After birth: A child's introduction to the world
After birth, the child learns and begins to familiarize with the environment around him/her, gets acquainted with the sense of touch, feel, and hurt. Children cannot, however, talk about it but they have the very feeling as the adult. Piaget on his sequential four stages of cognitive development theory explained that in the first stage, "the sensorimotor stage", "the infants are mentally aware and only interact with what is immediately in front of them. They constantly experiment and learn the world through trial and errors," (WebMD). Through these trials and errors, the infant also experiences fear and joys learning to attach themselves to someone they feel safe with, a caregiver. This is mostly where the child feels safe. From the responses the child gets from those around him he/she is developing attachment with the person they feel keep them safe. John Boldly, a child psychiatrist, and Mary Ainsworth, a psychologist, referred this as infant attachment theory. The theory suggests that infant attachment is based on the idea that the bond between an infant and his or her primary caregiver is crucial and is the primary influence in an infant's development behavior, therefore playing a major role in establishing the child's coping mechanism, relationship skills, and the creation of individuality or personality (Children's health, 2017). However, these theories evolved with time. The children articles referred to infant attachment as the emotional connection that infants create with their primary caregiver, often the mother (Children's health, 2017). The purpose of this paper is to comprehend the outcomes of long-term variation in infant attachment.
Different communities and countries: Cultural influence on infant attachment
Different communities and countries develop a variety of infant attachment styles to raise the infant. The techniques used, however, have a significant part in determining the kind of adult the infant will become. This indubitably means that the relationship the caregiver makes with the infant matters a lot in shaping the behavior of the child. Although the perception usually is that the mother is the perfect caregiver, breastfeeding is not the only need that defines a caregiver. Other than feeding the infants, they also need love, joy, shelter, and security from their caregiver, which make anyone a caregiver. The research by Harlow et al. and John Boelby, after thorough observations in orphanages, explains that infants need not only emotional aid and contact but also food and shelter (Hong, Park, 2012).
Sensitivity to behaviors: Attachment styles and their influence
Sensitivity to the behaviors of an infant and the interaction are major parts of important and consistent factors for predicting attachment security. Looking at infant growth behavior through the lens of infant attachment styles, the most preferred caregiver attachment style by children psychiatrists and psychologists is the secure form of infant-parent attachment. Hazan and Shaver conducted the same research done by John and Mary, the theory of infant attachment, only for adults. They suggested that for adult people, mostly married couples, the extent of being close to each other and being supportive defines the more productive life they live. They related the same to the infant and suggested that the ideal situation seemed to be an attachment that functioned as a secure base from which to reach out and gain experience in the world (Developmental psychology, 2018).
Variation in infant attachment: Secure attachment as the most common
If we consider the variation in infant attachment and compare the secure versus insecure infant attachment styles application, it is clear that the most common form of attachment worldwide is the secure attachment where the infants develop a resistant infant-parent bond. Research conducted worldwide showed that the most culturally used type of infant attachment is the secure type of attachment. Statistically, the leading country in secure attachment being the British and the Americans. Generally, the west countries dominated in the secure type parenting style. The infant-parental attachment bond is strong in the west. Adults from this type of infant-parental attachment style showed a healthy and desired life as adults. The characteristics of the adult from this type of attachment are good social skill and perfect communication compared to the other types of infant attachment styles.
Other attachment styles: Disorganized and avoidant-insecurity
Other than the resistant attachment type of secure infant attachment, the disorganized type of infant-parent attachment is also another style. The parents of the infant share the caregiving responsibility with other people. This happens mostly with the working family where both parents work for a living. In this type of attachment, the caregivers to the infant are more than one, the mother, the father, and probably, the nanny. It is common in working families in the US and most of the eastern countries. A research study conducted in an African country showed that a community in Africa rose and breastfed an infant communally, but at the end of the day, the infant slept with the mother. The research shows that the infant after six months was still attached to one person, the mother. However, the infant would be care given by anyone at any time. In addition, research conducted in Uganda suggests that the theory of infant-parent attachment is somewhat a vocabulary for these people. The infant's raising responsibility is distributed amongst a wide group of community (Quiz-let, 2017). The infants are raised communally and not individually. Therefore, the infants are attached to more than one caregiver. However, the infants would show anxiety and distress when left with a stranger, and as adults, these infants showed characteristics of introvert behavior, difficulty in socializing, and communicating with others (McLeod, 2014).
Avoidant-insecurity attachment: A less common type
However, resistance is not the only variant of infant-parent attachment styles. There is also the avoidant-insecurity infant-parent type. It is not the common type of infant attachment, but it does exist. In this type of attachment, the caregivers push themselves from the infants. These kinds of parents believe that resistant attachment strengthens the child's self-dependence. Research indicates that this type of infant attachment is common in Germany. The Germans believe that there should not be an attachment between the parents and the infants. For them, the idea of infant-parent attachment is indicative of a spoiled child, therefore, they discourage the idea (Erupting mind, 2016). The adults from this type of infant attachment life more commonly undergo counseling, psychotherapy. Besides, most of them are poor in relationship skills, so they have to learn how to socialize.
Cultural differences: Different approaches to parenting
Although there are many theories on these types of infant attachment parenting styles that describe how most of these styles are bad, it is fair also to understand the diverse cultural differences. Some of the children grew well in those attachment styles. To refute the dismissal, Germany is a very big nation. If the entire country practices avoidant-insecure type of attachment, then all the children from this nation would be messed up. This is, however, not the result, therefore, implying that the style of parenting also works.
Conclusion: The importance of the caregiver-infant relationship
In conclusion, the theory by John Boelby and May Ainsworth, children psychiatrists, and psychologists, respectively might be right. There is an important relationship between the infants and the caregiver. The security the caregiver gives their infants is important. They indicated that the relationship between the parent and the infant determines the kind of a person the child grows up to be. The theory suggested that children with good infant-parent care had a healthy adulthood, good communication, and interaction skills. This might be right, but it is also safe to say that it is not the only way to raise a child. The same research shows that the Germans and some countries in Africa are living proof that other forms of parenting also work. The Germans, just like New Guinea, believe that the attachment between the caregiver and the infant spoils a child. Clearly, they are also right because there is no evidence of bad children from the two countries. Raising a child is not an easy task to do. There are so many different circumstances and factors, including but not limited to occupation, that determine the infant-parent attachment bond. Whatever parenting decision the parents choose, it is fair to support it because it is clear that when it comes to infant-parent attachment, if the outcome works, then there is no good or bad in the way of parenting.
References
Children’s health (n.d.) Attachment between infant and caregiver. Retrieved on February 15,2018 from http://www.healthofchildren.com/A/Attachment-Between-Infant-and- Caregiver.html .
Development psychology (2018) Attachment Theory, psychologist world. Retrieved on February 15, 2018 from https://www.psychologistworld.com/developmental/attachment-theory.
Erupting mind (2016). Attachment theory (Ainsworth) and cultural variation (mini essay) intelligent advise for intelligent people. Retrieved on February 15, 2018 from
http://www.eruptingmind.com/attachment-theory-ainsworth-cultural-variations/.
Hong R Yoo, Park, S, Jae, (20 Dec 2012) Impact of attachment, temperament and
parenting on human development, Korean journal of pediatrician 55(12): 449–454. Retrieved
on February 15, 2018 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3534157/ .
McLeod, S (2014). Cultural Differences in Attachment, simplepsychology. Retrieved on February 15, 2018 from https://www.simplypsychology.org/culture-attachment.html.
Quiz-let (2017) PSYCHOLOGY.1. Cross Cultural variations in attachments. Retrieved on February 15, 2018 from
https://quizlet.com/41039914/psychology1-cross-cultural-variations-in-attachments- flash-cards/
WebMD, (n.d.) Piaget Stages of Development. Retrieved on February 15, 2018 from
https://www.webmd.com/children/piaget-stages-of-development#1 .
