3. Stages of Attachment (Schaffer)

Question 1

who identified the stages of attachment

Answer 1

schaffer (1996)

Question 2

4 stages of attachment identified by schaffer (and the age range)

Answer 2

1. Pre attachment phase
   0-3 months
2. Indiscriminate attachment phase
   3-7/8 months
3. Specific attachment phase (discriminate attachment)
   7/8 months onwards
4. Multiple attachments phase
   9 months onwards

Question 3

Outline the stages of attachment identified by Schaffer: introduction

Answer 3

Schaffer (1996) was interested in the formation of early attachments, in particular the age at which they developed, their emotional intensity and to whom they were directed.
He identified 4 distinct stages from birth to 1 year of age

Question 4

Outline the stages of attachment identified by Schaffer: pre attachment phase

Answer 4

the first stage is the pre attachment phase (0-3 months old)

babies are initially ‘asocial’, producing similar responses to all objects, whether they are animate or inanimate

at about 6 weeks, infants begin to treat other humans differently to objects by smiling and gurgling at them

reciprocity and interactional synchrony play a role in establishing the infants relationships with others

Question 5

Outline the stages of attachment identified by Schaffer: indiscriminate attachment phase

Answer 5

the second stage is the indiscriminate attachment phase (3-7/8 months old)

infants can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people

however they are still relatively easily comforted by anyone, and do not yet show anxiety with strangers

the most distinctive feature of this phase is their general sociability (enjoyment of being with people)

Question 6

Outline the stages of attachment identified by Schaffer: specific (discriminate) attachment phase

Answer 6

the third stage is the specific (indiscriminate) attachment phase (7/8 months old onwards)

infants shows distinctly different protest when one particular person puts them down (separation anxiety)

equally they show a spe actual joy at reunion with that person and are most comforted by this person

they are said to have formed a specific attachment to one person; this is their primary attachment figure

around the same time the child starts to develop stranger anxiety

Question 7

Outline the stages of attachment identified by Schaffer: multiple attachment phase

Answer 7

the fourth stage is the multiple attachment phase (9 months old onwards)

very soon after the main attachment is formed the infant also develops a wider circle of multiple attachments (eg father, grandparents, siblings) depending on how many consistent relationships the infant has

these are called secondary attachments and children also display separation ancient from these relationships

however the original primary attachment remains the strongest

Question 8

Evaluate the stages of attachment identified by Schaffer: Strengths

Answer 8

P: evidence to support the stages including multiple attachments from Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
E: interviewed mothers of 60 infants in Glasgow abt their children, found that weighing one month of first forming a primary attachment, 29% of the infants had formed multiple attachments with someone else (eg other parent, grandparent, siblings)
E: they found that by one year, one third of infants has formed five or more secondary attachments
L: this supports the idea that specific attachments are followed by multiple attachments as identified by Schaffer

Question 9

Evaluate the stages of attachment identified by Schaffer: Limitations

Answer 9

P: based on flawed research
E: stages are based on the mothers reports of their infants which might be biased
E: eg some mothers may portray themselves as having a happier and healthier relationship than they really do with as well as portraying other family members as having better relationships with their children than they really do (social desirability bias)
L: the research may lack internal validity

P: may lack temporal validity
E: findings were collected in the 1960s and society and parental care has changed considerably since that time
E: eg more mothers going out to work and fathers staying home to look after the child
L: the stages and the attachments formed by the mothers and fathers alike may not be representative of how attachments develop now in the modern day
E: furthermore, in the modern day more children grow up in single parent families without a father and don’t develop any differently to children in two parent families which suggests fathers do not necessarily play a distinct role in child development (MacCallum and Golombrook, 2004)

P: problem w the multiple attachment stage is that it may be seen as ‘ethnocentric’
E: this means it is culturally biased by assuming the way children develop in one culture is the way they develop in all cultures
E: eg, Schaffer stage theory states that a specific attachment is developed followed by multiple attachments, yet in some cultures it is multiple attachments which come first. furthermore, in different cultures, the role played by mothers and fathers as well as the wider family in child rearing varies greatly which may affect attachments
L: may mean that stage theories in child development and on the role of different attachment figures may always be limited