The Importance Of Secure Attachments Between The Child And The Parent/Carer

First of all, "attachment is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one another across time and space." Therefore, developing an attachment and a secure relationship between the child and the parent/carer is most significant. Secure attachments are developed through the senses; touch, smell, sound and sight. Securing a stable attachment or bond is essential for the child's mental health and emotional behaviour. This is because when children and babies have stable attachments with their caregivers, they tend to feel more protected and safe, furthermore, they will develop more in all areas due to feeling more comfortable and content. After the child is more than nine months of age or has created a strong emotional attachment with the main caregiver, they will begin to form other affectionate bonds with friends or other close members of the family such as the father and older siblings, other than just with the mother alone and this is known as multiple attachments. Attachment is a process in which all emotionally healthy children experience.

The attachment theory process was theorised by John Bowlby and expanded by Mary Ainsworth. The theory states children are born with the natural need and want to connect with others to form bonds for survival and most importantly attach with the one key person in particular, usually the mother. This person should care mainly for the child for the first eighteen months of life. John Bowlby discovered if they are not effectively cared for, they will not have developed a strong attachment and consequently, there will be long-term effects on the child because of the parental deprivation. For instance, they may become affectionless, aggressive, depressed, less intelligent and delinquent. James Robertson, who worked alongside Bowlby and studied separation, and Bowlby both unbelieved short-term separation from an attachment figure leads to distress or the PDD model. Robertson made experimental films where young children would be going through the three stages of bereavement and grief. They would protest but would still be able to be comforted, then the child would be in despair unknowing of what to do and was inconsolable despite the compassion offered. And finally, the child showed detachment from others including the mother when returned.

To greatly develop on Bowlby's original findings, Ainsworth conducted an experiment called the 'Strange situation. ' In this, children ages twelve to eighteen months were observed by researchers on how they reacted to being left by themselves for short periods of time then rejoined with their mothers. From this, Ainsworth believed there are three main styles of attachment:

• Secure attachment.
• Ambivalent-Insecure attachment.
• Avoidant-Insecure attachment.

A child with a secure attachment to their mother feels safe and happy. Although the child is distressed when she leaves, the child is trusting of her as they are reassured she will return. Avoidant-Insecure attachment is when the child does not trust their mother to fulfil the needs they have. Despite the fact that the child may seem indifferent when around their mother, they are anxious inside and are less explorative and are emotionally distant. Lastly, the Ambliviant/Resistant-Insecure attachment is when the child feels both resentment and helplessness towards their own mother as past experiences have taught them, they cannot rely on her. This type of attachment occurs when the mother neglects or is inconsistent with the care of the child.

Harry Harlow also carried out experiments on maternal deprivation. One infamous one being on newborn monkeys taken from their biological mothers to be reared by two surrogate monkeys made from wire. One made from wire with a food source and the other with a soft cloth over the wire with no food source. The monkeys would feed from the wired surrogate when they needed sustenance. However, when the infant monkeys felt wary or unsafe, they would turn to their cloth surrogate mother even though they knew it had no food. They felt a sense of security with the wire monkey wrapped in a soft material. "Bowlby claimed attachment to be an intrinsic need for an emotional connection with one’s mother, extending past the need to be fed. "

The work of all these people, especially Bowlby, has influenced how today's care is given. For example, now in hospitals, parents are able to stay with the child overnight, often given a bed next to the child's bed and this comforts the child and makes them feel safer now that they have the attachment figure with them. Moreover, there must be a key person system in early years settings, social workers are much warier when separating families experiencing difficulties and children are fostered rather than put in large institutions to make them feel safer and more comfortable. There can be many reasons for interruptions in the attachment process, for instance, premature birth, if the child was adopted so joined the family at a later age, addictions or substance abuse, mother's mental health is not good, (postnatal depression or psychosis) social and cultural reasons, death of the mother, additional needs of the baby are high so mother cannot cope, demands of others, (if a family member is ill) mother's illness and financial constraints so mother cannot care for the baby sufficiently. These delays in the process can cause the child to have long-term emotional effects such as difficulty trusting others and separation anxiety.