Tutorial Week 5

Question 1

Attachment

Answer 1

• relativley enduring emotional tie to a specific other person (Maccoby 1980)
• Traditionally the mother but anyone significant to the child
• Behaviour such as crying aims at activating the caregiving bond
• The caregiver response to infant need for security shapes child’s personality

Question 2

Consequences of Attachment

Answer 2

• Attachment of child has been implicated in adult behaviours
  
  • Love experiences
  • Psychopathology
  • Inability to form relationships

Question 3

Role of the Mother - Bowlby

Answer 3

• Studies of institutionalised children in 40s + 50s influenced current Attachment Theories
• Subsequent problems resulted from being deprived of the chance to bond with their mother
• Children were developmentally delayed
• Showed signs of psychopathology in adulthood
• Led to Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis
• Children also deprived of fathers but this was not attribuuted to paternal absence because father’s role was so down played that absence was considered normal

Question 4

Other Attachment Figures

Answer 4

• Research shows fathers can be first object of attachment for some infants
• Schaffer & Emerson 1964
• Found that sometimes first emotional bonds occured with Fathers and Grandparents
• Even if the mother was the primary caregiver

Question 5

What is the Role of Fathers

Answer 5

• Initially suggested that fathers are as crucial to their child’s development as mothers
• However, it also shows that fathers have a unique role in the child’s development.
• Russell (1978)​
  
  • Fathers devote approximately 13 hours per week to parenting
  • Much of this time is involved in play activities
• Lamb (1977)
  
  • Qualitative difference between type of care provided by each parent for infants.
  • Mothers → Nurturant actsof parenting, e.g., feeding, changing, dressing, and comforting the child.
  • Fathers → Engage in play activities with the child.

Question 6

Contemporary Fathers

Answer 6

• Stay at Home Dads
• Rochlen , McKelly & Whittacker 2010
• Increased numbers of fathers who choose to stay at home withchildren
• 65% increase in numbers from 2004 2007
• 50% of fathers reported a stigmatising incident
• 67% of these incidents perpetrated by stay at home mothers