PROFESSIONAL LINKS
This chapter addresses the following:
The Early Years Foundation Stage framework states that ‘each child must be assigned a key person. Their role is to help ensure that every child’s care is tailored to meet their individual needs to help the child become familiar with the setting, offer a settled relationship for the child and build a relationship with their parents’ (DfE, 2017, para 3.27).
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
By the end of this chapter you will understand:
the assumptions underpinning attachment theory;
the implications of attachment theory for practitioners who work in early years.
INTRODUCTION
This chapter addresses the role of attachment in supporting children’s well-being. The relationship that a child establishes with their primary carer is critical to their subsequent development. If the relationship is strong and loving, children are able to flourish. If the relationship is hostile or broken, this can have a significant long-term effect on the child’s social and emotional development. The quality of the relationship between the child and their primary carer is influenced by the quality of the interactions between both and the extent to which the carer addresses the child’s needs. If a child’s physiological, safety and emotional needs are not met, this can result in the child feeling unloved. If the child receives negative feedback from their primary carer, this can lead to feelings of low self-worth. If the child is separated from their primary carer, they can experience a sense of rejection, which impacts on self-worth and confidence.
The quality of the attachment between the child and their primary carer is not related to the child’s social background. Children from deprived social backgrounds can still experience positive attachments if they are loved, nurtured and provided with positive feedback. In addition, children from more affluent backgrounds can experience disrupted attachments if they do not spend sufficient time with their primary carer.
Attachment refers to the bond that a child establishes with their primary carer, usually the mother. Attachment theory emerged from Bowlby’s clinical observations in his seminal study of 44 ‘delinquent’ children. Based on these observations, Bowlby concluded that a broken mother–child relationship in the first three years of life leads to children becoming emotionally withdrawn (Bowlby, 1940). Bowlby emphasised the impact of physical separation from the primary carer and concluded that the physical disruption of the bond between the child and the carer may have a detrimental effect on subsequent personality development. According to Bowlby, even minor separation experiences could have a detrimental effect on the healthy development of young children (Bowlby, 1960).
Bowlby argued that the emotional bond between child and mother was the basis for all further social development (Bowlby, 1939). He stated that:
the evidence is now such that it leaves no room for doubt regarding the general propositions – that the prolonged deprivation of the young child of maternal care may have grave and far-reaching effects on his character and so on the whole of his future life.
(Bowlby, 1952, p 46)
Bowlby also believed that it was essential for mental health ‘that the infant and young child should experience a warm, intimate, and continuous relationship with his mother (or permanent mother-substitute)’ (Bowlby, 1952, p 11).
Your knowledge of the child’s family background may give you some insight into the quality of the attachments between the child and their primary carer. Where possible, you should undertake a home visit to observe the interactions that take place between the child and the adult. For children who have developed weak attachments, or for those who have been deprived of material care through physical separation from their mother, it is particularly important that you develop positive, warm and nurturing relationships with them to provide them with the emotional security that is lacking in the home. As a key worker you may need to spend more time interacting with these children so that they can start to establish a bond with you. Children can and do form strong attachments with practitioners who form positive, caring and consistent relationships with them.
In the case of young children, transferring attachment from the main carer to the practitioner for infants and toddlers can be a more difficult event for everyone. Sometimes the assumption is made that the crying which may occur is because that’s what babies do. It can be helpful for all concerned to understand that often infants cry to alert the parent and keep them close by, like lambs in the field calling for their mothers. When they are handed over to a stranger they may try to use that alert system. It might be better to have a policy to allow the main carer to initially stay and play with the child in the setting where this is possible. The next stage is to hand over the child to the key worker with the carer sitting at a distance. The carer can leave the room for a short time until eventually the handover is effective. This ensures the child is calm and feels safe, rather than feeling unhappy and insecure.
CRITICISMS OF ATTACHMENT THEORY
Attachment theory has been criticised because of Bowlby’s emphasis on the mother rather than the primary caregiver. In today’s modern society, children are born into diverse families, including those with same-sex parents. The emphasis on the mother as the key figure within attachment underplays the critical role that other carers can have on children’s development. These include:
foster carers;
parents who adopt;
single fathers who take responsibility for parenting;
fathers who are the primary carer while the mother works.
CRITICAL QUESTIONS
What factors might result in weak attachments developing between the child and their primary carer?
In your setting, how do you identify children with attachment needs?
How do you support children with attachment needs in your setting?
55 per cent of children with oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder demonstrate signs of insecure attachment.
(www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng26/documents/childrens-attachment-full-guideline2) |
Attachment disorder is a term used to describe disorders of mood, behaviour and social relationships arising from weak, disrupted or non-existent attachments between the child and their primary carer. Attachment difficulties are usually always caused by inappropriate parenting and genetic studies show minimal genetic influence on attachment patterns. Attachment bonds become evident between six and nine months. If the attachment with the carer is not established during this critical period of development then this can result in the child developing attachment disorder.
Common signs of attachment disorder include:
aversion to physical contact or physical affection;
poor behaviour, such as disobedience, defiance and anger;
avoiding eye-contact;
non-verbal communication;
crying and not smiling;
interacting with strangers but not with the primary carer;
showing no signs of distress when they are left alone.
Mary Ainsworth’s work has been seminal in helping practitioners and academics to identify different attachment behaviours. The research study that resulted in these categories of attachment is stated in the research box below.
The Strange Situation Procedure is Ainsworth’s best-known contribution to attachment theory (Ainsworth et al, 1978). In the experiment eight episodes were observed.
1.The child was first taken to a strange environment with its mother.
2.Next a stranger enters the room to join the mother and the child.
3.The mother then leaves the room and the child is left with the stranger.
4.The mother then returns to the room to join the child and the stranger.
5.The stranger then leaves the room and the child is left with the mother.
6.The mother also leaves the room and the child is alone in the room.
7.Then the stranger returns to the room to join the child.
8.Finally the mother returns to the room to join the child and the stranger.
The child was observed during each of these scenarios using a two-way mirror.
From this experiment three types of attachment behaviour were observed.
Secure attachments: when the mother leaves the room, the child becomes distressed and experiences separation anxiety. The child avoids the stranger when they are alone with them (stranger anxiety) but the child is friendly towards the stranger when the mother returns. When the mother returns to the room the child is happy.
Resistant attachments: the child shows signs of intense distress when the mother leaves the room and when left alone with the stranger the child shows signs of fear. When the mother returns to the room the child approaches the mother but subsequently resists contact. The child may reject the mother by pushing her away.
Avoidant attachments: the child shows no sign of distress when the mother leaves the room. The child is happy to interact with the stranger when left alone with them. The child shows little or no interest in the mother when the mother returns to the room.
CRITICAL QUESTIONS
What factors may result in the child demonstrating secure attachments with their mother?
Why do you think the child with resistant attachments pushes the mother away?
What factors might result in the child developing avoidant attachments?
In your setting, which children demonstrate secure, resistant or avoidant attachments?
What are the implications of these different types of attachments for early years practitioners?
CASE STUDY
Rameena was three years of age. Her mother was sent to prison for a six-year sentence before Rameena was born. Following her birth, she was cared for by her grandparents. Rameena visited the prison during the initial four months of her life but then her mother decided that the environment of the prison was not appropriate for her daughter. Rameena became upset when she was separated from her mother during these visits and consequently it was decided that Rameena would make no further visits to the prison.
Rameena initially attended a local playgroup before she started pre-school. Ameena was assigned as her key worker. Ameena noticed quite quickly that Rameena demonstrated signs of potential conduct disorder. She was frequently defiant and refused to comply with requests. She often walked away from Ameena and sometimes she physically pushed her away. She preferred to play alone, and she rejected child or adult interventions in her play. She frequently threw resources around the room, which she refused to pick up. She refused to sit at the snack table to eat and she had started to rip up the story books in the reading area. Rameena cried frequently and she was rarely seen smiling.
Ameena requested a meeting with Rameena’s grandparents. She explained her concerns about Rameena’s social and emotional development and she invited them to share their perspectives on Rameena’s behaviour at home. Rameena’s grandparents acknowledged that they had also experienced similar behaviour in the home and that they were struggling to manage it.
Ameena suggested that a pet might be a positive addition to the family so that Rameena could develop an attachment to it. It was agreed that a dog would be purchased and that Rameena would take some responsibility for caring for the animal. The family purchased a dog and decided to name him Sebastian. Rameena instantly loved Sebastian and she started to bring photographs of him into the setting. Ameena used this as an opportunity to establish positive relationships with Rameena. Together, they looked at the photographs and talked about Sebastian every day. Ameena was keen to find out about the dog and to use this as an opportunity to promote Rameena’s learning and development.
Ameena decided to create a daily diary for Rameena to share with Sebastian each night. She took photographs of Rameena engaging in various activities during the day and placed these in the diary. Samples of Rameena’s work were also placed in the diary. Rameena took the diary home every night and shared it with Sebastian. This task motivated Rameena to engage in various activities during the day but also helped to develop positive relationships between Rameena and Ameena.
Data from 2017 on children aged 2–4 indicate that:
1.8 per cent of children from the least deprived areas had a behavioural disorder compared to 3.3 per cent from the most deprived areas;
1.8 per cent had a behavioural disorder in London compared to 3.6 per cent in the north of England;
5.4 per cent of children with a behavioural disorder were in families in receipt of state benefits compared to 1 per cent in families in receipt of no benefits;
1.8 per cent of children with behavioural disorders were from high or middle income families compared to 4.5 per cent from the lowest earning families.
(Health and Social Care Information Centre, 2018)
CRITICAL QUESTIONS
THE IMPACT OF POOR ATTACHMENTS
Children’s early interactions with their primary caregivers form a ‘blueprint’ in the child’s mind for how relationships operate. If children experience rejection from their parents or hostile interactions, there is a danger that they will replicate these interactions in other relationships. Social learning theory suggests that children tend to imitate the behaviours they observe. In addition, if children have not got strong attachments with their primary caregiver, this can impact detrimentally on how they view themselves. They might demonstrate low self-worth and low confidence, and this can impact detrimentally on their development across all areas of learning. Children who have experienced rejection might find it more difficult to establish social relationships with others. In particular, they might find it difficult to trust other people. They might demonstrate conduct disorders and show signs of poor emotional regulation.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a useful theoretical framework to help you understand the impact of unfulfilled needs on children’s development (Maslow, 1943, 1954). Maslow stated that basic physiological needs such as food, water, warmth and rest need to be met first. If children’s basic needs are unmet, this can impact on the quality of the attachments that they form with their primary carer. Next, children need to feel safe. After that, they need to feel loved and experience a sense of belonging. If these needs are unmet, children may feel rejected by their primary carer and this can have a detrimental impact on the quality of the attachments. The next level of needs are ‘self’ needs. Children need to have a positive sense of self-worth and good self-esteem to be able to thrive and if the earlier needs are not met, then this can have a detrimental effect on the child’s sense of self. Finally, all of these needs need to be met before the child can achieve their full potential. Maslow referred to this as self-actualisation. Children who have not established secure attachments may not have had their basic physiological and safety needs met. They may not feel loved, and hostile and rejecting interactions from the primary carer may result in feelings of low self-worth. These factors can affect children’s abilities to achieve their full potential across all areas of learning and development in the Early Years Foundation Stage framework.
Attachment disorder symptoms are more common in children who have been exposed to abuse or neglect and in children who have been separated from prior caregivers. Children in foster care have a higher risk of developing attachment disorder. This is mainly due to earlier experiences of abuse or neglect in their biological families, experiences of unsatisfactory care in care homes, and/or the separation from primary caregivers.
(Minnis et al, 2006)
CASE STUDY
Sam was four years old. His mother was alcohol-dependent and his father was drug-dependent. At the age of two, social care services agreed to separate Sam from his parents and to place him into local authority foster care. Following this, his behaviour at home had started to deteriorate and Sam was frequently defiant to his foster carers. He was in the Reception year at his local school and the practitioners were struggling to manage Sam’s behaviour. He refused to sit still on the carpet, he disobeyed instructions from practitioners and he had started to demonstrate signs of physical aggression towards other children. He had low self-worth and he often referred to himself as ‘stupid’. Sam found it difficult to establish positive social relationships with other children and he preferred to play alone rather than playing with his peers. His profile of achievement across all areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework was below the standard that was expected for his age.
The key worker decided to implement several strategies to support Sam.
An individual reward system was implemented to reward good behaviour.
A visual timetable was developed to provide Sam with clear routine.
A visual slider was used during structured tasks: it included the words ‘start’ and ‘stop’ at opposite ends of a line and a moveable arrow so that Sam could see how much progress he had made through a task.
A visual ‘thermometer’ was introduced to support Sam in regulating his own feelings: the bottom of the thermometer represented the feeling of ‘calm’ and the top of the thermometer represented the feeling of wanting to ‘explode’. Other feelings were represented in between these two extremes including feelings of being ‘irritated’ or ‘annoyed’. Sam was allowed to use the thermometer to indicate changes to his feelings at different times of the day. When his key worker noticed that his mood was changing, she used this as an opportunity to discuss his feelings and this supported Sam in regulating his feelings.
A ‘circle of friends’ approach was implemented as a strategy to improve Sam’s self-worth. Sam chose three children who he felt he could be friends with. Each week they met with Sam and his key worker to identify positive traits about him.
The key worker identified that Sam had an interest in spiders so she creatively built spiders into as many curriculum areas as possible. Age-appropriate books were purchased on spiders for Sam to read and opportunities to investigate spiders in the outdoor area were integrated into the curriculum.
SUMMARY
This chapter has highlighted the role of attachment in supporting children’s well-being. It has explored the value of a child establishing relationships with their primary carers and identifies the long-term effects of these on the child’s social and emotional development. The chapter also explains the importance of interaction between a child and their primary carer. Children’s physiological, safety and emotional needs are discussed and the importance of these is emphasised. The quality of the attachment between the child and their primary carer is illustrated and the chapter has emphasised that children from deprived social backgrounds can still experience positive attachments if they are loved, nurtured and provided with positive feedback.
CHECKLIST
This chapter has addressed:
the impact of poor attachments on children’s development;
the types of attachment and the research underpinning these;
the implications of attachment theory for practitioners working in the early years.
FURTHER READING
Elfer, P, Goldschmied, E and Selleck, D (2012) Key Persons in the Early Years. Oxon: Routledge.