U.F.R of psycholoy
Validation UE 2 : Compétences professionnelles et transversales
Anglais
Podcast realised by
Fatima Zahra Moumou 14E272E
And
Tiphaine Lebrun E199333R
Pedagogical Manager: Ms. Anna Tataurova
Academic Year 2021-2022
Master 2 PEADID
Semester 1
Session 1
Fatima: Hi, first of all I would like to introduce myself, I am a student in the second year of psychology master’s degree PEADID (psychology of children and adolescents’ development interaction and dysfunction), I am also a nurse in professional conversion, and I started this project after a validation of acquired knowledge and admission in the 3rd year of bachelor at the University of Psychology of Nantes.
Tiphaine: nice to meet you, I’m Tiphaine and I’m a student in the first year of master’s degree in psychology and I did my studies at the University of Nantes too.
Fatima: I propose to you today to exchange around the topic of the theory of the attachment, given that Mr Barco is in medical stop and that his course is suspended. I propose to you to bring some elements on this theory. What do you think about it?
Tiphaine: Yes, I would love to.
Fatima: First, what do you know about this theory? And what exactly do you want to know?
Tiphaine: I have a few notions that I learned in a course in my third year of bachelor. I remember that it is a theory that was proposed by the English doctor and psychoanalyst Bowlby (1964) following his first works with young delinquents in 1944 and their relationships with their parents during childhood.
Fatima: Yes exactly, it is to Bowlby that we owe this notion of attachment, and he was able to observe that these young people lack empathy in the relationship with the other and the capacity to put themselves in the place of the other. … and what else do you know? If we want to define attachment, what can you tell me?
Tiphaine: euuuuhhhhh it’s the link and the very close relationship that the baby has with his mother from birth?
Fatima: yes, it is. In fact, the attachment or this relationship that children build with privileged adults is an innate need. It is acquired during evolution and contributes to the survival of the species. Because without the presence and the proximity of the adult, the newborn cannot survive.
Tiphaine: yes completely
Fatima: To be more precise, you need to know that this innate need evolves during the child’s development, it is generally evident from the age of 7 months with the famous stage of anxiety (in the 8th month, when the baby may cry in the presence of a stranger or from the 7th month the child may protest when the attachment figure leaves). The purpose of this behavior is of course to maintain this closeness with the figure of attachment. According to Bowlby, this need for physical proximity is present until the age of 3 to 4 years. From the age of 4, with the development of new intellectual skills and the acquisition of the premises of the theory of mind[1], the child needs more psychological closeness, in other words the child needs to make sure that the adult can make himself available, and this of course depends on the representations and models that the child has built in his memory according to the relationships that he has with adults.
Tiphaine: As the child evolves and develops, especially with the acquisition of autonomy, does this attachment to the parents diminish or disappear?
Fatima: With age, attachment behaviors will Progress, of course. Crying, for example, will become less intense, but above all the child’s relationships will diversify and from adolescence onwards this search for closeness and support will be directed to friends and romantic partners. Do you have any other notion of this theory?
Tiphaine: Yes, I remember the 4 attachment patterns, namely the secure, the insecure-avoidant, the insecure-ambivalent resistant and the insecure-disorganized-disoriented. If I remember correctly, the latter was demonstrated by Marie Ainsworth. As well as attachment disorders but I remember vaguely.
Fatima: you have just raised a very important question, you know that some professionals always confuse these two terms, I even observed during my training courses that some use them in an undifferentiated way. First, attachment patterns have been demonstrated with the help of the famous strange situation which includes 8 episodes (Ainsworth et al. 1987) where the mother and the child are placed in a room, then the child’s reactions are observed when a stranger enters, when the mother leaves and when she returns, while the child remains with the stranger. Thanks to these observations, we can distinguish the 4 attachment styles that you have already mentioned. Can I elaborate on them if necessary?
Tiphaine: no, it’s quite clear to me, are attachment disorders the consequence of the disorganized attachment pattern. However, I would like to know more information about the causes of this dissimilarity in the attachment styles that children will develop with their attachment figures.
Fatima: Ok, I would like to clarify before answering your question that the child can develop different attachment styles, for example a secure attachment with the mother but insecure with the father, which is quite reassuring because he can compensate with the other quality relationships he can form with adults. I come back to your question, so as already mentioned the child develops an attachment style according to the responses of adults in case of need. Children who have developed a secure attachment are those whose parents behave as expected by the attachment theory, that is to say those who are sensitive, available and will respond in the most appropriate way to the needs of the child. Do you remember for the other 3 attachment styles?
Tiphaine: If I remember correctly, for the insecure avoidant children, these are the children who represent an avoidance posture (represents 20% of the children) because they have learned that the parents do not respond, or do not respond in an adapted way to their requests. They disactivate their attachment systems because they know that it doesn’t work.
Regarding the insecure resistant-ambivalent: they represent 10% of the children and are those who will over-activate their attachment systems. This manifests itself by excessive crying during separation but also difficult to console. These children have experienced parents who are unpredictable. These children will constantly over-activate the system to be sure that the adult is present if necessary.
Finally, the disorganized, disoriented children, who represent 5 and 15% of children, are those who are unable to put in place clear strategies and display different bizarre behavior (hitting themselves and their parents). These children have experienced parents with frightening behaviors either in the context of abuse or psychopathology (psychosis). Thus, these children find themselves in a paradoxical situation where the figure of attachment that is supposed to protect them is a source of fear. This manifests itself either through aggressive behaviors to distance themselves or, on the contrary, by taking care of their parents to protect themselves and this within the framework of role inversion.
Fatima: ok that’s very good I couldn’t have said it better!
Tiphaine: concerning attachment disorders, are they the result or the consequence of this disorganized attachment pattern?
Fatima: No, as far as attachment disorders are concerned, it is a diagnosis that is only made on children from the age of 9 months onwards, which is different from the 4 attachment styles that qualify the link between the child and his attachment figure. According to the DSM 5th classification (2013), there are two types of disorders, the first being the reactionary attachment disorder and the second is the disinhibition of social contact behavior.
Tiphaine: Well, thank you very much Fatima, it has enlightened me on this theory. What advice can you give me about this year 1st master’s degree year and the search for an internship?
Fatima: In two words: good luck! No, I’m kidding, this year is truly difficult but absolutely rich. And for the internship you should not hesitate to multiply the requests and don’t forget to follow up and try to meet them if possible.
Bibliography
Ainsworth M. D. S., Blehar M. C., Waters E., & Wall S. N. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the Strange Situation. New York: Psychology Press.
Bowlby, J. (1964). Note on Dr Lois Murphy’s paper “Some aspects of the first relationship”. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 45, 44-46.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders (2013), 5th Edition. (DSM V). American Psychiatric Association.
Granqvist P. Disorganized attachment in infancy: a review of the phenomenon and its implications for clinicians and policy-makers. Attach Hum Dev. 2017 Dec;19(6):534-558. doi: 10.1080/14616734.2017.1354040. Epub 2017 Jul 26. PMID: 28745146; PMCID: PMC5600694.
[1] In neuropsychology, the concept of Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to the mental capacity to infer mental states to oneself and to others and to understand them.