Assignment: Attachment and Child-Rearing Style A key element of social-emotional

Question

Assignment: Attachment and Child-Rearing Style

A key element of social-emotional development during infancy and toddlerhood is the establishment of bonds of attachment. A child’s temperament can influence the nature of attachment with caregivers. For instance, an infant’s difficult temperament might make it more likely that he or she will develop an insecure attachment to the caregiver. If caregivers receive sufficient social support, thereby establishing a “goodness of fit” between temperament and environment (i.e., parenting), they can overcome some of the challenges of raising a difficult child.

The child’s temperament and the caregiver’s parenting style work in tandem to affect the child’s social-emotional and cognitive development. Caregivers who exhibit open displays of warmth and affection and who respond to their children’s needs in a timely manner (thereby acknowledging that each child has some influence on other family members) are likely to socialize their children so that they feel positively about themselves, learn to trust, and are secure with their caregivers. As you examine other parenting styles, think about how the level of caregiver responsiveness affects infant attachment.

For this Assignment, you will explore different parenting styles and forms of attachment, and you will examine how culture might impact the type of attachment.

For this Assignment:

Write a 2- to 3-page paper and include the following:

1. Briefly describe the two child-rearing styles you selected.

2. Describe the two types of attachment you might expect, based on each child-rearing style you selected and explain why.

3. Finally, explain how culture may impact the type of attachment.

4. Be specific, provide examples, and justify your response with citations from the Learning Resources/literature.

Explanation / Answer

Certain parenting styles have been outlined by Diana Baumrind, a clinical psychologist which suggest how different child rearing practices can impact the nature of attachment styles formed between the parents and the child. The same is impacted by the nature of responsiveness and the general temperament of the child, i.e. innate characteristics or ways of responding of the child.

Authoritative Parenting Style

It is considered to be 'idealistic' and the most optimal parenting style with a balanced mix of warmth by the caregiver and appropriate building of boundaries. However, these boundaries are openly discussed with the child and the child is given the freedom to express as well as reason out with the caregiver. This provides a safe net for him to express her/his opinion, discussions and genuine negotiations are carried out between the two parties promoting healthy communication. It is believed that such a child rearing practice leads the child to develop a secure attachment style which facilitate his future relationships as an adult to be more positive and fulfilling. Such children explore more often as a child and are also believed to be better learners as a result. Such a child would be expected to develop a secure attachment style due to the freedom of independent thinking/exploration provided by the caregiver, making the child more confident as an individual. This would promote better decision making, self-reliance and confidence to function effectively in the society.

Permissive parenting

Permissive parenting is one that is characterized primarily by warmth and lack of building boundaries. Lack of rules and too much freedom for exploration is seen to be an important feature of such a child rearing practice. Such caregivers are seen to be way too responsive towards their child's physical and emotional needs. Such infants are often seen to be clingy and dependent upon the caregiver even for engaging in free play and exploration. In this process these infants often tend to develop a distorted attachment style- anxious-ambivalent attachment style wherein these infants become stressed when a parent leaves their side or in the presence of a stranger. The reason why this child would develop an anxious-ambivalent attachment style is because too much unconditional responsiveness by the parent, even in situations that require boundary building would lead the child to become dependent and clingy. This child may look upto others for making choices for her/him, not making her/him an independent thinker capable of making own choices wisely. Self-regulation and self-control and seen to be perpetual struggles of such permissive parents who simply serve as 'friends' and less as parental figures throughout childhood. This lack of structure and boundaries makes these parents to be at the mercy of the child in many ways. They can even grow up to become manipulative, with a belief system that they can take the world for a ride!

Role of culture

It has been seen through extensive research that cultural context tends to play a crucial role in determining the nature of attachment styles and thereby the later functioning of individuals in a society. This means that cultural practices related to child rearing, values and belief systems surrounding parent-child relationship are significant factors that contribute to whether a 'goodness of fit' between the child and the environment is likely to develop. This also involves the concept of adequate 'attunement' wherein the caregiver instinctively perceives the nature of the child's requirement or need and responds in alignment with that. This sensitivity leads to effective caregiver-child relationship inculcating a deep sense of trust in the child towards his environment, making it seem more consistent and predictable. In cultures such as Asian context whereby parent-child relationships are given due importance and family ties are tightly knit, infants tend to develop a more 'secure' attachment style. This also leads them to become more adaptive individuals as adults. On the other hand, in cultures where withdrawing of self and investing less in a relationship is normalized, more of neglectful parenting strategies are commonly used leading children to develop a general mistrust towards the environment. This is in alignment with the psychosocial theory of development provided by Erickson in which the first stage of development comprises of trust v/s mistrust. Here, development of trust or mistrust is highly dependent upon whether an attunement is formed between the infant and the caregiver. This is linked to the level of responsiveness of the parent especially when the child is in distress. For example, whether or not a mother picks up the child from the crib and soothes every time she/he cries out of distress and to what degree is the consistency of responsiveness felt by the infant.

Moreover, nowadays marital infidelity is seen to be one of the significant factors leading to divorce rise. A study was therefore undertaken to establish the ongoing parenting styles and attachment patters developed in such families. 90 participants were from Tehran province and the protocol used to investigate was the parental authority questionnaire (PAQ) and adult attachment questionnaire (AAQ). The attachment styles seen to be prevelent in families that had marital discord were seen as avoidant attachment styles. It can therefore be established that cultures whereby divorce rates are high and familial disputes and normalised tend to have less adaptive individuals being nurtured by them.

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