Mary Ainsworth and William Corsaro on Children Relationships - Essay Example

Children Relationships Of the many psychological researches on children relationships, this paper explores the work of Mary Ainsworth and William A.Corsaro, helping to better understand attachment theory as well as kids peer cultures. Comparing and contrasting the research by Ainsworth and Corsaro, shows that the relationship established by children with strangers, rests mainly on the influence of the adult world, with the caregiver particularly being influential in the social behavior of the child. Ainsworth developed the Strange Situation Classification (SSC), an assessment procedure which would help classify and measure the attachment of a child to its primary caregiver, which helps to determine the childs response to a stranger. There are both differences and similarities in the approaches that Ainsworth and Corsaro have used to estimate the influence of the adult in the relationship of children and their social behavior. Firstly, both psychologists based their ethnographic studies of children on the primary observation of their responses in different scenarios, and drew a connection between the childs social behavior and the influence of the adult. Ainsworths study, suggested that behavior in the “strange situation classification was determined by the behavior of the primary carer or the adult.” (McLeod 2008). The procedure observed the childs behavior through seven episodes, three minutes each, during which the child is exposed to seven different scenarios. This procedure measured and assessed four aspects of the childs behavior — separation anxiety, willingness to explore, stranger anxiety and reunion anxiety. Based on the responses to these four aspects, the attachment styles of children were seen to be of one secure type and two insecure types — secure attachment, insecure resistant attachment and insecure avoidant attachment. The child that is securely attached is avoidant of the stranger when alone but is friendly in the presence of the caregiver, is distressed when the caregiver leaves proximity but is happy when she returns. The child that is ‘resistantly attached’ avoids interaction with a stranger entirely and furthermore, expresses fear of the stranger. Furthermore, it is intensely distressed when the caregiver leaves but is resistant when she returns. The third kind is a child that follows an insecure avoidant/ambivalent attachment style. This child is seen to be comfortable with a stranger regardless of whether the caregiver is present or not, and is not greatly affected by the separation from or reunion with the caregiver. Securely attached children were seen to have a positive image of other people, believing that strangers will be helpful, while children with an avoidant attachment considered themselves unworthy. ‘Resistantly attached’ children however, were seen to exaggerate their needs in an attempt to gain attention. The conclusion drawn from Ainsworths study is that the social behavior of a child is greatly influenced by adults, in this case, particularly the caregiver. The child that is given sensitive and responsive care is securely attached and a child that is given inconsistent care develops an insecure resistant attachment, while a child that is given unresponsive primary care develops an insecure avoidant attachment style. This study shows the importance of the role of a primary caregiver in shaping the attachment style of an infant. The research by Corsaro holds similarity to Ainsworths work in the suggestion that the influence of adults greatly determines the actions and behavior of a child, impacting the kids peer cultures as well. His research placed importance on the aspect of friendship, rather than other relationships, showing that children made relationships among peer groups on the basis of the simple categorization into a friend, or a non-friend. "Corsaro was interested in how children talk to each other and believes that research on children’s friendships should focus on children’s individual understandings of the word ‘friend’." (Brownlow 2012). Corsaro conducted his research primarily through the observation of children playing together, interpreting and estimating the influence of the adult world upon their play, particularly role-play. In his study, Corsaro explored the three aspects of child psychology exhibited in role-play, which were role-play and social power, plying the frame in role-play and social reproduction. The study shows that children often imitate social power during role-play as they recognize the role of an adult as being authoritative, often exhibiting it in roles such as a teacher or a parent. “Kids do not simply imitate adult models in their role play; rather they continually elaborate and embellish adult models to address their own concerns.” (Corsaro). In the case of plying boundaries, children often insist on doing exactly what they are told, they cannot do by a peer, in order to broaden their narrative role-play. This is mostly what may be considered as playing with the game, in the sense that to a child it would be no fun to settle for the boundaries set in role-play, and so they would make suggestions and initiate ideas to expand the subject. Social reproduction in role-play deals with the constructional narratives of children depicting scenes they might have already witnessed or even events that they have heard adults mention about. Children take into account the issues that they are most familiar with, and furthermore, express concerns in their creative narratives, which contribute to the reproduction of cultures. "It involves children’s collective construction and sharing of narratives about their lives in the present and their projections of their lives as adults in the future." (Corsaro). Thus, the study clearly shows that as in Ainsworth study, the role of adults greatly influences the relationships in kids peer cultures. Although both Ainsworth and Corsaro suggest that children relationships are greatly influenced by the adults in their lives, the scenarios they chose to study them were entirely different. While Ainsworth made her observations by subjecting infants to the SSC procedure, recording particularly the reactions of the infant to the presence and absence of the caregiver, Corsaros work was based on young children between the age of 2 and 6 in a natural environment such as a preschool classroom which facilitates role-play. His research revolves mostly around the observations on role-play, interpreting the meaning and significance of certain statements made during play. For instance, a child makes a statement “Hold it Bill, I can’t have two husbands.” (Corsaro). During role-play, which implies that the child has heard of or been told that it is only right to have one. Such interpretations of conversation have laid the basement for his research, leading up to the conclusion that children and role-play are important aspects that contribute to social reproduction. His work included several episodes of conversations between children engaged in role-play, and therefore was extended over a long period of observation, interpretation and exploration. It dealt only with peer relationship and the social behavior of a child to another child that he/she may not have spoken to before. Corsaros work helps mainly in understanding the role of the adult world in the shaping of a childs ideas, concerns and future predispositions. Ainsworths work however, was based upon the SSC procedure, and so was carried out over a period of 21 minutes for each child that was observed. Her research has provided solid evidence that attachment is not based upon ‘cupboard’ love, and that "different attachment styles develop under different conditions and in response to different situations. There is no such thing as a universally preferred attachment style." (Custance 2012). Ainsworths work, unlike that of Corsaros, paid particular attention to the relationship of the child with that of an individual adult, the primary caregiver. It did not explore the relationship of the child with the stranger, but merely recorded the response of the child to the stranger, associating it to the different types of attachment. Ainsworths work helps us to identify the different kinds of attachment, to understand the specific events that cause a child to develop a particular attachment style, as well as the response of children from each of these attachment types to play environment, exploration of environment, attention of caregiver and interaction with strangers. The limitation of this research is that it explores only the relationship between a child and the mother or the primary caregiver, and does not address other relationships. In conclusion, comparing and contrasting the work of Ainsworth and Corsaro helps us develop a better understanding of children behavior as an infant and as a young child. It is evident that the survival of an infant depends greatly on the care and love received from an adult, which makes the tendency to form attachments rather complex. Both animals and humans are seen to have the natural tendency to form attachments in the presence of certain stimuli. However, these attachments are not based on ‘cupboard’ love, and are rather the response of a child to the kind of attention and care it is being subject to, hence making the caregiver most influential. The absence of a caregiver or inadequate attention to a child can have serious effects on the behavior of a child, causing negative effects. Attachments are neither rigidly fixed, nor are easily flexible, but can be altered over time with the attention and care provided by an adult. As children grow, relationship with peer becomes an important part of their lives. "Findings from studies on friendship suggest that the influence of peers is both subtle and complex." (Brownlow 2012). During role-play they take on several different imaginary scenarios in an attempt to gain control over their lives, to understand better the world of the adults and find themselves in company they can share social power with. In order to do so, children are naturally social. "It may be said that social participation and sharing are the heart of kids peer culture." (Corsaro). References: Brownlow, C., 2012. “Making Friends.” In: Brace, N. and Byford, J. Investigating Psychology. Oxford University Press, pp.237-262. Corsaro, WA. “We’re Friends, Right?”: Inside Kids’ Culture. [Online] Available from http://www.edu.helsinki.fi/lapsetkertovat/lapset/In_English/Corsaro.pdf(Accessed on August 16, 2012) Custance, D., 2012. “Determined to love?” In: Brace, N. and Byford, J. Investigating Psychology. Oxford University Press, pp.192-232. McLeod, SA., 2008. Mary Ainsworth | Attachment Styles. [Online] Available from http://www.simplypsychology.org/mary-ainsworth.html (Accessed on August 16, 2012) Read More