How would you characterize the child’s attachment style? (1)
Anges was very engaged in encouraging Max to explore his environment during his earlier developmental years, especially when he started crawling. Max would crawl a little and then turn to Agnes for reassurance. Even after Max was removed from her care and placed in a daycare setting, he was eventually able to adjust to the staff at the facility. Now that Max is living with Kelly, there is evidence in his behavior that shows he has formed an attachment to her. The history of Max’s behavior with his primary caretakers is that of a secure attachment style (Brandell and Ringel, 2007). When Max lived with Anges, his crawling behavior and approval seeking showed that Anges was a secure base for Max. Now, Max displays secure attachment characteristics with Kelly because she provides him with a sense of safety and has an approach of mindful awareness …show more content…
When Max does not get what he wants he proceeds to yell and hit his playmates out of anger and frustration. In addition, Max becomes highly agitated when Kelly has to leave him for any reason and he is known to cry and cling when he does not want to deal with a certain situation or a specific person. This type of childish behavior is an immature defense mechanism known as acting out. The frustration, aggression, agitation, fear, and physical violence Max uses is a direct expression of his wishes and impulses through overt behavior (Bertzoff, 2011). When these impulses present themselves within Max, he gives into them in order to avoid the tensions and anxieties of his situation. Max’s acting out is a maladaptive defense mechanism because he lacks the ability to express his emotions in a healthy way. Max does not have the ability to verbalize his emotions and therefore acts out in order to release his internal
Anges was very engaged in encouraging Max to explore his environment during his earlier developmental years, especially when he started crawling. Max would crawl a little and then turn to Agnes for reassurance. Even after Max was removed from her care and placed in a daycare setting, he was eventually able to adjust to the staff at the facility. Now that Max is living with Kelly, there is evidence in his behavior that shows he has formed an attachment to her. The history of Max’s behavior with his primary caretakers is that of a secure attachment style (Brandell and Ringel, 2007). When Max lived with Anges, his crawling behavior and approval seeking showed that Anges was a secure base for Max. Now, Max displays secure attachment characteristics with Kelly because she provides him with a sense of safety and has an approach of mindful awareness …show more content…
When Max does not get what he wants he proceeds to yell and hit his playmates out of anger and frustration. In addition, Max becomes highly agitated when Kelly has to leave him for any reason and he is known to cry and cling when he does not want to deal with a certain situation or a specific person. This type of childish behavior is an immature defense mechanism known as acting out. The frustration, aggression, agitation, fear, and physical violence Max uses is a direct expression of his wishes and impulses through overt behavior (Bertzoff, 2011). When these impulses present themselves within Max, he gives into them in order to avoid the tensions and anxieties of his situation. Max’s acting out is a maladaptive defense mechanism because he lacks the ability to express his emotions in a healthy way. Max does not have the ability to verbalize his emotions and therefore acts out in order to release his internal