UNDERSTANDING CHILDREN'S BEHAVIOUR

Understanding Children's Behaviour

Definition of the Attachment Theory

Attachment behaviour is defined as any behaviour by which an individual maintains or seeks proximity with another person. It is also characterized by a tendency to use the primary caregiver as a secure base from which to explore unknown environments. (Bowlby, 1953)

The threat of loss arouses anxiety, and loss causes grief, sadness, rage and anger. The maintenance of these bonds of attachment is seen as a source of security to tolerate these feelings. The attachment is clearly observable in the intense concern that young children show, with respect to the exact location of the parental figures, when in unfamiliar surroundings.

Origin, history and development of the concept According to John Bowlby, a great exponent and founder of attachment theory, there is a universal human need to form close emotional ties. Bowlby was interested in the subject from the observation of different emotional disturbances in children separated from their families. His research led him to argue that the need to establish stronger ties with caregivers or significant others is a primary need for a man. It took contributions from various disciplines. From the observations of nonhuman primates, it appears that attachment behaviour occurs in the young of most species of mammals. (Ainsworth, 1978)

The general rule is to maintain proximity by a mature favourite adult, usually the mother. Such conduct, according to behaviourists, has great survival value because it provides protection against predators. For Bowlby, is conceived as a particular kind of behaviour, other than the nutritional and sexual behaviour. (Crnic, 1982)

The focus of the theory is given in the application of a causal relationship between the experiences of an individual with significant figures (usually parents) and their subsequent ability to bond. Notions such as separation anxiety and basic layout of the human face of the threat of loss are particularly relevant. His observations of prolonged separation situations allowed him to classify the reaction of children in successive stages:

1) Initial stage of protest, characterized by a strong concern about the location of the attachment figure, which was expressed in calls and cries hopeful.

2) After a few days, the children remained separated going through a period of despair, apparently still concerned about the lost parent, showed weak cry and gradually more despair.

3) Stage of detachment, with the passage of time their children became listless and withdrawn all apparent interest in the environment. (Dunst, 2008)

Children, who came to this state, ignored and actively avoided primary attachment figure when the time for a possible reunion comes, and some could not seem to remember. The theory includes concepts of psychoanalysis, such as the facilitator of Winnicott environment. It also incorporated concepts from cognitive psychology, in the sense that the individual develops within them practical models that represent features of the world and themselves.

The development of personality considered two types of influences: the first relates to the presence or absence of a reliable figure that provides the child a secure base and ...