Attachment Theory

Paper Summary:

This paper explores and analyses the possibility of children making multiple secure attachments to people that may not be part of their immediate family. One of the vital aspects of this discussion is a critical evaluation of Ainsworth's 'Strange Situation' and how this is disputed by Tizard (1991). Another important aspect is transition from home into nursery and the importance of effective key workers relating to the author's extended school experience. Yet another feature examined is the result of insecure attachments and attachment disorders and the implications these disorders have within the nursery or school setting. The main theorists that are analysed are Ainsworth (1978) and Bowlby (1982).

From the Paper:

"Belsky and Nezworski (1988) describes anxious attachment as children "who have been able to form a focused relationship with a discriminated and preferred partner whose attachments show an unusual amount of conflict regarding the perceived physical and emotional availability of the attachment figure". This can occur in situations where abuse is transpiring, where the child is attached to what the child would see as a secure base but the feelings are not reciprocated and the adult feelings are not accessible to the child. The implications of this sort of attachment can severely impact on the child's life within a nursery setting. The child may become extremely clingy to a key worker and refuse to be left alone because they are "still hoping for love and care" Bowlby (1980) as cited in Cassidy and Shaver (1999). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ainsworth (1978). Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Belsky and Nezworski (1988), Clinical Implications of Attachment, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
• Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss. Vol. 1, Attachment. New York: Basic Books
• Bowlby (1980) as cited in Cassidy and Shaver (1999), Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications Guilford Press
• Cox and Desforges (1987), Divorce and the School Routledge

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