Human Growth, Behaviour and Development

Essential Theory and Application in Social Work

Alastair Gibson, Neil Gibson

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781473944022
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Social Work
• Index: Psychology

Understanding the way in which individuals develop before birth, as babies, children and adolescents through to young and older adulthood towards death is an important part of any social work role. Being able to skilfully apply this understanding in real life practice situations is even more important, as purposeful translations of human development are at the heart of effective professional practice.

Introducingstudents to emotional, psychological and social developmental theories of human growth before exploring in detail how these theories can be incorporated into practice, this book will ensurestudents have all the toolsthey need to not only understand but critically appraise and apply psychosocial theories early on in training and whilst on placement. With the help of real world case studies, summaries and tips for further study, it will showstudents how life course theories inter-relate and howthey can make appropriate, purposeful translations of theory into skilled, professional practice.

Part 1 Childhood in the Early Years

Over the following three chapters, we shall consider the baby and the very young toddler. We shall discuss how relationships between the child and the child’s carers are hugely important for the child’s present and future development. The formation of attachment patterns and the development of affectional bonds are discussed in Chapter 1; the importance of a positive balance of care provision, based on Erikson’s Life Cycle Theory, is discussed in Chapter 2; and the significance of meeting a child’s emotional needs for dependence and consistency, based on Object Relations Theory, is discussed in Chapter 3.

1 Attachment – Bonding and brain development

An understanding of attachment theory and behaviour is absolutely essential for effective social work practice. This chapter will look at the work of Bowlby, Ainsworth and more recent theorists to understand the foundations of attachment and identify the various styles of attachment.

The chapter will begin by clarifying the concept of bond formation and will explain how this differs from attachment theory, before going on to look at the basic concepts of attachment and why they are so useful within social work and social care practice.

It is important that any worker understands what a secure attachment should consist of, so focus will be given to this attachment style to begin with, before going on to look at the insecure attachment styles, namely anxious/ambivalence, avoidance, and disorganised. Examples will be given to illustrate some of the typical behaviours exhibited within each style.

The chapter will then look at recent developments in neuroscience which recognise the importance of attachment styles on brain development. Throughout the concluding sections, links will be made to social work practice to demonstrate how this knowledge can be used within assessment and interventions.

By the end of the chapter the reader should:

• Know the difference between ‘bonding’ and ‘attachment’
• Understand how relationship-building begins
• Appreciate the importance of a secure attachment style
• Know the difference between the three insecure attachment styles
• Recognise the potential for neurobiological impact
• Begin to think about how to apply this knowledge in practice

Bonding

‘Bonding’ is a general term used to describe the process of forming an emotional connection with another person. As human beings, we will form many bonds with many people throughout our lifetime, and from the moment that we are born we begin the first of these bonding processes with our mothers. In maternity wards all across the country, the first experience of the outside world that a baby will encounter is skin-on-skin contact as the midwife encourages the mother to place the newborn across her chest so that the baby can hear the comforting sounds of her heartbeat. But this was not always the case in maternity hospitals – even in the mid-1980s, the practice of skin-on-skin contact to encourage bonding at birth was seen as a radical move (Brody, 1983) – and 20 years previously, babies were wrapped in swaddling cloth and placed in cots as soon as they were born.

There is now a realisation that bonding with a baby begins long before the skin-on-skin experience. From the moment a pregnancy is discovered, the bonding process is initiated – parents will begin to develop hopes and wishes for the developing child, they may possibly give the ‘bump’ a name, and an emotional connection begins. The bonding process can be affected by a number of factors, including the mental and physical health of the parents, the development of the fetus, how much planning there was in the pregnancy, and even how active the fetus is in the womb and its response to external stimulus.

When the child is born, it is not concerned with bonding to form an emotional bond, it is simply looking to survive, and to do that, nature has provided the newborn with innate responses to seek out the person holding them, turning their head towards the face of the person and seeking with their blurry vision (Christiano, 2008). Later, the developing infant will also equate bonding with the psychological feeling of security and protection, and for approximately the first eight weeks of life a baby will experiment with various facial expressions, verbal gurgles and crying to attract the attention of their caregivers. Often, these facial expressions are reinforced through the act of mirroring.

Critical Thinking

In essence bonding is the first relationship with the developing child and makes up the foundation blocks for attachment. In ‘normal’, healthy relationships, the bonding process has a good chance of developing in an appropriate manner, but some pregnant mothers and their partners might not be able to bond in a straightforward way.

• How might bonding be affected with mothers who are going to put their child up for adoption when it is born?
• How might the lack of pre-natal bonding affect foster carers and adoptive parents?

Learning through Mirroring

‘Mirroring’ is the process of reflecting back to a child so that they can learn about the nature of their behaviour and the impact it has on other people. Winnicott (1971) identified the concept of mirroring when he wrote about the importance of affirming need in a child. Within a caring relationship, the verbal and non-verbal cues given off by a child will be picked up by the carer and an appropriate response will be given – if a child smiles, the response is usually a smile back; if the child cries the response will be to comfort, either by giving food, giving affection or changing a dirty nappy. By meeting the need of the child in an appropriate manner, the primary carer will be letting the child know that they exist, they are worthy of attention and that their actions result in a reaction from the carer – from this, the child learns about their actions through observation, much like looking at a reflection, hence ‘mirroring’.

When mirroring is a positive experience, this will impact on identity formation and the developing infant gains a sense of their ‘true self’ (Becket and Taylor, 2010). However, if mirroring is inadequate and the needs of the infant are not met, or even ignored, then a ‘false self’ can also develop. This false self is a form of defence mechanism which pushes the unpleasant feelings associated with unmet need into the unconscious, and the infant becomes preoccupied with trying to guess how the primary carer is going to act.

Winnicot (1971) also recognised that no parent or caregiver could meet a child’s needs 100 per cent of the time, but he did suggest that parenting had to be ‘good enough’. If mirroring is done empathically, then a parent should be trying to see the world from the perspective of the developing infant while affirming emotional expressions. They can also help the child to understand the names of the emotions, and to reassure the infant that these are normal feelings to be experiencing. It is also never too late to begin the mirroring process, with patience, explanation and affirmation; a child will be able to adjust perceptions of themselves based on feedback from the mirroring process. Where a child might think that they are ‘stupid’ because they cannot immediately master a task, mirroring appropriately can help them understand that a task is difficult and will take time to master, thus normalising emotions.

Critical Thinking

Mirroring is a natural phenomenon which occurs between infant and primary carer and is a vital part of learning for the child. A number of factors can impact on the mirroring process and, for mirroring to be effective, the primary caregiver must be emotionally available. Consider how mirroring might be affected by the following issues:

• Mental health issues
• Substance use issues
• Relationship issues

Discuss what other issues might impact on the mirroring process.

Defence Mechanisms

Reference will be made throughout the book to defence mechanisms. The term, ‘defence mechanism’ has become part of everyday language: this psychological expression stems from the work of Sigmund Freud, who believed that the behaviour and action of every human being is influenced by a biological drive, but that humans ultimately want to maintain a homeostasis. This desire for homeostasis is influenced by the three-way struggle between the ‘id’, ‘ego’ and ‘superego’.

The id relates to the unconscious part of the mind. Primitive needs drive actions (such as hunger, safety, shelter) and will impact on behaviour. It is here that unpleasant memories and emotions are suppressed, and which can also impact on behaviour. We can view the id as defining our ‘nature’.

The superego works for the id and tries to meet the needs of it by using morals and values to acceptably satisfy it. An individual learns how to act appropriately through interaction with family and friends, as well as the wider society, and we can view the superego as our ‘nurture’.

The ego is the mediator between the id and the superego, but ultimately works to protect the id. If the superego is unable to satisfy the id, then the ego has to deal with the consequences. A common outcome of an upset homeostasis is the emotion of ‘anxiety’ and it is up to the ego to manage this, often by deploying ‘defence mechanisms’. Common defence mechanisms include:

• Repression – ‘forgetting’ unpleasant memories by pushing them out of the conscious mind. These repressed memories are at risk of surfacing at a later date through emotions and behaviours, and can be directed at people who have nothing to do with the original cause of the memory.
• Splitting – when dealing with contradictory emotions, a person might begin to see others as ‘all good’ or ‘all bad’ and compartmentalise relationships into these categories. If needs are met, then the relationship is good. If needs are not met, the relationship is bad.
• Projection – characteristics of the self are externalised and attached to another person. This helps to remove unwanted personality traits from the unconscious by viewing other people as at fault.
• Sublimation – satisfying the needs of the id with a substitute object, for example by using sports to deal with aggressive thoughts.
• Displacement/Transference – strong emotions are directed to an alternative object or person, not the one who originally created the emotion.
• Rationalisation – failing to recognise the true cause of actions and behaviours and justifying them through more acceptable reasons.
• Denial – the mind refuses to acknowledge the reality of the situation because the truth is too painful to handle.
• Regression – reverting to an earlier stage of development because the mind feels happier there. Behaviours and actions will manifest which are suggestive of an earlier developmental stage.

Attachment – Why is it Important?

Human beings are social animals, and to function within a society we need the ability to form relationships to build bonds. We cannot avoid forming relationships – relationships are forced on us from the moment we are born, but it is the quality of these relationships that can dictate so much behaviour, and explain so many of our actions and reactions to situations.

Whereas bonding is concerned with the emotional tie between the child and the primary caregiver, attachment focuses on the quality of the relationship as a result of this emotional bond.

Knowledge of attachment theory underpins assessment and can assist social workers in recognising risk and protective factors for young children. Attachment theory can help us understand why some children cling to their carers while others confidently settle with anybody who shows an interest in them. The theory can also help us understand why parents react to their children in certain ways, and can also explain marital fit, reactions to loss and change, and how clients might adapt within the therapeutic relationship offered from a social work service. Howe and Campling (1995) also highlight the importance of recognising attachment patterns within our own behaviour in order to help us understand other people’s behaviour which can, at times, appear to be unpredictable and inexplicable, and warn that failure to comprehend attachment theory within relationships places the worker in danger of cutting themselves off from key elements of practice.

In the 1950s, John Bowlby (2008) proposed that the quality of the affectional bond between a child and their primary caregiver had a profound psychological impact which lasted for life. He explained that a child needs security while they develop; the more secure the child feels, the safer they will feel to explore the surrounding environment and consequently learn and develop in a positive manner – when the quality of the secure base is affected, the feeling of safety that the child needs is also affected. Bowlby (1969) identified three areas in which a developing child interpreted the environment: first, the child forms ideas of how the physical world behaves; next they learn about how their mother and significant others behave within this physical world; and, finally, they learn about how they are expected to behave. The combination of these three elements means that the child will establish an opinion on how each should interact with the others, and Bowlby referred to this as the ‘internal working model’. Early critiques of Bowlby’s work stated that he was too focused on blaming the mothers for poor attachment styles, but studies on attachment theory since the 1960s have placed emphasis on the carers, rather than the mother.

Fahlberg (2012) identified the concepts of ‘arousal-relaxation’ and ‘positive-interaction’ which she describes as exchanges between the child and the primary caregiver. The quality of these interactions will have a direct impact on the attachment relationship. If the caregiver is correctly attuned to the signals given off by the child, then appropriate responses will be given to behaviours such as crying, smiling and other forms of body language.

Attachment theory recognises that a child will form an attachment with a person who interacts with them, despite the quality of the interaction. Attachment relationships are not solely based on who feeds and changes the child, but also on who communicates with the child through daily interactions and play. Even if a child feels ignored, unwanted or even at risk, an attachment will be formed. Mary Ainsworth et al. (2014) further developed Bowlby’s ideas by looking at insecurities that the child experiences when the secure base does not provide a high level of safety and security. She developed an experiment called the ‘Strange Situation’, wherein she looked at the reactions of a child when the primary carer was present, then when they were absent and the child was left with a stranger, and then when the primary carer returned (see box below). This resulted in a classification system for attachment styles: ‘secure’, ‘anxious/ambivalent’, ‘avoidant’ and ‘disorganised’ (which was later added by Main and Solomon, 1986).

Before looking at the specific attachment styles, it is important to consider when attachments form in relation to the development of a child. Schaffer and Emerson (1964) conducted a longitudinal study, observing the attachment behaviour of 60 babies over an eighteen-month period. They proposed that for the first two to three months, a child will demonstrate indi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Publisher Note
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Illustration List
• About the authors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Part 1 Childhood in the Early Years
• 1 Attachment – Bonding and brain development
• 2 Erikson – The initial stages
• 3 Object Relations Theory – Meet my needs
• Part 2 From Childhood through Adolescence to Becoming an Adult
• 4 Attachment – New relationships on old foundations
• 5 Erikson – From identity to intimacy
• 6 Object Relations Theory – Looking for the perfect match
• Part 3 Adulthood and Older Age
• 7 Attachment – The complexity of adult attachments
• 8 Erikson – From midlife to contentment or despair
• 9 Object Relations theory – Maturity or immaturity
• Part 4 Surviving life’s challenges
• 10 Loss, Change and Transitions
• 11 Family Systems and Psychodynamics – is there such a thing as a ‘normal’ family?
• 12 Trauma and Resilience
• 13 Voices from Practice
• References
• Index