2. Session aims
• To outline the key aspects of attachment
theory
• To recognise the significance of
attachment in children’s development
• To consider the implications for our role in
supporting children
• To consider the implications for children’s
learning
3. Attachment
“Attachment is a bond which ties .. the mother and baby
together. It emerges out of evolution. It developed in order
to protect us from predators, it is central to our survival and
what we are beginning to realise now is that it’s also central
to our well-being.” (Svanberg, 2005)
•Introductory clip – Reactive Attachment Disorder -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHzed9qKz1E&feature=relate
4. • “What is believed to be essential for
mental health is that an infant and
young child should experience a warm,
intimate, and continuous relationship
with his mother (or permananet
mother-substitute) in which both find
satisfaction and enjoyment” (Bowlby,1953)
• DVD – Attachment 1
• CLIP – Bowlby – Father of Attachment Theory - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAAmSqv
5. The context of attachment theory
• Historical context (post WWII - women wanted
back in the home)
• Research context (‘looked after’ teenagers –
deprived backgrounds and orphans)
• Maternal deprivation theory led to revised
policies in care of children in homes and
hospitals
• Implications for day care and role of the mother
in developing the child
• Idea of ‘monotropism’ = mother as sole
attachment figure
6. Bowlby’s Attachment Theory
• Attachment is crucial for children’s psychological
welfare
• Infant has built-in propensity to form strong
emotional bonds
• Needs warm, intimate and continuous
relationship with mother or substitute
• Believed attachment forms basis of personality
development and socialisation
(evolutionary/biological significance)
• Caregiver plays role in infant’s emotional
regulation
• ‘Maternal deprivation theory’
8. Process of attachment
• Development of the affective system = infant-
caregiver regulation – contingent attunement
• Important for social relationships (temperament
probably plays role)
• Attachment responses are social-learning processes
• First signs of attachment to specific caregiver 6
months or so but process begins at birth
• Still face experiment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btg9PiT0sZg
9. Process of attachment cont.
• From birth-2 months = indiscriminating social
responsiveness but general preference for main
caregiver; built-in responses (or signals) designed to
draw caregiver near and keep her near (e.g. crying);
some believe maternal bonding must occur (conflicting
evidence for sensitive period)
• 2-7 months = discriminating social responsiveness –
more directed social responses to caregiver and other
familiar people (e.g. smiling); interactional patterns
between child and caregiver for communication and
development of relationship; child develops cognitive
representation = working model of caregiver based on
how reliable and trustworthy s/he is seen to be; caregiver
also acts as social referencing person i.e. guidance on
how to feel etc.
10. Process of attachment cont.
• 8-24 months – focused attachment = strong
development of attachment bond; attachment related to
emotional and cognitive development e.g. recognition of
what is strange and familiar plus fear; separation protest,
awareness of strangers; also related to physical
development as child explores treating caregiver as
secure base; development of self-regulation of feelings
via mobility (ventures forth when feeling secure, retreats
for comfort when feel threatened etc.)
“Children who were judged secure with mother in infancy
are found to be more co-operative, more empathetic,
more socially competent, more invested in learning and
exploration, and more self-confident than children who
were judged insecure with mother in infancy”
(Association for Infant Mental Health 2003)
11. Revisions/Additions of Attachment
Theory
• Can have attachment to more than one attachment figure
including fathers
• Caregiver sensitivity is greatest predictor
of secure attachments
• Emotional regulation
• Mind-mindedness – caregiver/child synchronicity
• Nature of attachment type predictor of emotional
responses e.g. secure child more likely to be expressive
and mindful of others’ emotions; insecure child tends to
be less emotionally astute or sensitive
• Nature of attachment has implications for later
social behaviour
• Early insecure attachments may have links with later
psychopathology
12. Revisions/Additions of Attachment Theory
cont.
• Possible critical periods for mother/child
interactions but can have secure relationships
formed in later life plus interventions have led to
more secure attachment i.e. severe deprivation
can be ameliorated
• Lifespan dimension of attachment recognised
• Influence of family systems acknowledged
(sibling order, gender) plus sibling attachment
• Multiple attachments can occur (but multiple
caregivers can cause problems) – what is the
difference?
• Cultural context affects attachment processes
and social bonding depends on particular
environment
13. Internal Working Model theory
• Nature of attachment is internalised via mental
representations of close relationships, self-worth etc.
• ‘the mind’s almost exclusive function is to reduce threat
and create safety’ (Hughes, 2006)
• = mental models that mediate, in part, the ability of an
infant to use the caregiver as a buffer against the
stresses of life, as well as the later development of
important self-regulatory and social skills
• Bowlby - a child’s view of himself is influenced by how
his mother sees him and that ‘whatever she fails to
recognise in him he is likely to fail to recognise in himself’
(Bowlby, 1988).
14. Internal Working Model
• Gerhardt describes the internal working model as
‘inscribed in the brain outside conscious awareness’
(Gerhardt, 2004)
• Bowlby said it is ‘built in the mind during childhood’
(Bowlby, 1988)
• A child that does not experience a sense of security from
their caregiver is likely to have difficulty in forming
relationships and in showing empathy as these are
‘capacities that are internalised through experiencing
them first hand’ (Gerhardt, 2004)
• Gerhardt suggests that it is not possible for a child to be
aware of their own feelings if someone hasn’t done it for
them (Gerhardt, 2004)
15. Creating the IWM - Attunement
• If a child is not able to rely on an adult to respond to their
needs in times of stress they are unable to learn how to
soothe themselves, manage their emotions and engage
in reciprocal relationships
• Dependence on others for protection provides the skills
to help a child cope with frustrations, develop self-
confidence and form the ability to relate to others -
qualities necessary to promote positive engagement with
learning (Geddes, 2006: p127).
• Through attunement with his caregiver ‘the infant learns
that feelings can be recognised, given meaning by being
understood and named’ (Geddes, 2006: p41)
• Attunement is beginning the ‘process of self-awareness
and thus the capacity to empathise’ (Bomber, 2008)
16. Attachment schemas
• Developed primarily in the orbital medial
pre-frontal cortex
• Secure attachments develop mental
process enabling child to balance
emotions, reduce fear, attune to others,
have self-understanding and insight,
empathy for others and well-developed
moral reasoning
17. IWM and Behaviour
• By experiencing attunement a child
feels safe enough to explore and
understand their own feelings and,
in turn, begins to feel empathy for others
• Making sense of our feelings helps us to build
resilience and self-esteem
• IWM contains expectations and beliefs about self,
self-worth, emotional availability of others
• Also contains behavioural strategies
• Becomes self-fulfilling and self-confirming
• Carried through to adulthood - intergenerational
18. Attachment and the brain
• “Integrative communIcation between
caregiver and child stimulates the
activation and growth of integrative fibers
in the brain. Integrative fibers in the brain
are those that enable the coordination and
balance of the nervous system at the
heart of self-regulation. In other words,
interpersonal integration cultivates neural
integration” (Siegel, 2012)
• Can create ‘synaptic shadows’ = strategies of
survival
19. Internal Working Model
Memories of day to day
interactions
Accumulating
schemas
or event scripts
Guiding actions based upon
previous interactions
Expectations &
affective
experience
associated
with interactions
20. Safe Haven Secure Base
Relative dependency
Where are your safe havens?
Independence
21. Where are the Secure Bases/Safe
Havens?INDIVIDUAL REFLECTION -
•Reflect on where and who are your secure
bases in your life
•Are your professional and personal secure
bases the same?
•Have they changed over your life time?
GROUP ACTIVITY -
•In your group create a time line for a child
in your work context
•Discuss and mark on secure bases for a
child - this includes people and places and
systems
•How and where are you involved?
22. Attachment Types
• Most fit into 3 categories:
• A = insecure-avoidant;
• B = securely attached;
• C = insecure-resistant
• Further research found additional type
• D = insecure-disorganised (e.g. bizarre
responses such as freezing, unusual
expressions, apprehensive, confused)
CLIPS – Insecure attachments http://www.youtube.com
27. Attachment Styles
• Secure – I’m ok, you’re there for me
• Avoidant – it’s not ok to be emotional
• Ambivalent – I want comfort but it doesn’t help me
• Disorganised – I’m frightened
(HANDOUT – Attachment types)
• Patterns of attachment are essentially self-
protective strategies and develop dynamically -
emphasizing the dynamic interaction of the
maturation of the human with the environmental
context across the life-span
• Diagnosis – Strange Situation
• DVD – Attachment 2
28. Factors that help determine nature of
attachment
a)Caregiver’s responsiveness:
• Sensitivity to child’s needs and signals e.g.
more responsive to signals
• Demonstrations of affection
• ‘Interactional synchrony’ - caregivers’ actions
mesh with baby, turn-taking etc.
• Synchrony associated with securely attached
• Studies show life events can create change in
category e.g. loss of partner etc.
29. Factors that help determine nature of
attachment cont.
b) Baby’s temperament:
• Conflicting results from research but does seem
temperament affects interactions and responses
in the dyad
• ‘Goodness-of-fit’ between child’s temperament
and social/physical environment
• Same type of caregiving received differently and
vice-versa etc.
c) Cultural and environmental contexts:
• No attachment relationship exists in isolation,
cultural and environmental variants etc.
30. Caregiver sensitivity
• Children of ‘overstimulating’ caregivers
(e.g. physical abuse) tend to develop
insecure-avoidant pattern of attachment
• Children of ’understimulating’ caregivers
(e.g. withdrawal/neglect) tend to develop
insecure-resistant pattern of attachment
• Maltreated children tend to develop
insecure-disorganised pattern of
attachment (often at risk of developing
anti-social behaviour)
32. Adult Attachment Interview
• Way of ‘measuring’ internal working model or
state of mind regarding attachment
• Descriptions of recollections of childhood
attachment-related experiences leads to
classification of mothers into
• i) Dismissive (little recall and assign little
significance to experiences)
• ii) Preoccupied/enmeshed (emotional recall with
some continued dependency on parents)
• iii) Unresolved (may display characteristics of all
three but unresolved attachment-related trauma
evident in some form)
• iv) Autonomous (good recall with balanced
perspective even if negative)
33. Impact on future relationships
• Some success in correlating attachment types
with adult versions
• e.g. secure become autonomous, avoidant
become dismissive, resistant become
enmeshed etc.
• Also adult attachment types with offspring
attachment types
• e.g. autonomous adults have secure infants,
unresolved adults have disorganized infants etc.
• But potential to reverse situation via ‘reflective
self-function’
• i.e. changing internal working model
• DVD Attachment 3
34. Impact on cognitive competence
• Securely attached infants likely to be:
better problem-solvers
more curious
increased quality and duration of play
cognitive competence at 4 can be judged
by responsiveness of mother at 3 months
35. Impact on social competence
• Securely attached infants more likely to be:
cooperative
self-regulative
less likely to develop emotional and behavioural
problems
more socially empathetic
more self-aware (i.e. self-knowledge)
less biased in interpreting behaviour of others
36. Impact on Learning Behaviour
• Learning is an emotional experience
• To be able to engage in learning a
pupil needs to be able to take risks
to learn new things and face new
challenges
• A good learner needs to be able to
manage frustration and anxiety, have good self-esteem, be willing to
take risks and be able to ask for help when needed
• ‘As confidence in the secure base becomes an internalised process,
then exploration and experience in the wider world is possible’
(Geddes, 2006)
• Having a secure base provides the reassurance to enable a pupil
with attachment difficulties to explore their environment and gives
them the confidence and resilience to engage in learning
37. Why attachment matters – foundations of
learning
• Roots of attachment related to primary caregiver but full expression of
attachment potential requires social and emotional interactions with others
• Practitioners provide different and complementing social and emotional
opportunities that help child's attachment capabilities mature
• Research shows positive associations found between quality
of practitioner-child relationships and achievement
• Also, high quality practitioner-child relationships buffered children from
the negative effects of insecure or other maternal attachment
on achievement
• Secure attachment relationships correlate strongly with higher academic
attainment, better self-regulation and social competence
• Priority of attachment system over exploratory system – feeling safe
and secure is more important than playing/learning
• In order to be capable of forming wide array of healthy relationships
throughout life, a young child's attachment capacities must mature
38. The triangle of learning
(Geddes, 2006)
Securely attached child
Pupil
TaskTeacher
39. The triangle of learning
(Geddes, 2006)
Insecure-avoidant attached child
Pupil
TaskTeacher
40. The triangle of learning
(Geddes, 2006)
Insecure-ambivalent attached child
Pupil
TaskTeacher
41. The triangle of learning
(Geddes, 2006)
Disorganised attached child
Pupil
TaskTeacher
42. Children with unmet attachment needs
• It is estimated that at least one third of children have an insecure attachment with at least one
caregiver (Bergin and Bergin, 2009)
• Around 20% of people experience a potentially traumatic event in any given year (Joseph, 2011)
• It is estimated that as many as 80% of children diagnosed with ADHD have attachment
issues (Clarke et al, 2002, Moss and St-Laurent, 2001)
• One Scottish study found 98% of children have experienced one or more trauma event – for
one in four this trauma can result in behavioural and/or emotional disturbance (Clackmannanshire
survey)
What this means:
• Mirror systems employed to defend vs cooperate
• Attachment schemas are used as battle plans vs ways of connecting
• Regulatory systems become biased/primed towards arousal and fear vs relaxed
(dysregulation)
• Reward systems seek alternatives (e.g. drugs) vs contact with loved ones (Conzolino, 2006)
43. Attachment and resilience
• ‘Self-esteem is not just thinking well of oneself in
the abstract; it is a capacity to respond to life’s
challenges’ (Gerhardt, 2004)
• Children with attachment difficulties ‘have such
low self-esteem that they do not value
themselves or anyone else’ (Dann, 2011)
• Therefore children with attachment disorders are
less resilient (although may be able to ‘function’
and exhibit ‘false independence’)
44. Resilient children:
• Believe they are lovable and good
• Have experiences of competence and mastery
in their lives
• Believe they can change, ameliorate, or at the
very least cope with, the difficulties in their lives
• Can realistically appraise their capacities and
skills
• Have at least some strategies and skills for
dealing with problems in their lives
• Are optimistic about their future
45. ACTIVITY
• In what ways does your setting/work
context already accommodate children’s
unmet attachment needs?
• What challenges exist in meeting unmet
attachment needs?
46. References
• Ainsworth,M.S.(1979) ‘Infant-mother attachment’ American Psychologist , 34, 932-7
• Balbernie, R (2001) ‘Circuits and circumstances: the neurobiological consequences of early
relationship experiences and how they shape later behaviour’, Journal of Child Psychotherapy,
27.3, 237-255
• Bowlby,J. (1988) A Secure Base: parent-child attachment and healthy human development. New
York: Basic Books
• Dann, R (2011) ‘Look out! ‘Looked after’! Look here! Supporting ‘looked after’ and adopted
children in the primary classroom.’ Education 3-13: International Journal of Primary, Elementary
and Early Years Education 39:5 ,455-465
• Geddes, H (2006) ‘Attachment in the Classroom – the links between children’s early experience,
emotional well-being and performance in school. London: Worth Publishing
• Gerhardt,S.(2004) Why Love Matters; how affection shapes a baby’s brain. London: Routledge
• Grotberg (1995) The International Resilience Project, Civitan International Research Center, UAB
- http://resilnet.uiuc.edu/library/grotb97a.html
• Hughes, D (2004) ‘An attachment-based treatment of maltreated children and young people’.
Attachment & Human Development 6.3, 263-278
• Oates,J., Lewis,C. and Lamb,M.E. (2005) ‘Parenting and attachment’ in Ding,S. and Littleton,K.
(eds) Children’s Personal and Social Development. Oxford: Blackwell
• Piaget,J. (1955) The Child’s Construction of Reality. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
• Schore,A. (2003) Affect Dysregulation and Disorders of the Self. New York: Norton
• Teicher,M.H. (2002) Scars that won’t heal: the neurobiology of child abuse. Scientific American,
March 54-61.
• Wang et al (1998) Building educational resilience, Fastback, 430. Phi Delta Kappa Educational
Foundation, Bloomington
• Werner et al (2000), Protective Factors and Individual Resilience, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge
47. References
BOOKS
•Bomber, L. (2007) Inside I’m Hurting; Practical Strategies for Supporting Children with Attachment Difficulties in
Schools. London: Worth.
•Bomber, L (2011) What about me? Inclusive strategies to support pupils with attachment difficulties make it through
the school day. London: Worth.
•Bowlby, J. (1988) A Secure Base: Parent-Child Attachment and Healthy Human Development. London: Routledge.
•Cozolino, L. (2006) The Neuroscience of Human Relationships: Attachment And the Developing Social Brain. London:
Norton & Co.
•Conzolino, L. (2013) The Social Neuroscience of Education: Optimizing attachment and learning in the classroom.
London: Norton & Co.
•Ellis, S. and Tod, J. (2009) Behaviour for Learning: Proactive approaches to behaviour management. Abingdon:
Routledge.
•Geddes, H. (2006) Attachment in the Classroom. The links between children’s early emotional well-being and
performance in school. London: Worth.
•Gerhardt, S. (2004) Why Love Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby's Brain. Hove: Brunner-Routledge.
•Golding, K. Fain, J. Frost, A. & Templeton, S. (2013) Observing Children with Attachment Difficulties in Preschool
Settings. London: Jessica Kingsley.
•Gottman, J. with DeClaire, J. (1997) Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child: The Heart of Parenting. New York: Simon
and Schuster.
•Joseph, S. (2011) What Doesn't Kill Us: The New Psychology of Posttraumatic Growth. London: Basic Books.
•Porges, S. (2011) The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological foundations of emotions, attachment, communication and
self-regulation. New York: Norton.
•Rose, J. and Rogers, S. (2012) The Role of the Adult in Early Years Settings. Milton Keynes: OPUP.
•Riley, P. (2010) Attachment Theory and Teacher Student relationships. London: Routledge
•Siegel, D. (2012) The Developing Mind: How relationships and the brain interact to shape who we are. New York:
Guildford Press.
•Sunderland, M. (2008) What Every Parent Needs to Know. London: Dorling Kindersley.
48. ReferencesJOURNAL ARTICLES/PAPERS/CHAPTERS
Bergin, C. and Bergin, D. (2009) Attachment in the Classroom. Educational Psychology Review, 21, 141-170.
Blakemore, S.J. & Frith, U. (2005) The learning brain: lessons for education: a precis. Developmental Science 8.6, 459–465.
Clarke, L., Ungerer, J., Chahoud, K., Johnson, S., and Stiefel, I. (2002). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is associated with attachment
insecurity. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 7.2, 1359-1045.
Denham, S.A. (2006) Social-emotional competence as suport for school readiness: What is it and how do we assess it? Early Education and
Development, 59, 73-100.
Gottman, J.M., Katz,L.F. and Hooven,C. (1996) ‘Parental Meta-Emotion Philosophy and the Emotional Life of Families: Theoretical Models and
Preliminary Data’, Journal of Family Psychology, 10.1, 243-268.
Havighurst, S. et al (2010) Tuning into kids: Improving emotion socialisation practices in parents of pre-school children. Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry, 51: 12, 1342-1350.
Immordino-Yang, M.H. & Damasio, A. (2007), We feel, therefore we learn: The relevance of affective and social neuroscience to education. Mind, Brain,
and Education, 1.1, 3-10.
Moss, E., & St-Laurent, D. (2001) Attachment at school age and academic performance. Developmental Psychology, 37.6, 863-874.
Nagel, M. (2009) Mind the Mind: Understanding the links between stree, emotional well-being and learning in educational context. International Journal of
Learning, 16.2, 33-42.
Oates,J., Lewis,C. and Lamb,M.E. (2005) Parenting and attachment in Ding,S. and Littleton,K. (eds) Children’s Personal and Social Development. Oxford:
Blackwell.
O’Connor, E. and McCartney, K. (2007) Examining Teacher-Child Relationships and Achievement as Part of an Ecological Model of Development.
American Education Research Journal, 44.2, 340-36.
Olson, C.O. and Wyett, J.L. (2000) Teachers need affective competencies. Education, 120.4, 741-762.
O’Neill, L., Guenette, F. and Kitchenham, A. (2010) ‘Am I safe here and do you like me?’ Understanding complex trauma and attachment disruption in the
classroom. British Journal of Special Education, 37.4, 190-197.
Rose, J., Gilbert, L. & Smith, H. (2012) ‘Affective teaching and the affective dimensions of learning’ in Ward, S. (ed) A Student’s Guide to Education
Studies. London: Routledge.
Shaughnessy, J. (2012) The challenge for English schools in responding to current debates on behaviour and violence, Pastoral Care in Education: An
International Journal of Personal, Social and Emotional Development, 30.2, 87-97.
Shonkoff, J. (2010) Building a new biodevelopmental framework to guide the future of Early Childhood Policy, Child Development, 81.1, 357-367.
Whitebread and Bingham (2012) School Readiness: a critical review of perspectives and evidence. Occasional Paper 2,TACTYC.
Weare, K. & Gray, G. (2003) What works in developing children’s emotional and social competence and wellbeing? Nottingham: DfES.
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Hinweis der Redaktion
(ref Theresa O’Neill - Bristol University, RP, & Bomber 2007)
Secure: Not preoccupied with basic survival needs. View others (eg teachers) as potential supporters. Able to settle to learn. Self esteem contributes to resilience - increases likelihood of making subsequent rewarding relationships.
Avoidant: actively seeks to meet their needs on their own (had to in their infancy). Shut down – can even blank out or dissociate. Hard to connect with emotionally. Sometimes staff feel they have to really concentrate on being tuned into this child – easy to become distracted with other thoughts… Easy to manage in class but we need to be aware of high levels of anxiety (“Don’t get too close; you’ll hurt me!”). Achievements valued more than intimacy –> very task-oriented.
Ambivalent: child becomes so tuned into a significant adult that they are continually on edge, attempting to get needs met by constantly working out how the other is feeling/what doing. (Adaptation to inconsistent caregiver.) Helplessness as way of keeping you connected. Exhausting for teacher. Little energy for learning. Quick to blame, resentful – early exps of adults not responding to needs.
Disorganised: Fear, panic, helplessness. Erratic responses, bizarre or distressingly extreme behaviours. Out of the blue. Shock element: risk/safety issues – severe neglect, abuse. Hyper vigilance – little energy left for learning. Anxiety heightened and threatens sense of self – behaviours do not reduce anxiety (as can be the case in other styles).