Attachment Theory in Adolescence and Social Work Practice - Literature review Example

NAME : XXXXXXXXXX TUTOR : XXXXXXXXXX TITLE : XXXXXXXXXXX COURSE : XXXXXXXXXX INSTITUTION : XXXXXXXXXX @2009 Attachment theory in Adolescence and social work practice Social work is a practice which is concerned with the improvement of the children well-being. It is therefore important for social workers to understand how children develop into healthy adults, their needs and what happens if these needs are not met. Attachment theory provides the basis for these understanding. The most important transitional period in a person’s life is adolescence. The onset of puberty brings with it not only physical changes, but several other significant changes. For instance, the social world of an adolescent changes and turns out to be more peers oriented than before. Nevertheless, parents still play an important role in the daily life of an adolescent. Hence, a major undertaking of adolescence is to find out people who can assist them meet their needs. Attachment theory helps us understand several patterns that exist across the change to adolescence. Attachment theory helps us explain the relationships that exist between an infant and the primary caregiver, especially the mother (Bowl by 1988). This relationship is not only important for the general wellbeing of the adolescence (Kreppner and Ullrich 1998) but it also serves as a template for all relationships across the lifespan (Waters et al 2000). Children are in a position to mentally symbolize their attachment figures and construct ideas and expectations for relationships with both their original figures and others from as early as infancy. This is called internal working model of attachment (Bowlby 1988). The emotional atmosphere of infant in their early life, which primarily involves the relationship of the infant with the parents, has significant impact on the child development process. This can be either a disaster or pathway to hope as the core mental wellbeing of the child depends on the nature of the parent-child relationship. The attachment theory which was founded by John Bowlby helps us understand the significance and consequences of parent-child relationship in the child’s development. Attachment theory is the emotional, evolutionary and ethological theory relating to the relationship between parents and children. This theory proposes that for the child to develop normally, he/she need a secure relationship with the mother. Bowlby’s notion of inner working models helps us explain the long-term consequences of early attachment experiences. Internal working models are the basis for organization and understanding of emotional experiences, helping to make sense of new experiences and shaping subjective reality (Bowlby 1988:5). Children can either have secure or insecure attachment; however, the majority of them have secure attachment patterns. There are three categories of insecure attachment patterns, the avoidant, ambivalent and disorganized attachment. Parents who have discouraged overt symptoms of either affection or distress and who do not show any sympathy, have their children suffer from avoidant attachment. Such children have a tendency to avoid care giver figures, suppress their emotions and conducts related to threats. They also tend to be more hostile and insulting to their parents. At the extreme, such children can develop schizoid personality (Williams and Kelly 2005). Children with anxiously attachment pattern are likely to display reversed role at the age of six years old. Anxiously attached children are likely to have unconfident internal working models and do not have the ability to form positive relationship and therefore do not have the confidence to deal with new challenges or interact with their teachers. They are therefore not able to communicate well with their peers, cannot persist longer with problems, are not resilient, are not joyful, are disliked by their peers, and are stubborn and not creative (Collins and Repinski 1994)). Such children have negative expectations of others and show feelings of low self-respect, loneliness and angry rejection. All these personality problems tend to place them at a high risk of the developing of learning difficulties. Teachers describe these children as being rebellious, aggressive, antisocial, impulsive, introvert, easily depressed, attention seeking and emotionally insulated (Sroufe and Waters 1977). Children with Ambivalent attachment have hysterical personality in which they flee from intimacy, become clingy and are easily weighed down by their own sentiments. They also do not have confidence and boldness essential to connect with the preschool environment successfully. In a study done by Sroufe in 1989, they were observed to have excessive attention seeking, anxious and impulsive and they were inert and weak. Owing to the high levels of stress such children suffer from, they experience concentration difficulties (Greenberg et al 1982). There is sufficient evidence that there is a relationship between attachment and the maltreatment of children. Children with disorganized attachment patterns are mostly abused and neglected by their parents (Sroufe and Waters 1977). Children who come from unsupportive family environment are not resilient and suffer from low self esteem, are high tempered and cannot depend on themselves. Low self esteem lead to poor competence and problem solving abilities which translate to late development. There is a link between internal working models and the encouragement of social competence in adolescence (Bowlby 1988:5. Weakly attached children are more likely to have negative perceptions of themselves and that of others. There is a link between strong attachment and social relationships with peers and teachers in school as children with poor attachment networks have poor social skills and hence, are not able to from strong social relationships (Allen et al 2003). There is also a strong relationship between attachment and brain development as the brain of the child is not usually full developed at birth and tend to develop fully during the first three years of her/his life (Bowlby 1988). During these three years, the different sections of the central nervous system are systematically arranging themselves at different times and any disturbances of the experience-dependence neurochemical indicators can lead to deformities in neurodevelopment (Bowlby 1988). The development of the brain can be disrupted when the emotional environment is chaotic, extreme or incompatible to the development stage. Children, who suffer from psychopathological disorders such as depression and anxiety during their adolescent, come from hostile and unsupportive family environment (Erickson 1968). Children with disorganized attachment patterns are less likely to trust adults. Their inability to internalize any rule that regulate every day ways of life implies that their conducts are influenced by reaction to outside cues. The absence of secure attachment and the fact that they cannot trust adults implies that these children lack the motivation to obey commands or follow directions and are likely to resent and oppose any effort by adults to direct them. Their behaviors are likely to vary and maybe labeled ADHD (Erickson 1968).Their high levels of activity, short attention span and poor social skills are the major challenges in their learning process. Children who are withdrawn are likely to switch off during class lessons for no clear reason. Because they cannot be able to process in such a withdrawn state, they are not able to improve their academic knowledge and ability to discover different coping strategies (Segrin and Flora 2005). It has been found out that children who suffer from disorganized attachment do not succeed in life. Longitudinal and retrospective research has both associated disorganized attachment patterns with numerous severe mental health disorders in adulthood, for example borderline personality disorder, dissociative disorder and incompetent social behaviors. Other adult psychopathology associated with early attachment experiences includes depression, anxiety and antisocial personality disorder (Kerns 1994). Major depression incidences are linked to loss or death of a caregiver in early life of the infant, whereas depression which is marked by anger is associated with separation (Laursen and Collins 2004). Anxiety is related more strongly with fear of loss and insecurity than with permanent loss of the caregiver. Affective and antisocial disorders are often linked to parental rejection, harsh discipline and inadequate control (Greenberg et al 1982). There is also a relationship between attachment and self-control. Children who grow up as being totally dependent on the mother for soothing, stimulation and emotional regulations, eventually gains the ability to control themselves. Delinquent and violence behaviors have been reported among children with disorganized attachment patterns with majority of them been over-represented in the Juvenile and criminal court system. It has also been observed that such children are more likely to commit suicide than those with secure attachment (Habermas and Bluck 2000). Though attachment in infancy is understood as diverse, it represents integrated behaviors that are displayed by the infant in reaction to the caregiver’s behaviors. There are three attachment associated behaviors that describe how attachment is perceived across the lifespan: proximity seeking, separation protest and secure base (Segrin and Flora 2005). The physical closeness of the infant to their caregivers can best be understood through the proximity seeking behaviors, while the unwillingness of the infant to separate from the caregivers is best understood through the separation protest behaviors such as crying. When the child make use of the attachment figure as a foundation from which to discover the environment and search for non-attachment related pursuits, then the attachment figure becomes the child’s secure base. As a result, the child perceives the attachment figure as a safe haven. The child therefore runs to the caregiver when upset or in need of consolation. In this manner, the child utilizes the attachment figure as a secure base. According to early attachment theorist Mary Ainsworth, attachment behaviors in infancy are organizational constructs which relies on the quality of the primary caregiver’s response to the infant’s behaviors which tend to influence the infant’s reactions and interactions (Sroufe and Waters 1997). Therefore, infants reacts and interact differently which translates into individual differences in the infant’s behaviors. For example, an infant whose mother responds to her/him in a sensitive manner perceives her as a secure base (Kerns 1994). In order to establish the stability of attachment over time, researchers have analyzed attachment beyond infancy by looking into attachment representations rather than attachment behaviors. They have found out that one constructs mental representations of how to relate with others, what is called internal working model of attachment, based on prior attachment related associations and relationships. From infancy, a child internalizes patterns of interacting with people and constructs idea of how to associates with others founded on these representations (Bowlby 1988). It is through early associations with the caregiver that a child internalizes and manages his/her understanding of relationships (Laursen and Collins 2004). These relationships form the child’s mental schema and contribute to the development of opportunity for future associations and relations. Children experience their relationships with their mothers and fathers differently. Leaper (2000) found that the gender of the parent and of the child influences parent-child relationship. This implies that each parent impacts on the development of the child differently and that parents have different influence on social outcomes. Adolescents spend more time with the mother, engaging in more open communication than with fathers (Laursen and Collins 2004). The mothers therefore play a significant role in attachment related outcomes in adolescence. Research studies have found out that adolescents displayed high levels of the quality of influence towards their mothers than fathers (Youniss and Smollar 1985). Maternity accessibility also plays a significant role across the transition from infancy to adolescence (Lieberman et al 1999). The quality of the mother-adolescent interaction is strongly associated with attachment security. Maternal behaviors, for example support and attunement, determines the security in the mother-child interactions. Adolescents who are securing attached are in a position to intellectually and emotionally use their strong relations with their mother as a base for discovery and independence (Allen et al 2003). During the development process, children form emotional relationship with not only their parents, but with other persons as well. Parent-child interactions influence social development, for example the formation of peer relationships. Children must form relationships with other accessible figures and as the development process progresses, peers become essential attachment figures (Hazan and Shaver 1994). However, peer relationships are different from the parent relationships (Freeman and Brown 2001). Adolescents start to spend more time with peers than with parents (Collins and Repinsky 2004). The creation of closer peer relationships allows adolescents to explore autonomy from parents (Kerns 1994). Adolescents start to go to the peers in times of need instead of the mother (Nickerson and Nagle 2005). Often, peer relationships exist outside the family setting and play a significant role in social development of the child. Both the positive qualities of peer relationships, for example trust and support, and negative qualities, for example jealousy and resentment, play an important role in social and personal development (Savin-Williams and Berndt 1990). Positive friendship is associated with high level of self-esteem and low levels of loneliness (Greenberg et al 1983). Understanding the nature of peer relationships is therefore very import to social work practice. Contemporary family systems are diverse and therefore it is imperative for social workers should develop attachment approaches alongside a developed understanding of the cultural context of their clients. Children of gays and lesbians parents are likely to develop different attachment patterns from the other parents. Children from different ethnic groups also develop different attachment patterns. An attachment focused intervention gives young people the opportunity to experience therapeutic relationship that is secure, supportive and reliable. A co-gendered facilitated group work can help young people to develop new patterns with male and female adults that can be used to deconstruct the gendered understandings that they might have previously developed. A worker who clearly understands the internal working models of attachment can better understand and work with an adolescent with maladaptive behaviors. The worker can employ attachment oriented responses such as caring, reciprocity, increased structure and schedule, steady and positive affect and sympathy. Social diversity, such as culture, age, gender, sexuality, disability and ethnicity, makes some children prone to experiencing personal distress and interpersonal conflict and developing behavioral difficulties (Bowlby 1988). Attachment theory is fundamental to social work practice as it provides a framework that helps with assessment and intervention in a range of family situations. Social work within the family setting is concerned with care and protection, behavior problems and children in care. Attachment theory is relevant to each of these aspects of social work practice. Children in care are alienated from their attachment figure making them prone to experiencing attachment difficulties. Most children who are brought into care homes have experienced chaotic environments. Such children are unlikely to comply with requests and instructions. When placing the child in a care home, it is important to take into consideration the child’s early attachment experiences. When the child’ environment is characterized by conflicting relationships and unmet emotional needs, behavioral management interventions and individual counseling are likely to be ineffective Caffery and Erdman 2000). Social work focuses specifically on families. Children with behavior difficulties are mostly taken to social service agencies. The attachment theory is a precious resource for social workers in such cases. Good social work practice depends on assessment. Attention to attachment offers important information that increases the likelihood of accurate assessment and successful intervention. The recognition of the significant of parents in the child development process has led to formation of social policies such as shared parental responsibility and parent contact for parents who are separated (Williams and Kelly 2005). In conclusion, attachment theory provides a way for understanding human relationships that contributes to better social work practice. It can be applied to individuals, family and group interventions. Attachment theory can also be useful when formulating policies and interventions that aim to prevent mental health problems in future generations. References Allen, J. P., McElhaney, K. B., Land, D. J., Kuperminc, G. P., Moore, C. W., O’Beirne-Kelly, H., et al. (2003). A secure base in adolescence: indicators of attachment security in the mother-adolescent interaction. Child Development, 74, 292-307. Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Parent-child attachment and healthy human development. New York: Basic Books. Caffery, T., & Erdman, P. (2000). Conceptualizing parent-adolescent clash: applications from systems and attachment theories. The Family Journal: Psychoanalysis and rehabilitation for parents and Families, 8, 14-21. Collins, W. A., & Repinski, D. J. (1994). Interactions during adolescence: stability and transformation in interpersonal perspective. In R. Montemayor, G. Adams, & T. Gullotta (Eds.), Personal relationships during adolescence (pp. 1-36). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Erikson, E. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Freeman, H., & Brown, B. B. (2001). Principal attachment to parents and peers throughout adolescence: diversities by attachment style. Journal of early life and Adolescence, 30, 653-674. Greenberg, M. T., Siegel, J. M., & Leitch C. J. (1982). The character and significance of attachment interaction to parents and peers in adolescence. Journal of infancy and Adolescence, 12, 373-386. Habermas, T., & Bluck, S. (2000). Receiving a life: The surfacing of the life narrative in adolescence. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 748-769. Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. R. (1994). Attachment as an organizational structure for research on secure relationships. Psychological Inquiry, 5, 1-22. Kerns, K. A. (1994). A developmental model of the relationships between mother-child attachment and companionship. In R. Erber & R. Gilmour (Eds.), Theoretical perspectives for personal interaction (pp. 129-156). Hillsdale, England: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Kreppner, K., & Ullrich, M. (1998). Speak to mother and father and pay attention to what is in between: A disparity approach to family communication and its effect on adolescent development. In M. Hoffer, J. Youniss, & P. Noack (Eds.), Verbal communication and development in families with adolescents (pp. 83-108). Westport, CT: Ablex Publishing. Laursen, B., & Collins, W. A. (2004). Parent-child communication during adolescence. In A. L. Vangelistsi (Ed.), Handbook of family communication (pp. 333-348). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Leaper, C. (2000). Gender, relationship, assertion, and the interactive environment of parent-child play. Developmental Psychology, 36, 381-393. Lieberman, M., Doyle, A., & Markiewicz, D. (1999). Developmental models in security of attachment to mother and father in late childhood and early adolescence: Connections with peer relations. Child Development, 70, 202-213. Nickerson, A. B., & Nagle, R. J. (2005). Parent and peer attachment in late childhood and early adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence, 23, 223-249. Savin-Williams, R. C., & Berndt, T. J. (1990). Friendship and peer relations. In S. Feldman & G. Elliott (Eds.), Friendships and peer relations (pp. 277-307). Oxford: England: John Wiley & Sons. Segrin, C., & Flora, J. (2005). Family Communications. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erhlbaum Associates Sroufe, L. A., & Waters, E. (1977). Attachment as an organizational construct. Child Development, 48, 1184-1199. Waters, E., Hamilton, C. E., & Weinfield, N. S. (2000). The constancy of attachment security from childhood to adolescence and early adulthood: General debate. Child Development, 71, 678-683. Williams, S. K., & Kelly, F. D. (2005). Associations among involvement, attachment, and behavioral difficulties in adolescence: Examining father’s impact. Journal of Early Adolescence, 25, 168-196. Younis J. and Smollar, J. (1985). Adolescents’ interactions with mothers, fathers and peers. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. Read More

Attachment theory is the emotional, evolutionary and ethological theory relating to the relationship between parents and children. This theory proposes that for the child to develop normally, he/she need a secure relationship with the mother. Bowlby’s notion of inner working models helps us explain the long-term consequences of early attachment experiences. Internal working models are the basis for organization and understanding of emotional experiences, helping to make sense of new experiences and shaping subjective reality (Bowlby 1988:5).

Children can either have secure or insecure attachment; however, the majority of them have secure attachment patterns. There are three categories of insecure attachment patterns, the avoidant, ambivalent and disorganized attachment. Parents who have discouraged overt symptoms of either affection or distress and who do not show any sympathy, have their children suffer from avoidant attachment. Such children have a tendency to avoid care giver figures, suppress their emotions and conducts related to threats.

They also tend to be more hostile and insulting to their parents. At the extreme, such children can develop schizoid personality (Williams and Kelly 2005). Children with anxiously attachment pattern are likely to display reversed role at the age of six years old. Anxiously attached children are likely to have unconfident internal working models and do not have the ability to form positive relationship and therefore do not have the confidence to deal with new challenges or interact with their teachers.

They are therefore not able to communicate well with their peers, cannot persist longer with problems, are not resilient, are not joyful, are disliked by their peers, and are stubborn and not creative (Collins and Repinski 1994)). Such children have negative expectations of others and show feelings of low self-respect, loneliness and angry rejection. All these personality problems tend to place them at a high risk of the developing of learning difficulties. Teachers describe these children as being rebellious, aggressive, antisocial, impulsive, introvert, easily depressed, attention seeking and emotionally insulated (Sroufe and Waters 1977).

Children with Ambivalent attachment have hysterical personality in which they flee from intimacy, become clingy and are easily weighed down by their own sentiments. They also do not have confidence and boldness essential to connect with the preschool environment successfully. In a study done by Sroufe in 1989, they were observed to have excessive attention seeking, anxious and impulsive and they were inert and weak. Owing to the high levels of stress such children suffer from, they experience concentration difficulties (Greenberg et al 1982).

There is sufficient evidence that there is a relationship between attachment and the maltreatment of children. Children with disorganized attachment patterns are mostly abused and neglected by their parents (Sroufe and Waters 1977). Children who come from unsupportive family environment are not resilient and suffer from low self esteem, are high tempered and cannot depend on themselves. Low self esteem lead to poor competence and problem solving abilities which translate to late development.

There is a link between internal working models and the encouragement of social competence in adolescence (Bowlby 1988:5. Weakly attached children are more likely to have negative perceptions of themselves and that of others. There is a link between strong attachment and social relationships with peers and teachers in school as children with poor attachment networks have poor social skills and hence, are not able to from strong social relationships (Allen et al 2003). There is also a strong relationship between attachment and brain development as the brain of the child is not usually full developed at birth and tend to develop fully during the first three years of her/his life (Bowlby 1988).

During these three years, the different sections of the central nervous system are systematically arranging themselves at different times and any disturbances of the experience-dependence neurochemical indicators can lead to deformities in neurodevelopment (Bowlby 1988).

Read More