Human Growth & Development

Human Growth & Development



Human Growth & Development

Introduction

The purpose of this assignment is to develop a critical understanding of a variety of theories and modules that seek to explain the complex range of processes influencing human growth and development across the entire lifetime. To consolidate this learning, opportunities will be provided to explore and discuss how these concepts are related to social work practice.

Case Study Analysis

Family Composition

Sylvie (37) Mother (Dual Heritage - Asian/White British)

Greg (41) Father (White British)

Molly (13) Daughter (Mixed Heritage)

Mason (2) Son, (Mixed Heritage)

Elsie (65) Paternal Grandmother (White British)

This family follow joint family system of living together.

Attachment Theory

The attachment theory is a field of psychology that deals with relations between human beings. Its basic principle is that a young child needs to know a normal social and emotional development, to develop an attachment relationship with at least one person who takes care of him consistently and continuously ("caregiver"). This theory was formalized by the psychiatrist and psychoanalyst John Bowlby, after the work of Winnicott, Lorenz and Harlow. In the sense of attachment theory, the behaviour associated with infant attachment is essentially seeking proximity to an attachment figure during the occurrence of situations of stress. The infants are attached to adults who are sensitive and attentive to social interactions with them, and keep their status as caregiver in a stable manner at least several months during the period from the age of six months approximately two years. Towards the end of this period, children begin to use attachment figures (that is to say, the familiar surroundings) as a secure base from which they will explore the world, and to whom they know that 'they can return. The responses of those around the child's behaviour will guide the development of patterns of attachment (operational models of the environment and the organization built and developed by the child) they will in turn basis of the implementation of internal working models that will govern the feelings, thoughts and expectations of individuals over their relationships, and that from childhood. Separation anxiety or grief following the loss of an attachment figure is seen, from a young child, as a normal and adaptive response. From a standpoint evolutionist, this set of behaviours may be apparent because it increases the probability of survival of a child.

The attachment theory, however, become since "the dominant approach to understanding early social development, and was originally a major wave of experimental research in the development of children's relationships with their families”. The subsequent criticism of the theory of attachment relate to the complexity of social relations and the limits of a discrete classification of behaviour patterns. The attachment theory has been significantly altered as a result of experimental research, but the concepts are now widely accepted in the early 21st century.

Attachment

In the sense of attachment theory, attachment is an emotional bond between an individual and an attachment figure (usually a person who cares). Such a relationship can be reciprocal between two adults, or between a child and ...