theory Rana (2007, p156) provides the relevance of attachment parenting as postulated by Harlow. To this end, both theories connect with the requirement of keeping in touch with relevant child development as raised in subsequent research. Subsequent research on the theory of parenting reveals that the implications of various perspectives adopted in bringing up children greatly impact on the development of personality and character of the individual. For purposes of theoretical integrity as argued by Henman (2005, p3), the appropriate parenting theory must highlight the basic requirement of keeping in touch with the intricacy of human development. The author reckons that the appropriate parenting theory must incorporate consciousness from a research to make contributions to parenting and child development. Attachment Parenting International (API) and other proponents of the theory proposed by Harlow have identified several elements upon which parenting must be founded for proper child development to be assured. Apparently, Harlow relied on the attachment theory formulated by Bowlby to come up with his parenting theory as noted by Ma (2006, p440). It is clear that John Bowlby had initiated research on the topic at around the same time and Harlow had to use certain attachment postulates from work by Bowlby to make parenting contributions (Ryan, 2008, para. 5). It is conspicuously clear that attachment parenting significantly gains direct analytical contributions from attachment theory developments since it is directly related to Bowlby’s line of thought that has generated much psychiatric interest. In fact, further research in attachment theory has developed attachment in adults creating a dynamic approach to child development even beyond childhood (Ma, 2006, p441). Although Harlow did not conduct studies directly on human beings, they were also conducted on infant subjects; rhesus monkeys (Ryan, 2008, para. 6). Similarly, it is a striking feature to highlight the role of the parent figure in the study, which implies that the parent is importantly involved in the psychological development of the child. In fact, Harlow’s attachment parenting approach accords a lot of interest on positive parenting interventions to a child’s development. Baumrind Parenting Theory Baumrind provides three parenting approaches in the initial version of her parenting theory. However, another approach has since been added to make it a total of four parenting models (Cherry, 2011, para. 3). Baumrind conducted her study on a sample of young children and involved their parents to draw inferences on the impact that the style of parenting had on individual children development (Cherry, 2011, para. 2). Several perspectives have come to exist in relation to attachment theory with proponents of the theory claiming that there are a number of attributes and interventions required during parenting for positive child development. This therefore implies that the parenting theories tend to support a multifaceted approach to parenting. Cherry (2011, para. 10) highlights specific implications of adopting a certain parenting approach from those postulated by Baumrind, in order to create the relevant link that parenting theory should with actual child development. Baumrind’s parenting approaches seem to have had little reliance on other related psychology literature. In fact, it can be argued that research on the perspectives that she formulated began to gain momentum from her work. The role of parenting theory as contributed by Baumrind appears to be built around the child-parent relationship in nearly as argued by Bowlby. Baumrind’s theory of parenting can be seen to indirectly support attachment theory despite the apparent distinction. In other words, attachment theory appears to be captured in a few aspects of Baumrind’s parenting perspectives that cover positive child development arising from the applied parenting style. Baumrind’s theory gives a list of behavioral classes that parents fall into with regard to the outcomes of child upbringing. In terms of the outcomes, the theory is keen to classify the behavioral orientation that the children adopt as influenced by the parent’s method of upbringing (Cherry, 2011, para. 1). The main point of distinction is the characterization of the parent’s mode of bringing up the child, which usually results in some impact on the development of the child as different attachment categories would indicate. While the role of Baumrind’s is not clear in clinical and psychological interventions, there is enough scientific success in the diagnosis and treatment of personality disorders arising from defective parenting through attachment and affect regulation (Adshead and Sarkar, 2006, p298). Comparison and Contrast between the Two Theories Parenting issues are handled by the two theories in several perspectives, with more than one approach being prescribed for the relevant parenting interventions. Further additional perspectives have emerged from continued research on the theoretical approaches that have made them multifaceted approaches. In the various parenting approaches analyses, it is evident that poor parenting results in defective behavior in children and several personality disorders can occur to this effect. As an example of the manifestation of defective attachment parenting, Adshead and Sarkar (2006, p298) explain that the disorganization of recommended theoretical parenting interventions causes serious development challenges. The authors reckon that there are huge costs in terms of psychiatric development as observed in primary care. It is therefore clear that parenting forms the earliest mother-to-child interaction and is founded on proximity as suggested by attachment theory. On the other hand, Cherry (2011, para. 8) highlights the consequences of adoption of the lower ranking alternatives as proposed by Baumrind. In light of the claims forwarded by the two theories, it is clear that the lack of proper parenting roles and interventions usually occasions troubled child development in terms of character formation and type personality. Both theories therefore prescribe parenting interventions against positive results upon compliance as well as possible consequences for failure to offer positive parenting. It is perhaps important to identify the distinct origins of Baumrind’s and Harlow’s approaches from previous or parallel studies that existed at the time of discovery. While successive studies have been emphasized in this discourse, particularly in terms of currency of the literature applied, it is important to mention prior studies due to the scope of the study. Perhaps the origin of the theoretical approaches proposed for parenting interventions can be used in the illustration of similarity between the two theories. Both studies were involved in establishing the intricate relationship that exists between the mother and the infant. One difference that can be isolated from the two theories is the nature of the scientific contribution that has been made to reveal the mechanisms of parenting roles in child development. While the origin of this might appear to remotely develop a different perspective, it should indicate the reliance of the attachment principles as Harlow does. Perhaps consolidating it in the analytical perspective can result in a clearer orientation in terms of the impact created by the parenting style regarding the actual development of the child. This implies that the difference in outcomes as well as working mechanisms of the two theories point at one approach. Analyzing these theories manifests some structural differences that are depicted in the substantive endeavor of the theories. While one of the theories is founded on the physical relationship between the parent and the child, the other is based on the psychological element of the relationship between the attachment figure and the child. As earlier noted, Baumrind’s theory lists a number of behavioral classes that parents fall into with regard to the outcomes of child upbringing. On the other hand, Ryan (2008, para. 11) enumerates the psychological approach that attachment theory makes of the suggestions forwarded by Bowlby. The author highlights the science of love as it is applied to the intricate interpretation of Harlow’s perspective of attachment parenting. In the study illustrated in the presentation made by Ryan (para. 12), it is clear that the behavior of the child takes center stage to draw important responses from the parent to condition the desired psychological development. Separately, Ma (2006, p440) explains the complexity of the individual actions of the parental interventions that parents accord children during infancy, and the role of such information in clinical therapy. Perhaps one of the striking differences between these parenting approaches is the application of the postulates in both infant and adult life as well as in the formulation of therapeutic interventions. While the role of Baumrind’s remains unclear in clinical and psychological interventions, there is sufficient scientific success in the diagnosis and treatment of personality disorders that come into being as a result of defective parenting through affect regulation and attachment (Adshead and Sarkar, 2006, p298). Conclusion In view of the parenting theories postulated by Harlow and Baumrind, the main themes of child development and parenting are sufficiently handled. Harlow’s account of attachment theory in parenting presents positive outcomes of child-mother or caregiver-child relationship to development. To this end, attachment parenting interventions to the child’s development are drawn to make positive development as advocated for by institutions such as Attachment Parenting International (Cherry, 2011, para. 4). On the other hand, Baumrind includes negative parenting attributes that are likely to affect a child’s development on the list of four parenting styles. Authoritarian and uninvolved parenting are likely to affect the child’s development as represented by the theorist, while authoritative and permissive parenting have a mixture of positives and negatives as analyzed from different perspectives (Cherry, 2011, para. 8). While the two theories include a number of parenting perspectives, Harlow’s attachment parenting theory attaches a lot of interest on positive parenting interventions toward the child’s development than Baumrind’s styles which also accounts on negative aspects of parenting interventions. References Adshead, G. & Sarkar, J. (2006) Personality disorders as disorganization of attachment and affect regulation. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 12, pp. 297-305 Cherry, K. Parenting Styles: The Four Styles of Parenting. [Online] Available from [Accessed 2 November 2011] Henman, R. (2005) Towards a Theory of Parenting: Recycling Self-discovery. [Online] Available from [Accessed 2 November 2011] Ma, K. (2006) Attachment theory in adult psychiatry. Part 1: Conceptualizations, measurement and clinical research findings. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 12, pp. 440-449 Rana, T. A. (2007) Relevance of attachment theory. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 13, pp. 156 Ryan, A. Attachment Parenting Origins Revealed! The Origins of Attachment Parenting Part 1. [Online] Available from [Accessed 2 November 2011] xxx This is a suggested distribution of the word count for each section- but of course the essay is your work! 1st theory (25%) 2nd theory (25%) Compare and contrast theories (30%) REFERENCES!!! 1500 Read More