Child Observation Paper
Jason Betts
Pacific Oaks College
November 12, 2012
The purpose of this paper is to discuss and review my observation of a 7 year old African American male who is being raised by his grandmother (45 year old Bi-racial female who has 9 children of her own; 7 of the children are still in the house). During my observation of “Jackson”, I focused on the following domains of child development: * Physical * Cognitive * Social * Emotional
I applied Attachment theory throughout the observations, which were completed at his home, at the park, and at the grocery store. I was unable to observe Jackson at his school. Jackson is being raised by his grandmother because his mother is addicted to drugs,
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Jackson appeared withdrawn, and was somewhat embarrassed before stating that he did not do well in school. Jackson knows that he can perform better in school. When the other children began to tease Jackson, he was ready to fight some of them. This is typical behavior for Jackson, and is also a pattern of disorganized attachment. Children with a disorganized pattern in infancy tend to show disturbed patterns of relationships, subsequently, their relationships with peers can often be characterized by a “fight or flight” pattern of alternate aggression and withdrawal. Jackson’s coping skills when upset, threatened, or embarrassed is fight, unless the person is physically bigger than him. If this is the case, Jackson uses flight to cope, and seeks his grandmother for protection and comfort.
On October 13, 2012, observation #3 was conducted at the grocery store and at a fast food restaurant between the hours of 3:00pm and 4:30pm. It was an over cast day, and present at the store and restaurant were 6 of the grandmother’s children (between the ages of 7-21), and Jackson’s mother. I concentrated on Jackson’s social, emotional, and physical development with the use of Attachment theory. Jackson’s mother arrived at the store, and met us inside. I was surprised to see Jackson’s mother, and so was Jackson. The mother and Jackson did not communicate with each other. The mother got upset at the store with the grandmother, and stated she was going
Rudolph Schaffer and Peggy Emerson (1964) also formulated a theory of attachment based on their longitudinal study of 60 babies in Glasgow looking at the gradual development of attachments; they visited them monthly for the first year of their lives and returned again at 18 months. (Bailey et al. 2008). Similar to Bowlby’s research, Schaffer and Emerson also formulated four key stages of attachment and produced
Based on her reaction it appears she has developed deferred imitation. According to Piaget, deferred imitation is defined as ¨a sequence in which and infant first perceives something that someone else does and then performs the same action a few hours or even days later¨ (Piaget 166). According to table 6.1, stage six intellectual accomplishment, involving both thinking and memory appears at around 18-24 months. Based on this information, Isabella, at 20 months of age, would be within the age range for development and therefore within the norm for her age (Piaget 162).
John Bowlby’s work in attachment has been the foundation when determining the attcahments and bonds that a child and parent may experience (Webb, 2011). According to Bowlby, “attachment” is referring to a lasting, mutual bond of affection that is dependent on an individual or more than one person (Webb, 2011). Establishing a secure attachment during infancy and early childhood is an important task of a parent or a caregiver. Not all parents or caregivers can provide their child with a secure attachment at this important in life due to various reasons. Since parents are the main providers in their child’s development of attachment, their lives and history has a great influence on their children’s lives.
Attachment is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space (Bowlby, 1969). Likewise, attachment theory is a psychological model that seeks to illustrate the dynamics of both long term and short- term interpersonal relationships (Waters, E.; Corcoran, D.; Anafarta, M. 2005). Additionally, attachment theory address how people respond within relationships when hurt, separated from loved ones, or when they perceive a threat (Waters et al., 2005). Attachment theory is the combined work of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth (Bretherton, I. 1992, p. 1). The theory predominantly draws on the ideas from doctrines such as, ethology, cybernetics, information processing and developmental psychology (Bretherton, I. 1992, p. 1). It is considered that attachment theory has revolutionized the way society thinks about the relationship between the mother and her child and the importance of
One of the most important factors that affect child development is the relationship of the child with their primary caregiver. This is a tenet of developmental psychology known as attachment theory. John Bowlby, the creator of this theory, wanted to examine how early childhood experiences influence personality development. Attachment theory specifically examines infant’s reactions to being separated from their primary caregiver. Bowlby hypothesized that the differences in how children react to these situations demonstrates basic behavioral differences in infancy that will have consequences for later social and emotional development.
The date of my observation was April 27th, 2010. It was about 9:30 in the morning when I began my study. I went to Grossmont College’s Child Development Center. The first thing I began looking for was if the child-teacher ratio was correct. The child ratio was 2 teachers to about every 8 children. The ratio was good. As I entered there was one large room that almost looked as if it could be two rooms they way it was set up. One half consisted of a large bookshelf with numerous books on it with a couch in the front of it. The other half of the room was almost like a little kitchen. It had a table with chairs around it with a sink and cabinets behind it. There were “age appropriate” toys as well as books all over the
Bowlby’s work on attachment theory shows infants treated well develop a secure attachment. Hence they have a good foundation for healthy self-esteem, behavior, and future relationships (Barnet, Ganiban, & Cicchetti, 1991). If the infant develops an insecure bond with the caregiver, they may develop mental disturbances (Cicchetti, Ganiban, & Barnett, 1991). Mary Ainsworth, Bowlby’s contemporary, applied Bowlby’s theory in her research. In 1978, Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, and Wall, created the strange situation technique to study one year old infant attachments (as cited in Colonnesi et al., 2011, p.631). Results of their analysis led to three categories of attachment. They distinguished a secure (B), an insecure avoidant (A), and insecure ambivalent attachment (C)
The decision of the John Smith’s father to abandon his son impacted many aspects of his life but the one that was most clearly impacted was his attachment process. The experience of father abandonment during infancy disrupted John’s development of secure attachment. John’s mother reports that due to the increased pressure of having to raise three children on her own, she was not always emotionally available to care be attentive to her children’s emotional needs. At the time of his infancy John’s mother was constantly working in an effort to provide for three children. Because of this John’s mother was not there to be consistently attentive to John’s needs. If John’s father was present to help contribute financially and assist with family
After observing a nine month old child for this Child Observation paper, the author of this paper has taken copious notes during the session. The purpose of this paper is recognizing the biological, cognitive and psychosocial development of the child. The author of this paper identified the background history of the child, the observation made and the development process of the child.
John Bowlby’s attachment theory established that an infant’s earliest relationship with their primary caregiver or mother shaped their later development and characterized their human life, “from the cradle to the grave” (Bowlby, 1979, p. 129). The attachment style that an infant develops with their parent later reflects on their self-esteem, well-being and the romantic relationships that they form. Bowlby’s attachment theory had extensive research done by Mary Ainsworth, who studied the mother-infant interactions specifically regarding the theme of an infant’s exploration of their surrounding and the separation from their mother in an experiment called the strange situation. Ainsworth defined the four attachment styles: secure,
In this essay I will explore the meaning and purpose of attachment and discuss research into attachment concentrating on John Bowlby’s 1944 “44 thieves” study conducted to test his maternal deprivation theory and Schaffer & Emerson’s 1964 “ Glasgow babies” study.
The child I observed was a seven-year-old girl in Year 2 who sat on the second highest ability table in a mixed class. While not in school, she lived a substantial distance away meaning she travelled to and from school by car and was often the first child to arrive in the morning and the last to leave in the afternoon. I will focus on the social and emotional development of this child who, from now onwards, will be referred to as C.
Attachment theory is the idea that a child needs to form a close relationship with at least one primary caregiver. The theory proved that attachment is necessary to ensure successful social and emotional development in an infant. It is critical for this to occur in the child’s early infant years. However, failed to prove that this nurturing can only be given by a mother (Birns, 1999, p. 13). Many aspects of this theory grew out of psychoanalyst, John Bowlby’s research. There are several other factors that needed to be taken into account before the social worker reached a conclusion; such as issues surrounding poverty, social class and temperament. These factors, as well as an explanation of insecure attachment will be further explored in
Attachment theory is a concept that explores the importance of attachment in respect to direct development. “It is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space” (Bowlby, 1969; McLeod, 2009). It is the relationship that develops within the first year of the infant’s life between them and their caregiver. The theory also relates to the quality of the attachment that is shown in the behavior of the infant (Rieser-Danner, 2016). Attachment theory shows that infants need a close nurturing relationship with their caregiver in order to have a healthy relationship. Lack of response from the caregiver