Anthropology: Parental Methodology and Effects on Child Development in Attachment and Bonding

Introduction

Many times a lot of parents desire to take control of the lives that a lot of the children lead. A lot of this has to do with the fact that they want to make the child learn and develop throughout time. However, studies have shown that too much parenting can lead to some very deleterious effects. It makes the child become too dependent on the parental figure at the end of the day. As a result, it really makes the child feel less of themselves and become more hopeful towards the parent as they struggle to move through life.

Concept of Children

A lot of this has to do with the fact that children are constantly developing creatures. Despite the fact that they do need parental support throughout their early years, there is a lot to be said that they also need a lot of love and support in their later years too. However, this goes to show that they must not be babied; otherwise, they would most likely turn on the parent and start to become their own agent, and many parents do not want their kids to do that. So how can we find the right balance.

Parenting in other Cultures

So how can we really find the right balance? Different cultures present themselves as having differing forms of parenting. Although there has been a vast array of forms of parenting in other cultures, scholars have managed to find some commonalities among all of them. These include emotional warmth versus hostility, autonomy versus control, and structure versus chaos. This demonstrates how parenting in all its forms needs to have some kind of balance in regards to how it operates within every society. This goes to show how parenting has some universal truths within every society. Perhaps commonality is a better word.

Attachment Theory                                                     

One of the most important bonds in terms of how children really get to know their parents has to do with attachment theory. Mary Ainsworth observed that children are mutually conditioned to seek their mothers for help. She was ultimately able to make a lot of progress in regards to how children are very attached to the child. This alone is another factor that really plays into how parents eventually learn how to connect with their child. It demonstrates how there is a large amount of disparity with how they embrace the parent that they are engaged with. It shows how they are shaping themselves out to be.

Treatment of Children

Another issue that affects the factors of parenting is that there is a lot of subtlety with regards with how it is presented. Attachment theory really shows that there are a lot of tests in regards to how the child was treated. In reality there are many cultures that embrace this form of parenting. It also goes to show how there is a lot of disparity in regards to how they are treated with how they grow up to become the adults they eventually become. This also shows how every culture has their own style of parenting.

Behind the Attachment Theory

Attachment theory is a psychological, evolutionary attachment with other people. One of the most ideal ways that this form comes about is that it stems from a young child will have to connect with one person in the family. Attachment theory is also applicable in the sense that the more a child starts to become separated from their parent, the more likely they will suffer from separation anxiety. Considering that this comes from an evolutionary basis, it shows that there are many cultures and societies that embrace this factor of separation anxiety.

Survival of the Child

A lot of study has shown many different results. Psychanalyst Rene Spitz has shown that children that did not receive the proper care and attention did not last for a long time and withered and died. Because of this it shows a very revealing fact about the attachment theory. Previously many scholars often derived that the relationship between infant and child was one that revolved around feeding. However, the main problem with this is that because survival of the child needs a mother to care for them, it shows that it is not solely dependent on feeding and relationships are more important. These relationships build stronger bonds between parents and children.

Ainsworth’s Tests

Monkeys have often shown how childhood development shapes up. Ainsworth was also another scholar that attempted to understand the real underpinnings of the relationship between the child and the mother. She was able to use a technique known as the Strange Situation. Ainsowrth carefully paid attention to each of the mother’s in their homes, trying to understand how they talked to their children. At twelve months, the infant was taken to a lab and observed. One group cried about the separation. Ainsworth decided to name this child as “severely attached” considering that they were so well-attached to their mother.

Anxiously Attached

On the other hand, the other two groups were labeled as “anxiously attached.” One of the children was labeled as “ambivalent” and “clingy” because they were not willing to let go of their mother and explore the room on their own. The ambivalent baby often tried to seek some kind of comfort from their mother. They tried to receive her attention and without it they often found it to be very difficult to adapt to their place in the room. It shows just how much of a mother’s touch really means for a lot of children within society. Even in the midst, children need moms.

Ainsworth’s Theories

While it is possible that most view Ainsworth’s studies as very insignificant and unnoteworthy, it really is significant because it shows how much work Ainsworth put into this project. One of the most telling things about Ainsworth has to do with the fact that she tries to put 72 hours into all the babies she was observing. This makes her study of babies to be one of the most investing and noteworthy observations she has made in recent years. It really shows how she has developed as a parent and revealed her anomalies.

Parenting’s Effects on Cultures

The parents quickly learned that their child was not responding and took quick action. However, it wasn’t always like this. Parenting has proven to have all kinds of effects on the society of the culture. According to Bowlby’s observations, even feeding did not silence the complaints of children separated from their parents. This shows how children need that significant care-giver to guide them. Despite the fact that Bowlby’s theories were eventually rejected, they had become the primary way to understand some of the social phenomena that had been occurring throughout the relationship between parent and child.

Responses of Children

It is interesting to note that most of the actions we see like crying were in response to an attachment figure. This type of attachment figure is present within all cultural contexts, considering that it really shows how humans have really changed throughout their time. It also really goes to show some of the real repercussions in regards to how adults struggle to adapt for the sake of their children. Despite the fact this is a commonality in all cultures, there are a lot of different forms of expression when it comes to this form of reaction between parent and child.

Tiger Mom Tactics

One of these differences involves the factor of tiger mom tactics. The main intention for the tiger mom has a lot to do with the factors of trying to convince the child to engage in a status of self-control. This means not giving in to the outer factors that the western culture tries to present. It ultimately goes to show how there are a lot of different forms of parenting in terms of how they come about. Cultures have their own form of expression with how they demonstrate parenting to the younger generation. It goes to show how there are all types of parents in this world.

Kinship

Other forms of importance between children and parents has a lot to do with the kinship. It has often showed how parenting has often been a strong indicator as to how people have attempted to interpret how the best way to parent really is. Is it good to use tiger mom tactics or not? This is where it is a very wise thing as to really demonstrate how important it is to discern as to what the best form of parenting really is. It really shows how there is a lot of differences with this.

Functioning of Parents

On the other hand, there are a lot of similarities in terms of how parents really function throughout the greater length of society. It really shows how there is a lot of changes in regards to how parenting is a phenomenon as to what it is about. This really goes to show how parenting has evolved depending on the culture that it is from. It really demonstrates the utter changes that a lot of parents go through within their lives. It goes to show how parenting is something that is changing as time unfolds in spades.

Parenting as an Expression of Desires

Parenting has also been a unique way for a lot of people to really express their own desires when it came to the fact that it has to do with how much control the parent has. One of the reasons that this occurs has a lot to do with the fact that the attraction theory states that the attachment of the child factors in to how much they are attracted to one another. However, too much attraction, as seen with some of the child’s reactions, can result in the child becoming increasingly squeamish and desperate to separate from their parents.

Differences in Cultures

However, this has proven to be a very deleterious factor for the child. In one sense, there are some cultures that are more confident in the strength that they receive. On the other hand, it does prove to be very apparent that a lot of children have issues as they grow older. This shows how the advantages of capitalism really demonstrates how important it is to stay on a healthy diet of work. Work is ultimately the primary reason that everyone is alive to this day. It is the primary reason as to why anyone is able to survive within society.

Weight of Parenting

This short passage of parenting really demonstrates the weight that the parent must have on the child. It must be a weight that is not too strong and not too weak. It ultimately serves as one of the sole reasons as to why there is a lot of tension within the world of parenting. How could every culture have some kind of parent? It has a lot to do with the relatives and kin of the place. It has a lot to do with the fact that a lot of the parents refuse ot let up from the very factors of parenting.

Parenting and Different Societies

This shows how many societies have often tried to paint the picture that there are a lot of different types of gendered roles in regards to how women and men are depicted. For the women, the maternal care giver seems to be the primary role that is often given to them. It is because of this that it really shows how the treatment of women provides a form of a basis as to why they are treated the way that they are. It provides a basis even though it restrains women from being able to openly express themselves.

Gendering of men and women

For the men, this also applies to them as well. One of the most telling factors in regards to the behavior of men has to do with the fact that a lot of them feel the need in order to try and stand up for themselves in order to prove themselves worthy. It really shows how there is a lot of disconnect in regards to how they try and operate. It also really shows how people have attempted to break through these boundaries in order to release themselves from the evil that is within them and become a whole being.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this ultimately demonstrates how there are a lot of differences in regards to how families are structured in different cultures. Most people seem to know family in the traditional sense; however, most families within different cultures ultimately have a lot of different types of shapes and sizes. When it all comes down to it in the end, the family is a unit that is very distinct when someone really comes down to it at the end of the day. It really demonstrates how families really serve as the back bone for the kinship of a certain society.

Works Cited:

Featured Image: https://www.apa.org/

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-attachment-theory-2795337

http://labs.psychology.illinois.edu/~rcfraley/attachment.htm

https://www.britannica.com/science/attachment-theory