Secure Attachment Theory

Attachment is an emotional bond to a certain individual. There is also secure attachment which is a strong, positive, and emotional bond with an individual who provides comfort and a sense of security. A person with secure attachment are more likely to go to that person for comfort, problems, or when they are distressed. Someone also might be very unhappy about separation. In psychoanalytic and behavioral theories attachment is when the mother fed her baby and satisfied the infant’s hunger drive. In the ethological theory it views attachment as an adaptive behavior, built into us genetically. Alan Sroufe says the goal of attachment is for the infant to feel safe and secure and their behavior is designed to achieve this. When a baby feels …show more content…
Cross-cultural research has found that proportions of infants who have been classified as Strange Situation have a secure attachment that doesn’t differ much from different countries. In American and North European cultures avoidment attachment was the most insecure category but in Israel and Japan anxious/ambivalent attachment was the most insecure category. In northern Germany almost half of the infants were avoidantly attached and their parents relied heavily on independence and self-reliance. Sensitive parenting is related to secure attachment in both the United States and Japan. In the United States mothers are more likely to associate secure attachment with autonomy and self-determination. In Japan mothers see their child as secure if they show behaviors that put them into harmony with others, accommodating others showing well behavior, and cooperation. Japanese mothers also see their child’s unreasonable demands as a need for closeness unlike American mothers who see it as testing the limits. Even though sensitivity is related to secure attachment in most cultures, it may vary. In Puerto Rico, mothers are more likely to be physically controlling compared to mothers in Boston. However, this type of caregiving was associated with secure attachment and is seen as a positive value in Puerto Rican culture because of respectfulness that is valued …show more content…
John Kennell and Marshall H. Klaus believe in early attachment to be very important. They state that newborns must experience close physical contact with their mothers within just a few hours after birth in order to form a bond. Securely attached infants have more internal resources to cope with difficult events. In the early years, a relationship with the parents helps to soothe the infant’s reactions to frightening events which helps the child soothe themselves when older. Research by Soufe, Egeland, Carlson, and Collins suggests that infant’s with less secure attachment is related to psychological problems when that infant gets older. Adolescents who experienced anxious ambivalent/resistant attachment as babies are more likely to experience anxiety disorders like phobias, posttraumatic stress disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorders. When a child reaches the age three, Strange Situation is less effective because children are more independent and should be less stressed by parental situations. During attachment in childhood secure base script takes place which sets out steps for a child to follow if they were in distress and needed help. A securely attached child expects security when an insecurely child does not. Adolescents may not require a parent’s physical presence to feel secure but a sense of knowing the