3.2 Stages of attachment and the role of the father

Stages of Attachment

Many developmental theories identify a sequence of qualitatively different behaviours linked to specific ages. In the case of stages of attachment’ qualitatively different infant behaviours are linked to specific ages, and all babies go through them in the same order.

Stage 1: Asocial Stage

• 0-6 weeks

In a baby’s first few weeks of life its observable behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects is fairly similar- hence the term ‘asocial’. However, signs for preference to faces shown.

Stage 2: Indiscriminate attachment

• 2-7 months

Babies start to display more obvious and observable social behaviours. They now start to show a clear preference for being with other humans rather than inanimate objects. They also recognise and prefer the company of familiar people. However, at this stage babies usually accept cuddles and comfort from any person. They do not usually show separation anxiety when caregivers leave their presence or stranger anxiety.

Stage 3- Specific attachment

• 7+ months

  Infants show a preference for one caregiver, display separation and stranger anxiety. The baby looks to particular people for security, comfort and protection. Stranger anxiety and separation anxiety occurs.

Stage 4- Multiple attachments

• 10/11 months+

Multiple attachments are formed with those whom they regularly spend time with. These relationships are called secondary attachments and Schaffer and Emerson observed that 29% of the children formed secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary attachment. By the age of one year the majority of babies had developed multiple attachments.

Separation anxiety can occur when infants are separated from secondary attachments.

Schaffer and Emersons research (not in specification)

-60 babies from Glasgow

-Researchers visited babies and mothers in their own homes every month for the first year and again at 18 months.

-Researchers asked questions to mother about the kind of protests their babies showed in seven everyday separations.

-Schaffer and Emerson identified 4 distinct stages in the development of infant attachment behaviour.

Evaluation for stages of attachment: Strengths

-Has good external validity

-Most observations were made by parents during ordinary activities and reported to the researchers. This means it’s likely that the participants behaved naturally while being observed.

-They have practical application in day care. In the asocial and indiscriminate stages day care is likely to be straightforward as babies can be comforted by any skilled adult. However Schaffer and Emersons research tells us that day care, especially starting day care with an unfamiliar adult may be problematic during the specific attachment stages. Thus parents can use of day care can be planned.

Evaluation for stages of attachment: Limitations

-There are issues with asking mothers to be the observers. They are unlikely to be objective observers as they may be biased in terms of what they’ve noticed and reported. Therefore if a baby was behaving naturally their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded.

-There may be a limitation to the validity of the measured they used to assess the attachment in the asocial stage. Young babies have poor co-ordination and are fairly immobile. If babies less than two months old felt anxiety in everyday situations they might have displayed thus in quite subtle, hard to observe ways. This makes it difficult for mothers to observe and report back to researchers on signs of anxiety and attachment in this age group.

-The data was collected in the 1960’s and parental care may have changed since then - Lack temporal validity.

Father attachment

Schaffer and Emerson found that the father was the primary attachment figure in only 3% of families. By 18 months of age, 75% of infants had formed an attachment to their father.

Biological evidence suggests that men are less receptive and sensitive to the needs of an infant as women have more oestrogen than males which is responsible for cognitive and emotional processes.

Distinctive role for fathers

Grossman et al. carried out a longitudinal study where babies’ attachments were studied until they were into their teens. Quality of a baby’s attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to attachments in adolescence. This suggests that attachment with mothers but not fathers is less important than attachment to mothers.

However, Grossman et al. also found that the quality of fathers’ play with babies was related to the quality of adolescent attachments. This suggests that fathers have a different role from mothers - one that is more to do with play stimulation, and less to do with emotional development.

Fathers as primary attachment figures

There is some evidence to suggest that when fathers do take on the role of primary caregiver they are able to adopt the emotional role more typically associated with mothers.

Tiffany Field Study

-Filmed 4 month-old babies face-to-face interaction with primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers and primary caregiver fathers. Primary caregiver fathers, like primary caregiver mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding babies than the secondary caregiver fathers. This shows fathers have the potential to be the more emotion-focused primary attachment figure.

Perhaps this can only be expressed when they are given the role of the primary attachment figure.

Evaluation for the role of the father: Strengths

-It can be used to offer advice to parents. Parents may agonise over decisions like who should take on the primary caregiver role. Heterosexual parents can be informed that fathers are quite capable of becoming primary attachments figures and lesbian-parent and single-mother families can be informed that not having a father around does not affect a child’s development.

-Sometimes studies have found that fathers tend to take on the ‘fun playmate’ role while mothers being more nurturing and affectionate. This suggests that differences may exist between mothers and fathers in the role of attachment and development on children.

Evaluation for the role of the father: Limitations

-The question ‘what is the role of the father?’ in the context of attachment is much more complicated than it sounds. Some researchers want to understand the role of fathers as secondary attachment figures whilst others want to understand the role of them as primary attachment figures.

-The role of fathers study findings vary according to the methodology used. Longitudinal studies such as Grossman et al. have suggested that fathers as secondary attachment figures have an important and distinct role in their child’s development, involving play and stimulation. However if fathers have a distinctive and important role we would especially t that children growing up in single mother families would turn out in some way different from those in two-parent heterosexual families, However studies show, children do not develop differently.