Foster Children Attachment Styles
Foster Children Attachment Styles
Valencia Bradford
University of North Texas
Valencia_Bradford@yahoo.com
Foster Children Attachment Styles As implied by many physiologist a child’s attachments style is the building blocks to his or her mental development. A child like a structure is sure to crumble if there is a crack in their foundation. Foster children have the potential to stand tall or crumble due to neglect. Attachment styles tend to vary in foster children since they bounce from home to home. In this paper I will discuss the attachment styles foster children share with both their biological and foster parents, as well as the foster child’s potential outcome due to these styles. In order for children to develop both socially and emotionally normal there must be at least one primary caregiver and this is what tends to be the problem with children in foster care. Julia T. Woods author of Interpersonal Communication Everyday Encounters describes attachment styles as “ patterns of caregiving that teach us who we and others are, and how to approach relationships”. (Woods, 2007) She also goes on to explain that “the first bond is especially important because it forms the child’s expectations for later relationships.” Considering the fact that the top reasons for children being placed in foster care are physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, medical neglect, parental incarceration, and abandonment it is obvious why many foster children lash out. Children who were placed into foster care for these following reasons were more than likely brought up with a fearful attachment style and if not may develop this style if placed in an abusive foster home. Fearful attachment style is defined as being “cultivated when the caregiver in the first bond in unavailable or communicates in negative rejecting, or even abusive ways to the children”. (Woods, 2007) Children who have undergone forums of rejection from their biological parents and have suffered
Valencia Bradford
University of North Texas
Valencia_Bradford@yahoo.com
Foster Children Attachment Styles As implied by many physiologist a child’s attachments style is the building blocks to his or her mental development. A child like a structure is sure to crumble if there is a crack in their foundation. Foster children have the potential to stand tall or crumble due to neglect. Attachment styles tend to vary in foster children since they bounce from home to home. In this paper I will discuss the attachment styles foster children share with both their biological and foster parents, as well as the foster child’s potential outcome due to these styles. In order for children to develop both socially and emotionally normal there must be at least one primary caregiver and this is what tends to be the problem with children in foster care. Julia T. Woods author of Interpersonal Communication Everyday Encounters describes attachment styles as “ patterns of caregiving that teach us who we and others are, and how to approach relationships”. (Woods, 2007) She also goes on to explain that “the first bond is especially important because it forms the child’s expectations for later relationships.” Considering the fact that the top reasons for children being placed in foster care are physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, medical neglect, parental incarceration, and abandonment it is obvious why many foster children lash out. Children who were placed into foster care for these following reasons were more than likely brought up with a fearful attachment style and if not may develop this style if placed in an abusive foster home. Fearful attachment style is defined as being “cultivated when the caregiver in the first bond in unavailable or communicates in negative rejecting, or even abusive ways to the children”. (Woods, 2007) Children who have undergone forums of rejection from their biological parents and have suffered
Cited: BLUM DEBORAH (2002) Love at Goon Park. New York: Perseus Publishing. HARLOW HARRY (1958) The Nature of Love. American Psychologist, 13, 673-685. JULIA T. WOOD(2007) KENDRA CHERRY (2010) http://psychology.about.com/od/loveandattraction/ss/attachmentstyle_5.htm PEI-YUNG LAING (2007) http://ncdr.nat.gov.tw/2icudr/2icudr_cd/PDF/7_1_5.pdf SHERRY L. ANDERS (2005) http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2000.tb00023.x/abstract