Erick Erickson's Attachment Theory

the best way to support a child to manage risks themselves is to let the child take appropriate responsibility for safety decisions in a controlled environment. Increase the levels of risk as the child grows and matures. Support and help parents to encourage their children to manage risks for themselves. You must also be aware of children who are timid and who are reluctant to take risks and help them to develop their skills but most children have an inbuilt level of

Two theories that will be discussed in this paper is Erik Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development and John Bowlby’s Theory of Attachment. Erikson’s theory is considered psychosocial, emphasizing the importance of social and cultural factors within a lifespan, from infancy to later adulthood. Erikson’s theory is broken down into eight consecutive age-defined stages. During each stage, a person experiences a psychosocial crisis that contributes to their personality development. Erikson was highly influenced by Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytical Theory of Development. Although, at first Freud was limited to childhood based on the phallic stage, Erikson focused on developing a lifespan theory. The eight stages are as followed:

When a man or a woman is transformed into a parent, they take many responsibilities upon themselves. These responsibilities are essential in raising physically and mentally healthy children. The given promises a parent must follow through on when raising a child encompass the fundamentals like: feeding, clothing, and housing a child. If a child were deprived of these fundamentals they would be restricted in growing both physically and mentally. Naturally, a starved child without proper clothes and housing to protect him/her from the weather is a malnourished child and is physically deprived. However, food, clothes, and proper housing also relates directly to the educational prosperity of a child. In The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls accounts

Babies are born with an innate ability to learn and their brain to develop after birth. The neural pathways of a human’s brain are built based on their early experience in the world. A baby’s world is based on how they are treated by people in it therefore if the environment is scary then the baby will be reluctant to explore, as demonstrated n Bowlby’s and Ainsworth’s attachment theory. The brain and body become wired enough to understand what is safe and what should be feared.

Attachment allows the children to have a secure base which is essential to explore, learn and uses the primary caregiver as a source of comfort (Benoit 2004).The way different children behave enables the parents to response in many different ways which are influenced by their attachment pattern (Rees 2007). Bowlby believed that an infant attachment behaviours are natural and will be activated by any condition which may threaten their proximity such as separation. The attachment relationship between the child and the caregiver prepares them for future relationships (Gantt et al 1995). Bowlby (1990) developed the attachment theory as a way of understanding how specific infants bond to others, he noticed infants engaging in certain behaviours such as smiling which led to a close and secure bond and relationship with their caregiver which portrayed a secure attachment towards their mother.

Self-reliance is detrimental to the well being of a child. The memoir, The Glass Castle, written by Jeannette Walls and the “Florida Mom Arrested After Letting 7-year-old Walk to the Park Alone,” by Caitlin Schmidt represent the dangers of independence in the following ways. For instance, the Walls family lives an extraordinary life where no rules apply. Both Rex and Rosemary are aware of the issues that their laid back parenting has set for their family. In the beginning of Jeannette’s story, she states, “ I’m mature for my age … she lets me cook for myself.” (14) If Rosemary was more attentive, she would not allow her three year old daughter make hot dogs. Rosemary was so caught up in being independent that she basically put her daughter

Firstly, there is the possibility of the misapplication of attachment theory, this is due to the ability to place blame on the mother. This can enforce a mother’s feelings of inadequacy, and increase feelings of low self-esteem as a mother is solely held as responsible for the wellbeing of the child. It fails to recognise the influence by a father or the secondary caregiver, and how this impacts on the mother and child

The term attachment is used widely when focusing on children’s early relationships. An attachment can be thought of as a unique emotional tie or bond between a child and another person which usually is an adult. Research shows that the quality of these bonds or attachments will shape a child’s ability to form other relationships later on in life. In the 1950’s a theorist John Bowlby identified that children and young people’s mental health and behaviour could be linked to separation from a child’s primary carer. He also identified that young children can show separation anxiety if their primary carer is not there for them.

An opportunity to work at Regency Hospice in Murrells, SC, provided the chance to meet a patient by the name of Mr. Henry. He is a war veteran aged sixty-seven years old. In his old age he had been diagnosed with liver failure, which provided some challenges in life. Davis, 2011, recognizes that there are some challenges from liver failure such as psychological, mental and physical trauma that result in a reduction in the quality of life. Mr. Henry lived alone in his apartment and regular visits to his home to provide him care, but was made difficult during his last days. He passed in 2014 because his illness was terminal and his refusal to be admitted to a hospital where decent care would be provided. In this paper, contemporary attachment theory is applied to try and diagnose his problems during his final years. Also, self-psychology will be applied to help understand his state of mind and provide probable treatment that can lead to a cure.

they do. However, after their doing bad, we can see that they grow up and make

Try to avoid always directing your toddler. Let them come up with play ideas so that they are not always dependent on you.

According to Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, trust vs. mistrust, occurs in the first year of life. Erikson believed that the caregiver’s response to the infant’s cries help them develop a sense of trust, when the caregiver responds right away to the infant’s distress of crying or fussing (Mooney, 2000). Erikson believed that in the earliest years of life, mainly during infancy, patterns of trust or mistrust are formed that control, or at least influence, a person’s actions or interactions for the rest of life (Erikson, 1950).

Social workers must be familiar with attachment theory for several reasons. One example is how a person has developed attachment will greatly influence how they connect with and maintain relationships in their lives. Moreover, having a firm grasp of attachment theory provides a social worker with a starting point to assess their client and subsequently determine an appropriate course of action to help a client obtain healthier and fulfilling relationships. For social workers to identify the attachment styles of an individual they must be familiar with the patterns of attachment and the characteristics of each. The most common and desirable forms of the attachment patterns is secure attachment. Research suggests that children who demonstrate secure attachment styles go on to have more positive social interactions which lead to learning how to trust others and increases self-esteem (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2013). Additionally, it is important for social workers to know the what contributes to children obtaining secure attachment. Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman (2013) highlight that caregivers which spend significant time with their child, react to their child’s needs, the caregiver has a deep commitment to the child and are emotionally responsive, and a caregiver is present over a long period. Providing training for caregivers to learn how

The paper mainly focuses on the conceptual framework of Attachment theory as well as attachment style of a client with Self-esteem issues that helps in the case formulation and treatment plan in Cognitive Behavioural Theory (CBT). Attachment style can be explained as an emotional connection of one person with another. The aim of this research study is to evaluate an association between attachment theory and cognitive behavioural approaches, explicitly pointing out similarities as well as differences between both. For the research analysis, qualitative research methodology has been selected for which distinctive previous researches, books and journal article resources has been examined as the gathered evidences are based on attachment theory

Attachment theory tries to describe the evolution of personality and behaviour in relationships and it gives a reason for the difference in a person’s emotional and relationship attitudes.