Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-dvmhs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-09-12T19:16:09.888Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Some effects of attachment disturbance on child behaviour

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

Julie Drury-Hudson*
Affiliation:
6 Vitana Court, Craigmore, SA, 5114

Abstract

Internal working models of self and others and expectations of early relationships formed from early attachment experiences strongly influence the ways in which the child relates to others and the world. Infants whose early emotional needs have not been adequately met may come to view the world as comfortless and unpredictable and develop relationships that are marked by anxiety or detachment.

This paper presents some of the foundations of attachment theory and case examples are used to illustrate the ways in which children develop anxious or detached patterns of attachment. Attachment difficulties, together with environmental influences, are thought to be a genesis of later behavioural problems such as poor impulse control, aggression, prolonged emotional dependency and extreme difficulty in relating to other children.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ainsworth, M.D.S. & Bell, S.M. (1970) ‘Attachment, Exploration and Separation Illustrated by One-Year-Olds in a Strange SituationChild Development 41, pp4967.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ainsworth, M.D.S., Bell, S.M. & Stayton, D.J. (1974) ‘Infant-Mother Attachment and Social Development: Socialisation as a Product of Reciprocal Responsiveness to Signalsin Richards, M.P.M. (ed) The Integration of a Child Into a Social World New York: Cambridge Univ. Press. pp99135.Google Scholar
Ainsworth, M.D.S., Blehar, M., Waters, E. & Wall, S. (1978) Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation New Jersey: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Bee, H. (1985) The Developing Child (4th ed) New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Bemal, J. (1974) ‘Attachment. Some Problems and Possibilities’ in Richards, M.P.M. (ed) op cit. pp153165.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1969) Attachment London: Tavistock Publications.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1979) The Making and Breaking of Affectionate Bonds London: Tavistock Publications.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1980) Attachment and Loss Vol. 3, Sadness and Depression New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1982) ‘Attachment and Loss: Retrospect and ProspectAmerican Journal of Orthopsychiatry 52, pp664678.Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1986) A Secure Base: Clinical Applications of Attachment Theory London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bretherton, I. (1985) ‘Attachment Theory: Retrospect and Prospect’ in Bretherton, I. & Waters, E. Growing Points of Attachment Theory and Research Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development Serial No.209 Vol.50 Nos 1-2 pp335.Google Scholar
Delozier, L. (1982) ‘Attachment Theory and Child Abusein Murray-Parkes, C. & Stevenson-Hinde, J. (ed) The Place of Attachment In Human Behaviour New York: Basic Books, pp95117.Google Scholar
Erikson, E.H. (1963) Childhood and Society Toronto: W.W. Norton & Company.Google Scholar
Erikson, M.F., Sroufe, L.A. & Egeland, B. (1985) The Relationship Between Quality of Attachment and Behaviour Problems in Pre-school in a High Risk Sample’ in Bretherton, I. & Waters, E. (eds) op cit.Google Scholar
Finklestein, N.E. (1980) ‘Children in LimboSocial Work March, pp100105.Google Scholar
Hetherington, E.M. & Martin, B. (1979) ‘Family Interactionin Avay, H.C. & Werry, J.S. (eds) Psychopathological Disorders of Childhood 2nd ed, New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Kauffman, J.M. (1985) Characteristics of Children's Behaviour Disorders 3rd ed, Columbus: Charles E. Merrll.Google Scholar
Main, M., Kaplan, N. & Cassldy, J. (1985) ‘Security in Infancy. Childhood and Adulthood: A Move to the Level of Representation’ in Bretherton, I. and Waters, E. (ed.) op cit, pp66103.Google Scholar
Martin, B. (1975) ‘Parent-Child Relationsin Horowitz, F.D. (ed) Review of Child Development Research v.4, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Richards, M. (1974) (ed) The Integration of a Child into a Social World New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Robertson, J. & Robertson, J. (1971) ‘Young Children in Brief Separation: A Fresh Look.’ Psychoanalytic Study of the Child 26, pp264315.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1972) Maternal Deprivation Re-Assessed London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1979) ‘Maternal Deprivation 1972-1978: New Findings, New Concepts, New Approaches.’ Child Development 50, pp283325.Google Scholar
Sameroff, A.J., Selfer, R. & Zax, M. (1982) ‘Early Development of Children at Risk of Emotional Disorders’. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 47, Serial No. 199.Google Scholar
Schneider-Rosen, K., Braunwald, K.G., Carlson, V. & Ciccheti, D. (1985) ‘Current Perspectives in Attachment Theory. Illustrations from the Study of Maltreated Infants’, in Bretherton, M.I. & Waters, E. (ed) op cit, pp 194210.Google Scholar
Singhe, T. (1987) Attachment. Loss and Substitute Care: Issues for Infants and Toddlers, Paper presented at Substitute Care Purposeful Intervention Conference August 24-28 1987, Wollongong NSW.Google Scholar
Sroufe, L.A. (1979). ‘The Coherence of Individual Development: Early Care, Attachment and Subsequent Developmental Issues’, American Psychologist 34 (10) pp834841.Google Scholar
Sroufe, L.A. (1983) ‘Infant-Caregiver Attachment and Patterns of Adaption in Pre-school: The Roots of Maladaption and Competence’ to Perlmutter, M. (ed) Minnesota Symposium in Child Psychology 16, pp4181, Hilsdale New Jersey: Erlbaum.Google Scholar