Sensitive Mothering Is Essential to the Social and Emotional Development of the Child. Discuss This Statement in the Context of Relevant Developmental Theory. Essay examples
As human beings, we cannot live alone. Since we born, we are part of various groups in our society, such as family, neighbourhood, town, city and nation. Within those groups, we need to take part in socialisation, as we all are social beings. Therefore, it is necessary to have the skills for us to behave appropriately. To obtain these skills, positive self-esteem and self-image are required. Young children need to be loved and cared for as well as feeling safe and valued in order to have a healthy emotional development. This early emotional development involves developing relationships with others, which build the foundation for young children to develop their ability. Instead of feeling anxious about the possibility of being abandoned,…show more content… This internal working model may affect children’s behaviours, as they tend to develop new relationship with the way that they are familiar with (MCI, undated).
The bonding between the infant and primary caregiver usually happens immediately after birth, and the attachment relationship takes place over time and have huge impacts for the infant. Infants between birth to two months of age are considered at the pre-attachment (Bowlby, 1969) phase where they do not have much discrimination and recognition. Infants between two to six months is considered at the attachment-in-the-making (Bowlby, 1969) phase where they start discriminating people around them, showing preference for particular adults and developing a sense of trust with them. Infants who have clear attachment relationships are at the clear-cut attachment phase (Bowlby, 1969), which usually happen between six months to two years old young children. This is the critical period as it is where all the attachment behaviours happen and the attachment can be either secure or insecure. In this phase, children will find a way to maintain proximity with their primary caregivers who will be used as safe haven and secure base from which to explore the environment. From around nine months onwards, they will start reacting to separation with extreme distress, such as crying and clinging.
