Paper Example on Evolution of a Child's Attachment

The evolutionary behavior a child develops through their childhood lives can be explained by several theorists. One of these theorists has to be John Bowlby through his attachment theory as explained in his Bowlby's 1944 article, "Forty-Four Juvenile Thieves: Their Character and Home-Life," published in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis. Bowlby did arrive at his previous empirical insight, "The precursors of emotional disorders & delinquency could be found in early attachment-related experiences, specifically separations from, or inconsistent or harsh treatment by, mothers (and often fathers or other men who were involved with the mothers)." This was only a success through Bowlby's use of combined case studies as well as statistical methods made possible by the psychoanalysts at the time. Over the years and decades, Bowlby was able to come up with an advanced theory of attachment that is complex as well as a generative one.

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During his generation, Bowlby emerged as a unique psychanalyst who did form a working relationship with another known and talented empirical researcher known by the name: Mary Ainsworth. Ainsworth had unique and highly rated observation skills, which she first applied in Uganda and then later in Baltimore. This led to a detailed and specified aspect of material behavior that did precede personal differences, particularly in infant attachments. Through such efforts, she was able to create a so-called "Strange Situation," which did provide gold standards for identification and classification of an individual or rather personal differences in infant attachment security as well as insecurity; this then did usher in many years of studies finding the precursors as well as outcomes of personal differences in infant attachment.

By the start of the 21st century, the institutions dealing in early childhood development did base their policies and practices on several themes (four), one of which states that "early environments matter and nurturing relationships are essential; this is according to Shonkoff and Phillips. It further noted that children do thrive and grow in the contexts of dependable and close relationships, which do provide both nurturance and love, encouragement for exploration, responsive interaction, and security. Lack of any one of these relationships, there is a disruption in development, such that the consequences involved could be long-lasting as well as severe. Such a well-elaborated statement is expounded on through the research by the psychoanalyst Bowlby's attachment theory as well as the creative work done by Mary Ainsworth.

Decades after the proposal of the Strange Situation by Mary Ainsworth, Mary Main and others did provide a way of studying the intergenerational transmission of the patterns of attachment. Through their work, it was discovered that a parent's state of mind in relation to attachment did predict their infant's or rather child's patterns of attachment. According to John Bowlby, an attachment can be defined as the process through which the characterization of human beings from the cradle to the grave is done. Furthermore, in the current world, the limitations in space only allow us to significantly focus on attachment processes in early childhood or preferably in early life, such that there is a consideration of adult attachment facts with respect to parental predictors as based on infant attachment.

Since the early works by John Bowlby, other researchers have come up with theories that are aimed at coming up with facts that explain the complexity in parental as well as experiential precursors of infant attachment, moderators of the links between early childhood attachment experiences and later functioning of the child, as well as the mechanisms that are used in the explanation of the links. Ever since, much has been studied and expounded on, including genetics, physiology, emotion, cognition, and behavior.

Parent's attachment representation contributes to parental attachment-related character and behavior. However, multiple other parental behavior contributors do exist, which include partner presence or absence, child temperament, parental personality, parental age, SES, culture, among other factors.

Among the key elements or rather concepts involved in the attachment theory, one of the outstanding ideas is the "attachment behavioral system." The system can be defined as an organized system of behaviors and characters having predictable outcomes such as proximity as well as serving an identifiable biological function such as protection. In accordance with John Bowlby, such a system is organized by Internal Working Models (IWMs), which are based on experience. The IWMs are of self & environment, which includes a caregiving environment particularly.

Attachment can also be defined as the enduring emotional closeness which does bind family members with the ultimate aim of preparing children for both independence & parenthood. According to Bowlby, he did suggest that the experience in early attachment is responsible for the creation of internal working models, which are life long templates responsible for preconceptions of the reliability and value of relationships, closeness, and otherwise. Furthermore, attachment is responsible for allowing children to the so-called "secure base" that is necessary for exploration, learning, and relating, as well as the motivation, wellbeing, and opportunity involved whatsoever. Therefore, for this reason, it is of the essence of resilience, adaptability, stress regulation, and safety. The length of childhood does indicate the breadth of the implications of dysfunctional attachment, as well as the complexity of the task. On the same note, a web of problems and issues that are interrelated is said to be characteristic of which low or negative self-esteem is of integral relation, often leading to vicious circles.

When analyzing attachment, the primary issue is not about whether or not children are attached but rather the ways in which they do experience relationships as being safe, reliable, and valuable. Through her attachment theory, Ainsworth did observe the responses of toddlers towards separation from as well as reunification with their mothers in the 'strange situation test.' Ainsworth had great skills and methods of observing the behavioral changes and effects from childhood through her attachment styles, which are identifiable by the use of the "Adult attachment interview."

The rigorous implementation of the attachment that a child has to their caregiver is of utmost importance. The individual differences in the branches between these individuals can be varied in the strangeness developed by Mary Ainsworth. In her discussion, she derived that children between the age of nine and eighteen months may develop a particular attachment of security to the caregiver depending on their relationship. In this case, the forms of attachment between children may differ depending on the caregiver's activities. In such circumstances, the caregiver might develop a liking for the child to prefer to cuddle the child while they sleep. These differences may draw the child closer to the caregiver.

Although John Bowlby believed that attachment was a nothing process, various theorists have shown individual differences in attachment, which is described as quality. In a study Fraley et al. (2020) conducted at the University of Utah, the study's key themes and objectives were to establish various activities such as the changes in the workplace or the introduction to a new job. These life events involving the meeting and changes in how people interact for the formation of attachments. From this point forward, it is existential to provide proof from the study on how human beings relate to another. This will assist in developing the quality of attachment as described by Bowlby and Ainsworth.

From the study, a wide range of specific life events were studied from time to time. In this case, the formation and existential realization of the revolutionary security are based on the attachment's perception as either positive or negative. In this criteria, it is essential to note that the attachment and security changes are near related to the individualistic information levels between the new life events. For instance, the transition to a new job and a new environment, on the inset of connectivity, tends to revert to their old security levels, hence deterring their new attachment quality levels.

Since the study, in this case, focuses on the changes of the attachment over time, it is critical to master the relative influence. In this various sectional reviews, the child's attachment to their caregiver has been well analyzed. The attachment older people of middle ages develop from their new environments has also been presented with critical research on their security levels and their behavior to revert to their old comfort zones. In this case, the action and the establishment of the attachment in extreme instances in which a person could outgrow their attachments need to be reviewed. In a study by Shemmings (2004), the adult attachment theory's critical employment is devised to develop a differentiating model for later life filial relationships.

In this study, Shemmings draws critical interpretations of attachment systems and how people in relationships respond to each other. These developed systems are referred to as internal representations of close relationships are closely linked to the attachment style developed by person overtime. A person may have either a secure or insecure attachment style developed from their childhood. The parent-child relationships from infancy to about 18 months form-critical attachment periods seen from the different individual changes involved. The caregiver may ensure critical attention to provide the child with a more lasting relationship hence a more secure attachment background is built. Therefore, this is referred to as the adult 'child' where the dependency may either be co-dependency or counter dependency brings about security.

In perception, Shemmings also provides that children experience the aging nature of their parent or their imminent death as some form of abandonment. Other than this, the personal changes in how the child perceives this form of events and the distress may alter the relationships' quality. In this case, the caregiver influences the later life filial relationship. Still, this si is subject to change since this imminent occurrence has threatened the relationship's stability. Therefore, this will change the state of affairs since one partner may seek to reassure their partner daily to rid themselves of the insecurity. Consequently, it may be sufficient to conclude that the levels of security developed overtime are excited by the attachment developed as an infant from the caregiver.

To reinforce this achievability, it is important to come up with an observational approach to the various individualistic developmental outcomes in the social learning theories and the attachment theory. This study presented by Matias et al. (2013) seeks to explain the overlapping challenges between the attachment theories between the child and the parent and the social learning theories established from the peer influence.