Indiscriminate friendliness refers to either overfriendliness or friendly behavior in children as they seek attention an approval from any adult including strangers. It also refers to diminished social behavior and disinhibited attachment of a child by showing overfriendly behavior toward adult figures. Indiscriminately friendliness is not classified as normal behavior since it traditionally falls out of the scope of any form of normal behavior. Instead it is considered as an inappropriate behavior among children who approach strangers without carrying out any reasonable assessment of whether such an interaction could affect them in the long run. Institutionalization experiences have a critical role in the development of indiscriminate friendliness behavior. Post institutionalized children with indiscriminate friendliness approach, initiate and make physical contact with total strangers while those with a higher level of indiscriminate friendliness are even willing to leave with strangers. They also allow any stranger to be part of their life in solving some of the common issues affecting their life. The paper below provides a multifaceted view on indiscriminate friendliness among children in institutionalized settings by and focuses on role of primary caregivers in providing care, attachment theories and its related disorder, factors associated with increased indiscriminate friendliness among high risk children and role of learning in mediating some of the effects of indiscriminate friendliness. Indiscriminate feelings among children are directly related with the lack of attachment and adequate care by primary caregivers.
Role of Primary Caregivers
Indiscriminate friendliness refers to the state of an individual being overly familiar or seeking comfort from an unfamiliar figure. Such traits are more pronounced in children who have either been institutionalized or maltreated. Institutionalized rearing of children falls outside the normal traditional childhood environment. Such structures embed negative emotional and cognitive development. The presence of the primary caregiver in a child’s life is associated with an attachment bond and some form of stability (Barone, Dellagiulia, " Lionetti, 2016). Lack of such a figure, even when nutritional and health needs are being provided, remains a key issue facing institutionalized children. Environmental distal factors may like high turnover of caregivers, duration of institutionalization, large child to caregiver ratios may also affect the rate in which the child adjusts within the institutionalized setting (Barone et al., 2016). For children to effectively adapt in such institutional based settings it is essential that professional caregivers promote children wellbeing in such environments to cover up for the primary role of the caregiver. Improved professional caregiver interaction with the child improves the quality of care and in the process maximizes favorable outcomes (Barone et al., 2016).
Children normally seek comfort and care from their traditional caregivers who in the above case is normally a parent or substitute parent. The response of the adult to the child, mentally develops a representation of the caregiver supportiveness and degree of availability ultimately giving rise to either secure, insecure-avoidant an insecure- ambivalent. Secure relationships occur when the primary caregiver figure is always present and available in meeting the needs of the children while the insecure-avoidant relationship exists when the child perceives the caregiver to be distant and rejects the child (Barone et al., 2016). Insecure-ambivalent relationships occur when the behavior of the primary care giver is disorganized and as a result the caregiver acts as a source of threat to the child. Insecure disorganized attachments and the presence of indiscriminate friendliness are caused by same factors as indicated above.
Institutionalized children adjustment which may directly be associated with increased cases of indiscriminate friendliness is commonly influenced by a number of distal and proximal factors. Distal factors such as age of admission, disentanglement from one another, and duration of institutionalization may define the rates of indiscriminate friendliness among children (Barone et al., 2016). The key proximal factor, low quality care may also result in increased cases of indiscriminate friendliness as children look for other people to feel the care gap. In a study conducted in Ukraine cognitive impairments and attachment shortcomings were noted among children in institutionalized settings regardless of the duration of institutionalization (Barone et al., 2016). In addition, professional caregivers had low scores on various aspects including helplessness which directly correlated to increased cases of indiscriminate friendliness (Barone et al., 2016). Institutionalization is a key risk factor for indiscriminate friendliness in child development with extreme effects being observed in cases where primary caregivers fail to meet the basis care needs.
Attachment Disorders and Indiscriminate Friendliness
Children attachment in different institutionalized settings such as orphanages has been the subject of concern for many years. Children who grow up in home based settings and in the presence of their parents and other members of society show a different form of behavior compared to children who grow in institutionalized settings (Zeanah " Gleason, 2015a). The differences primarily stem from in the manner care is provided. Normal children will be shown increased care, attention and attachment from their parents and as a result such children may not be in of forming other forms of close attachment to anyone else in the society since such role is already being provided by the family (Zeanah " Gleason, 2015a). Institutionalized children face an entire different task as they have limited time to form long lasting relationships. Already the number of individuals who could provide the form of care that they adequately need have to pay attention to a substantial large proportion of individuals as a result, the amount of care provided becomes severely limited (Zeanah " Gleason, 2015a). Although basic needs may essentially be provided to all children whether they are with their parents or grow up in various institutionalized settings, the difference in attachment levels between the two classes of children results in increased reliance on indiscriminate friendliness to strangers as a way of feeling the existing gap. Neglectful caregiving environments have been implicated in increasing risk factors for attachment base disorder in children.
Children are fail to early caregiving which plays a crucial role in developing different forms of attachment are more likely to have problems in the future in developing relations and regulating their social behaviors. A key aspect of such an aspect is reflected in what is commonly referred to as indiscriminate behavior where young children fail to recognize the role that their primary care giver and other strangers in their life are supposed to play (Barone et al., 2016). As a result, such children grow without having any form of wariness to strangers and look up on any adult as a source of their security. Institutionally reared children who during their early years are subjected to any form of social neglect show difficulty in motivational significance in various environmental stimuli (Zeanah " Gleason, 2015b). Overall, the early experiences increase their difficulties in acquiring various forms of association and in the process serves to delay some of their important development skills emotionally.
Research on attachment based disorders are more likely to provide more insights on indiscriminate friendliness. Zeanah " Gleason (2015) explored the characteristics of some of the common attachment disorders including reactive attachment disorder and disinhibited social engagement disorder, their signs and symptoms and how they directly relate to some of the common symptoms noted by indiscriminate friendliness children. The common features associated with reactive attachment disorder normally involves the absence of any form of focused attachment behavior by the child to the care giver (Wismer Fries " Pollak, 2017). The child may also not seek any form of comfort from the caregiver when they are distressed or in cases where they have reduced emotional and social reciprocity (Bakermans-Kranenburg et al., 2011). Such children are indicated as having unexplained levels of irritability and fearfulness. Some core behavioral features associated with the other disorder disinhibited social engagement disorder includes willingness to be closer to strangers most of the time as well as lack of wariness to stranger (Wismer Fries " Pollak, 2017). Children who show such characteristics have increased possibility of interacting with any adult at close proximity without even viewing the adult as being intrusive to some of their needs. Their behavior is primarily driven by the need to have a close feeling of physical contact with any party. The effect might be more pronounced in preschoolers as compared to older children who may understand the effects of staying away from adults who they have no close interaction (Barone et al., 2016). Behaviors associated with the two conditions can primarily be reported to be among indiscriminate feelings behaviors commonly reported among children who have either been institutionalized or been abandoned.
. Factors Associated with Indiscriminate Friendliness in Children
There are a number of different factors associated with indiscriminate friendliness among children. Genetic variations surrounding several different alleles have been implicated in predisposing individuals to the indiscriminate friendliness (Love, Minnis, " O’connor, 2015). Plastic alleles have been identified in institutional settings compared to foster care settings where more prominence in providing care is given to children (Love et al., 2015). Such genes are directly linked to several aspects including poor sensitivity in addressing some critical health issues as well as flexibility in handling the needs of children across the society. Other biological factors which have been implicated in predisposing children include the chronic stress load that the patients has been restricted to as well as high cortisol levels during the developmental phases.
The length or duration that the child has been in an institution of care also defines whether they would show some level of indiscriminate friendliness. Children who have been in the institution for a longer period and may be used to the specific setting may not necessarily show high levels compared to children who have just entered such settings (Love et al., 2015). The type of care provided to the children may also increase chances of indiscriminate friendliness. Institutions which focus on providing the patient with adequate care are more likely to have reduced cases of indiscriminate friendliness compared to institutions which give less time to the children (Love et al., 2015). The high number of children to the primary care givers limits the amount of time dedicated in providing care to a specific child and as a result more children within the setting are more likely to embrace the outsiders compared to their caregivers.
Another critical factor which has been implicated in reducing cases of indiscriminate feelings was the attachment to the different parties. When the children become more attached to some of their primary care givers, there are increased chances that cases of indiscriminate feelings may go down (Love et al., 2015). Attachment of the children to the care givers reduces the care gap which the children miss and as a result the children become more dependent to the primary care givers compared to the other parties. A direct correlation also exists between indiscriminate friendliness and cognitive function or ability of the children. In cases where children show elevated or high levels of cognitive ability they are less likely to depend on the strangers for support. Children with low cognitive abilities on the other hand are totally reliant on strangers and they do not deem their interaction as being more
Conclusion
Indiscriminate behavior among children in institution based settings is directly associated with a number of factors. Institutionalization results in low number of primary care givers who are supposed to take care of the large number of children who equally require attention and care. As a result more primary care givers primarily focus on provision of basic needs and fail in provision of psychological needs. As a result, they completely detach themselves from the children who see solace in strangers without assessing their intentions.
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