Attachment Disorders - Research Paper Example

? ATTACHMENT DISORDERS The early formative stages of every child are very critical in the general development and growth of a child. Every child comes into the world without any knowledge of a person or even what life has in store and thus depends much on what he/she is introduced to especially by the care taker. In often times, a child has the natural caretaker as being the parent from who the child interacts with much of the time. This interaction between a child and the parent/caretaker leads to development of ties especially emotional ties, which helps the child view and interpret the world. A child develops trust and confidence in the person who is close during these early stages of development and as such, there is some kind of emotional attachment between the two. Normalcy dictates that there develops a stable and sober relation between the caretaker and the child in order to allow positive attachment (emotionally) between the child and the person through which a child gets to grow well. However, in some instances, the bonding period within the early developmental stages of a kid may be inhibited by other factors, which results to other unprecedented disorders. These disorders are the so called the attachment disorders and are therefore wholly explained by the emotional ties developed or failed during this early developmental stages of a child and the parent or caretakers Introduction In the event that a child lacks the initial attachment as described above, the formation of intimate and loving relationships is inhibited. This leads to such a kid growing up without a trust that the world is a safe place and more so that there would be someone to take care of them. The fear developed through this developmental stages make the child very vigilant about own safety and thus fails to accept any king of care from any person. Research shows that such a child has usually very high levels of stress hormones and which are associated with certain important aspects of development both the body as well as brain development. Such a child therefore displays high levels of aggressiveness, antisocial behaviors as well as disruptive behaviors because of failure to nurture social skills and morals (Zachrisson and Skarderud, 2010). Various factors explain the occurrence of the attachment disorders as observed with kids. These include premature birth, separation from own birth mother, depression (postpartum) with the mother, abuse or neglecting in the early years of development, hospitalization, multiple care takers, insensitive parenting as well as unresolved pain. Moreover, unwanted pregnancies, exposure to drugs while in pregnancy by the mother causing trauma as well as painful medical procedures are causative factors to the problem of attachment disorders among others. At the very early stages of development of the children, nonverbal communication is the way of conversing where the child develops reaction mechanisms such as crying through which the caretaker understands the stimulus and reacts accordingly. In the nonverbal stage, biochemical levels in the brain codes the lessons being learnt. There are indicators that point ton such development of attachment disorders and which can be identified with keen observance. Some of the indicators include when a child becomes indiscriminately affectionate to almost every adult person along the way, when the child becomes very charming and acts in pretence in order to get whatever he/she likes and lack of self control. The child exhibits signs of lack of affection to the initial caregivers and in most cases, the child tend to become controlling, manipulative, demanding, bossy, defiant, impulsive as well as argumentative. The child tends to be very aggressive to him or others while being very cruel to animals and destructive to property and this exposes such a kid to risks of accidents. He/she shows high temperament levels especially towards mature person’s authority and has challenges in establishing and maintaining friendship. He child becomes an underachiever, has poor hygiene, and exhibits general defiant attitudes as shown through lies, no remorse or even conscience and has a general lack of self-control. In extreme cases, such a child blames misfortunes to others and develops a complaining attitude. Nevertheless, apart from the signs exhibited by the children, the parents or primary caretakers often show such signs that would be interpreted to show such attachment disorders. The parental signs include emotional exhaustion, demoralization as well as a general feeling of helplessness. The parent may also show signs of anger and hostility as well as frustration. Moreover, guilt and inadequacy feelings engulf the parent and would be interpreted to support the condition of attachment disorders between the kids and the parent. There are many disorders or problems, which are, associated with the attachment disorders though they vary according to the degree of the child’s emotional disturbances. It is worth noting that children exhibit these disorders independently while in some instances, the diagnosis of concurrent disorders is possible. Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Bipolar disorder and depression (mood disorders), Conduct Disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder as well as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder are some of such diagnostic problems associated with the attachment disorders. However, the conditions are treatable and as such manageable especially at the early stages of development (Minnis et al, 2006). Most of the children exhibit high degrees of reactive attachment disorders, which are clinical conditions (Sadiq et al, 2012). Besides many other factors that describe the genesis of such conditions as the RAD is the level of temperament. Levels of aggressiveness exhibited by a child are basic tools that are used in the analysis of the attachment disorders and as such indicate the existence of such disorders. In researching on the increased cases of child crime where children turns out to be perpetrators of the law, there is an almost sure trend linking the effects of attachment disorders with the involvement of such children in crime. Studies from research have continuously linked such children with serious crimes such as serial killings, hardcore criminals as well as other law perpetrators like the rapists. RAD as part of the general disorders arising from the attachment problems lead to poor social connection between the children and other people and as such inhibits the development of healthy interpersonal relationships (Ferguson et al, 2011). Children as well as the parents are equal participants in the king of a relationship that develops and thrives between the two. However, the attachment period, which is often during the early stages of development, dictates the risks, vulnerability as well as the protective factors that describe the nature of relationship developed. Therefore, the relations developed in the early stages of development determine the innate empowerment of the children and influences the temperament levels exhibited by the children as explained by the RAD. A special focus on the likelihood of children to engage in crime and the children welfare within juvenile justice systems reveals higher correlations between the attachment disorders and the tendencies to commit crime. As an analysis of researches done, in 2001, the “Robert Wood Johnson Foundation” founded a holistic initiative dabbed as the “reclaiming futures.” Apart from the main theme of reforming the drug and substance youth addict, they upheld the view that youths are as “growing trees” which will always take the direction directed towards. Thus, the pro-social approaches of juvenile justice system that are widely used are pro results. They reasoned that more than corporal punishment is needed while correcting the youths. In the regard, the group designed and mobilized community involvement in justice administration to youngsters. They advocated for less punishment but guidance and counseling mechanisms of approach to crimes committed by the young. “Trauma-Focused Interventions for Youth in the Juvenile Justice System,” indicates that many of the juvenile cases over years occur as the children fall victims of traumatic scenarios either as the victims are better still as witnesses. Therefore, the psychological understanding of the crimes committed often result from trauma related stress. Thus, the view opinion of the group over such cases is that the justice system only worked to add to trauma and stress as against the correction intended. They therefore advocated for better-improved mechanisms of correction through proper studying the rationale of the crimes caused. Better mechanisms to attend to such cases were through psychological guidance and counseling. The juvenile justice system can only be effective by administering trauma related treatment to the victims and involving group and family correction. According to the study named “healing invisible wounds,” establishing children who suffer stress or trauma along the juvenile justice is not done or when done, it is done inappropriately. As a result, the effectiveness of the justice system is compromised more often. According to the report, traumatizing experiences in children adversely affect their development and especially the brain development. Kids often suffering from parental neglect or abuse engage in criminal activities. Research showed that the disorganization of home backgrounds to many of the homeless kids trigger anger in them and this leads to criminal acts (Ivarsson et al, 2010). The youngsters suffering the stress were well able to indulge in offensive deeds and thus psychological understanding would go a long way in correcting the youths. These are just illustrations of adverse effects suffered by children because of attachment disorders as earlier discussed. However, the diagnosis and treatment of complications arising from the effects of attachment disorders can be done in a variety of ways. Besides such disciplinary actions as through the justice systems, psychiatric mechanisms have been advocated because the adverse effects resultant from the attachment disorders can be better understood as psychological. Psychiatric diagnosis may reveal other associated complications apart from the mere problem of attachment complications. Such other associated disorders, which may explain the behavior of children suffering from the attachment disorders, include mental retardation, social phobia as well as hyperactivity disorder (Rutter et al, 2009). However, there lacks definite mechanisms to establish and diagnose the problems of attachment disorders and much efforts is required in the field in order to develop tools for effect diagnosis of the complications. This would be instrumental in overcoming the associated effects of compromising the welfare of children with roots pointed to the attachment disorders suffered by the children. The only available and most used mechanisms to establish the occurrence of the disorders is through the criteria previously discussed, which utilize the symptoms, outlined. However, the degree of the disorders may be confused for other associated malpractice causes such as addiction to drugs as well as other stress causing factors. Conclusion Research has revealed that the initial developmental stage of every child is very critical in determining the kind of relationship that would be developed between the child and the parent or caretaker. “Attachment” refers to the nature of emotional attachment that develops between such a child and the caretaker/parent during these early stages. The bonding leads to a child develop trust and emotional ties with the person most available to him/her and this determines the way such a child views the world and environment around which he/she lives. This therefore explains the reason why poor bonding or attachment is associated with other problems, which are collectively referred to as the attachment disorders. Basic to the attachment disorders arise with the child lacking trust in any person and interpreting the world as being a hostile place to live in. the parent or caretaker fails to offer the emotional support that is fundamental for the healthy establishment of relationship between the kid and him/her. The result to such attachment disorders is often illustrated by antisocial behaviors and engagement in immoral and criminal activities. Moreover, the parents exhibit abnormal aggressiveness, antisocial behaviors as well as general depression. The effects to the occurrence of attachment disorders are therefore undesirable to both the parents and the children besides having the broader effect to the society. Children are entitled to proper care right from the point of birth and this would be instrumental in influencing the attachment process. Proper attachment leads to avoidance of the disorders associated with the attachment process and this ensures that the welfare of children is taken care of. However, the failure to honor and accord proper attachment, leads to the development of attachment disorders often suffered and which explains much of compromise of the welfare of the children as shown. It is the right of a child to be brought up in a loving environment, which would mould him/her against indulgence in the social norms. Such facilities as the juvenile systems of justice trying to instill corrective mechanism to children should adopt such tools as psychiatric tools to understand the behavior exhibited by the child before administering corporal punishment. A child is shown to be like a young plant, which depends on the upbringing in order to become what is intended. References Ferguson L. et al, (2011). Residential Childcare Workers Knowledge of Reactive Attachment Disorder. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 16 (2), 101–109 Ivarsson T. et al, (2010). Attachment states of mind in adolescents with Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder and/or depressive disorders: a controlled study. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 19:845–853 Minnis H. et al, (2006). Reactive attachment disorder—a theoretical model beyond attachment. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 15:336–342 Rutter M. et al, (2009). Emanuel Miller Lecture: Attachment insecurity, disinhibited attachment and attachment disorders: where do research findings leave the concepts? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50(5), 529–543 Sadiq F. A. et al, (2012). Social use of language in children with reactive attachment disorder and autism spectrum disorders. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 21:267–276 Zachrisson H. D. and Skarderud F., (2010). Feelings of Insecurity: Review of Attachment and Eating Disorders. Eur. Eat. Disorders Rev,18, 97–106 Read More