Attachment in the School Setting

Attachment in the School Setting

Difficult behaviour in the school setting affects both teachers and students. In this paper I draw on attachment theory to construct an alternative explanation for such behaviour. I review attachment theory and link attachment patterns and behaviour in school age children, then outline the implications for educators. I have focused on the primary school setting and although this perspective is relevant to older children, application of attachment theory to adolescents warrants a separate discussion.

Attachment Theory

History.

Attachment theory originates with the work of John Bowlby who, despite psychoanalytical training, disagreed with the focus on the infant's inner world and the argument that infant-mother relationships originate in the infant's physiological (libido and hunger) drives (Howe, 1995). Instead Bowlby concentrated on the infant's actual experience of relationships (Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991), arguing that attachment behaviour is "a major component of human behavioural equipment, on a par with eating and sexual behaviour" (Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991, p. 336).

When Bowlby began this work institutional child care was not uncommon. During World War II many children were evacuated and placed with strangers. Throughout the 1950s young children were routinely separated from their mothers for weeks at a time when a new baby was born. These practices reflect an assumption that children do not experience loss and grief in the same way as adults. Bowlby challenged this, developing an enduring interest in the impact of separation on children's development.

Mary Ainsworth expanded attachment theory by conducting naturalistic observations of mothers and infants and developing a laboratory procedure, "the Strange Situation", in which mother-infant pairs are observed during a brief sequence of separation and reunion. Attachment research departs from other infant research by emphasising the relationship between the infant and the caregiver rather than the individual characteristics of either party (Ainsworth, 1991) and by highlighting the infant's active participation in the process. The attachment figure has a crucial role in managing anxiety during the infant's period of complete dependency. By developing "sensitive responsiveness", or the ability to tune into the infant and respond appropriately, s/he helps the infant to form a secure attachment. Once established secure attachment provides the child with a base from which to explore the world (Ainsworth, 1979).

Patterns of Attachment.

From her study of mother-infant dyads Ainsworth identified three patterns of attachment: secure, ambivalent, and avoidant. Securely attached infants use their mothers as a base for exploration when she is present, they become upset when mother departs, and seek contact with her when reunited. Ambivalently attached infants tend to show anxiety even when mother is present, become intensely distressed when separated and are ambivalent when reunited. Avoidantly attached infants do not interact with mother when she is present, rarely cry when separated from her, and avoid mother when reunited. Securely attached babies are also described as the most co-operative and least angry (Ainsworth, 1979). Particular styles of mothering are characteristic of each of these categories. Mothers of secure infants are sensitive and responsive. Mothers of anxious infants are often unresponsive and may ignore signals from the infant generating high levels of uncertainty and anxiety. Mothers of avoidant infants tend to be rejecting so avoidance is likely to be a defensive manoeuvre on the child's part to lessen anxiety and anger (Ainsworth, 1979).

Additional Categories.

Additional categories have since been identified. Crittenden (1988) describes an avoidant/ambivalent pattern and Main, Kaplan and Cassidy (1985) use the term "disorganised" to describe those children who have experienced abuse and neglect. Disorganised children may respond in chaotic and unexpected ways including interrupted movements and expressions, freezing, stilling and dazing (Cicchetti & Toth, 1995). Crittenden also describes a pattern of compulsive compliance in her research on "at-risk" relationships. Some of these children were classified as securely attached when using the original three criteria. However, Crittenden suggests that these children have controlling mothers and dare not threaten the tenuous bonds that exist, thus providing the basis for their compliance. Patterns of attachment are unique to each mother-infant pair and mothers may have different patterns of attachment with each of their children.

Internal working models.

Bowlby's concept of inner working models explains the long-term impact of early attachment experiences (Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1980). These models are constructed from the infant's experience of interaction and Sroufe (1988) argues that "Such models concerning the availability of others and in turn, the self as worthy or unworthy of care, provide a basic context for subsequent transactions with the environment, most particularly social relationships" (p. 18). Internal working models form the basis for the organisation and understanding of affective experience (Bretherton, 1985, 1990; Crittenden, 1990; Main et al., 1985), helping to make sense of new experiences, and shaping subjective reality (Howe, 1995). Although internal working models tend to be self-perpetuating they are also flexible and can be modified as the result of experience and increasing cognitive capacity (Main et al., 1985).

Intergenerational transmission of attachment patterns.

Processes by which attachment patterns may be transmitted across generations have been identified (Fraiberg, Adelson & Shapiro, 1980; Main & Goldwyn, 1984; Ricks, 1985), and a link between unresolved attachment issues in parents and the abuse of children has been found (Call, 1984; Fraiberg et al., 1980; Main & Goldwyn, 1984; Schmidt & Eldridge, 1986). Main et al. suggest that because parents' internal working models shape their response to the infant, parents with insecure attachment histories may restrict or reorganise attachment-relevant information about their child's behaviour in terms of their own working models. The infant's internal working model then develops in response to these experiences and it is in this way that inter-generational transmission occurs.