Psychodynamic Contemporary Debate

Question 1

What is a Primary Care Giver?

Answer 1

The person who is most responsible for an infant’s health, development and well-being

Question 2

Why is the mother being the PCG a debate?

Answer 2

It used to be assumed that if the baby was fed, clean and kept warm, it would develop without any problem. However, longitudinal studies showed that children who were raised in loving homes formed attachments easier than orphans

Question 3

What implications must be included in the essay?

Answer 3

Social, Ethical and Economic

Question 4

What is the first theme of this debate?

Answer 4

Does the mother have a special attachment or can it be someone else?

Question 5

What did Freud write about an infant’s relationship with their mother?

Answer 5

The relationship is ‘unique, without parallel, laid down unilaterally for a whole lifetime as the first and strongest love object’

Question 6

Who does Freud think should be the PCG?
What does Freud think happens to children not raised by their mother?

Answer 6

The mother, to have another adult take this role could ‘damage future psychological health and wellbeing’

Question 7

What is Bowlby’s internal working model?

Answer 7

How the PCG treats the child is how the child will build relationship later in life. It is a template for all future relationships

Question 8

What is Bowlby’s theory called?

Answer 8

The Monotropic Theory or the Evolutionary theory

Question 9

What bond does Bowlby believe all infants require in order to develop an internal working model and emotional maturity?
What does it do?

Answer 9

A Monotropic bond. The bond keeps the parent and infant close, helping the infant develop skills and bond with others.

Question 10

When does attachment take place according to Bowlby?

Answer 10

The critical period. This is from when the infant is born to when the child is 2.5 years old

Question 11

What is a strength of Bowlby’s Monotropic theory?

Answer 11

The need for monotropy seems universal. Ugandan infants form a primary attachment despite multiple carers, and Israeli communal farm infants still bond specially with their biological mothers despite limited time together.

Question 12

What is a weakness of Bowlby’s Monotropic theory?

Answer 12

The importance of monotropy is overemphasised. Some think that having a network of attachments is more beneficial

Question 13

What are the 4 stages of attachment according to Schaffer and Emerson?

Answer 13

1. Asocial
2. Indiscriminate attachments
3. Discriminate attachments
4. Multiple attachments

Question 14

When do the 4 stages of attachment occur?

Answer 14

Asocial - 0-3 months
Indiscriminate attachment - up to 7 months
Discriminate attachment - up to 11 months
Multiple attachments - 2 years+

Question 15

What have brain scans shown about the father being the secondary care-giver?

Answer 15

the child has less emotional brain activity but high levels of thinking and planning

Question 16

What have brain scans shown about the father being the primary care-giver?

Answer 16

The child has equal emotional brain activity to if the mother was the PCG and the levels of thinking and planning are still high

Question 17

What did Rutter believe about attachment and who should be the PCG?

Answer 17

The mother is not uniquely special in how the infant shows attachment. Rutter retested Bowlby’s 44 thieves study on the Isle of Wight and found that boys from homes with psychological disorders, stress, and arguments were four times more likely to turn to crime, but separation due to death/illness did not increase the likelihood of crime.

Question 18

What is the second theme of this debate?

Answer 18

How important is the mother in breast feeding? Can attachment be formed without it?

Question 19

What does the NHS and WHO recommend about breastfeeding?

Answer 19

They recommend that all babies are exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of their life

Question 20

What is Oxytocin?

Answer 20

A hormone that creates a feeling of ‘bonding’

Question 21

When is oxytocin released?

Answer 21

During breastfeeding, eye contact during breastfeeding increases the amount of oxytocin released

Question 22

Why is oxytocin important?

Answer 22

Lots of oxytocin means that the baby has been interacted with a lot, meaning the baby develops trust and emotional stability

Question 23

Why would Freud argue that mothers need to breastfeed?

Answer 23

Freud would say that breastfeeding is a pivotal occupation of an infant in the oral stage

Question 24

What was Harlow’s monkey experiment?

Answer 24

Harlow’s rhesus monkey study showed the importance of comfort in caregiving bonds. Given a choice between a warm cloth ‘mother’ and a wire ‘mother’ that provided food, the baby monkey consistently sought comfort with and clung to the cloth ‘mother’ when frightened.

Question 25

What did Harlow’s study suggest?

Answer 25

Even if the mother provides nourishment, other care-givers e.g. the father, can be a source of comfort

Question 26

What are issues with Harlow’s study?

Answer 26

The behaviour shown might not reflect human behaviour as humans are more complex

Question 27

What is the third theme of this debate?

Answer 27

Should mothers be at home with their children or make use of daycare?

Question 28

What does Belsky suggest about daycare?

Answer 28

Children who spend early, extensive and continuous time in the care of non-relatives are more likely to show later behavioural problems, such as aggressiveness and disobedience

Question 29

What are the controversial findings of Aric Sigman about daycare?

Answer 29

Children have higher levels of cortisol (stress hormone) when in daycare, therefore being at home with the mother is ‘healthier’

Question 30

What does the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine say about childcare outside the family?

Answer 30

Mothers with young children increasingly go to work. Governments support this as it reduces poverty and contributes to the GDP.
Children in nursery have higher levels of cortisol, which could impact brain development and emotional development