Child displacement

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Child displacement is the complete removal or separation of children from their parents and immediate family or settings in which they have initially been reared. Displaced children includes varying categories of children who experience separation from their families and social settings due to several varied reasons. These populations include children separated from their parents, refugees, [1] children sent to boarding schools, [2] [ neutrality is disputed ] internally displaced persons or IDPs, and asylum seekers. [1] Thus child displacement refers to a broad range of factors due to which children are removed from their parents and social setting. This include persecution, war, armed conflict and disruption and separation for varied reasons. [1]

Contents

According to UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) as of (2002) there were approximately 22 million displaced children in the world, several of whom are displaced for a very long time spanning years. Children in worst affected areas in armed conflict or disruption face an average of 6 to 7 years of displacement. [1]

The internationally accepted and acknowledged definition of a "child" is anyone who is under the age of 18 regardless of any context. [1]

Forms

Psychological effects of disruption in parent–child relationships

Psychologists and social-behavioral scientists agree that children thrive better both psychologically and developmentally in two rather than one parent families. [4] Bowlby (1969) stated that there is a critical period that was sensitive to the development of attachment, during which attachment is easily formed between the child and its parents. [5] Early research on adoptions gives support to this view, [6] though scholars state that the sensitive period is actually quite extensive. [7] This might imply that children need longer period of interaction with their parents than previously thought.

Effects on attachment development

The development of attachment occurs as a result of the process of reciprocal interaction between parent and the child. This reciprocal interaction helps the child to discriminate its parents from others and helps develop emotional relationships with its parents. [8] Infant-parent attachment helps to develop psychological security, self-confidence and enables the development of trust in other humans. [9] [10] The amount of time spend together is not the only factor that influences the development of attachments. Some threshold level of interaction is also needed for attachment to develop. Opportunities for regular interaction is important for the development of attachment. [8] Children in both single-parent and two-parent families seem to be better adjusted when they enjoy warm and affirmative interactions with two parents who are actively involved. [11] Empirical literature shows that children need regular interaction with attachment figures in order to maintain relationships. [12] Extended separation of the child from either of the parent is detrimental as it hinders the development of attachment and relationship between the child and the parent. [13] It is because of this reason that it becomes extremely difficult to re-establish relationship between child and parents once it is disrupted. [8] For this reason it is best to avoid such disruptions. [8] A child's relationship with its parents has significant influence on the nature of social, psychological and emotional development of the child. [14] Empirical research also shows that disruption in relationship between child and its parents has adverse effects on a child's development. [8] Those children who are hindered from having stable and regular interaction and meaningful relationship with either of the parent are at a higher potential of psychological risk. [8] Thus children are more likely and able to attain their psychological potential when they are able to have healthy and regular relationship with both their parents. [8]

The ideal situation of relationship between children and parents is one in which there is everyday interaction between the child and its parents. [8] This includes interaction in various family and social contexts like play, basic care, limit setting, putting to bed etc. Everyday activities promotes and maintains the development of trust and helps to strengthen and deepen parent–child relationships. [8]

Divorce and separation form non-custodial parent

In terms of divorce and separation adverse effects have been noted due to severed father-child relationship. [15] Therefore, in terms of separation due to divorce it is important to maintain regular interaction between child and both parents. It is therefore unfortunate that in contemporary practice relationship is not fostered between the child and the non custodial parent in divorce proceedings. [16] [17] So when it is beneficial, children face potential risk due to removal from or disappearance of their non custodial fathers. [8] This risk is added on with the other baggage of problems that occurs due to divorce including financial burden and less social support. [8] For children separation from parents is stressful and painful. [8]

Long-term impact of separation of child from its parents

The NICHD study of Early child care was designed to assess the long-term outcomes of non parental care giving. Non Parental care giving involved both relatives (kinship care) and non relatives (Day care). The NICHD study was based on the ecological theory of Uri Bronfenbrenner (1979). [18] Analysis of the effects of family and child care revealed that the characteristics of the family and the nature and quality of the mothers relationship with the child was a significantly better predictor of children's outcome. [19] Prolonged separations from parents have profound disruptive influence on children's development. Such prolonged separations include separations due to death, institutionalization which entails sending a child to live in an institution or setting without parents, divorce and desertion of the child by parent and hospitalization or prolonged absence due to illness. [19] Prolonged exposure to poor institutional care could lead to despair, apathy and deficit in social responsiveness. [19] According to Rutter (1979), [20] it is the failure to develop secure attachment with parents that leads to problems in social responsiveness. [20] Institutionalization is extreme form of separation of the child from its parents. [19]

Emotional abuse

Considerable negative impact occurs to a child due to neglect. [21] Outright rejection, intimidation, or isolation of the child are forms of emotional child abuse. [21]

Sleeper effect

With the view that children develop through adolescence by building on prior periods and that some effects of early experiences during child rearing might manifest later on in what is called as "Sleeper effect". It may be seen that effects of child rearing may be seen even later. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

Attachment disorder is a broad term intended to describe disorders of mood, behavior, and social relationships arising from unavailability of normal socializing care and attention from primary care giving figures in early childhood. Such a failure would result from unusual early experiences of neglect, abuse, abrupt separation from caregivers between three months and three years of age, frequent change or excessive numbers of caregivers, or lack of caregiver responsiveness to child communicative efforts resulting in a lack of basic trust. A person's attachment style is permanently established before the age of three. A problematic history of social relationships occurring after about age three may be distressing to a child, but does not result in attachment disorder.

Reactive attachment disorder Psychological disorder that can affect children

Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) is described in clinical literature as a severe and relatively uncommon disorder that can affect children, although these issues do occasionally persist into adulthood. RAD is characterized by markedly disturbed and developmentally inappropriate ways of relating socially in most contexts. It can take the form of a persistent failure to initiate or respond to most social interactions in a developmentally appropriate way—known as the "inhibited form". In the DSM-5, the "disinhibited form" is considered a separate diagnosis named "disinhibited attachment disorder".

Harry Harlow American psychologist

Harry Frederick Harlow was an American psychologist best known for his maternal-separation, dependency needs, and social isolation experiments on rhesus monkeys, which manifested the importance of caregiving and companionship to social and cognitive development. He conducted most of his research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow worked with him for a short period of time.

Attachment theory Psychological ethological theory about human relationships

Attachment theory is a psychological, evolutionary and ethological theory concerning relationships between humans. The most important tenet is that young children need to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for normal social and emotional development. The theory was formulated by psychiatrist and psychoanalyst John Bowlby.

John Bowlby British psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (1907–1990)

Edward John Mostyn Bowlby, CBE, FBA, FRCP, FRCPsych was a British psychologist, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst, notable for his interest in child development and for his pioneering work in attachment theory. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Bowlby as the 49th most cited psychologist of the 20th century.

Mary Dinsmore Ainsworth was an American-Canadian developmental psychologist known for her work in the development of the attachment theory. She designed the strange situation procedure to observe early emotional attachment between a child and its primary caregiver.

In psychology, an affectional bond is a type of attachment behavior one individual has for another individual, typically a caregiver for her or his child, in which the two partners tend to remain in proximity to one another. The term was coined and subsequently developed over the course of four decades, from the early 1940s to the late 1970s, by psychologist John Bowlby in his work on attachment theory. The core of the term affectional bond, according to Bowlby, is the attraction one individual has for another individual. The central features of the concept of affectional bonding can be traced to Bowlby's 1958 paper, "The Nature of the Child's Tie to his Mother".

Attachment in children Biological instinct

Attachment in children is "a biological instinct in which proximity to an attachment figure is sought when the child senses or perceives threat or discomfort. Attachment behaviour anticipates a response by the attachment figure which will remove threat or discomfort". Attachment also describes the function of availability, which is the degree to which the authoritative figure is responsive to the child's needs and shares communication with them. Childhood attachment can define characteristics that will shape the child's sense of self, their forms of emotion-regulation, and how they carry out relationships with others. Attachment is found in all mammals to some degree, especially primates.

In psychology, the theory of attachment can be applied to adult relationships including friendships, emotional affairs, adult romantic relationships or platonic relationships and, in some cases, relationships with inanimate objects. Attachment theory, initially studied in the 1960s and 1970s primarily in the context of children and parents, was extended to adult relationships in the late 1980s. The working models of children found in Bowlby's attachment theory form a pattern of interaction that is likely to continue influencing adult relationships.

Co-regulation is a term used in psychology. It is defined most broadly as a "continuous unfolding of individual action that is susceptible to being continuously modified by the continuously changing actions of the partner". An important aspect of this idea is that co-regulation cannot be reduced down to the behaviors or experiences of the individuals involved in the interaction. The interaction is a result of each participant repeatedly regulating the behavior of the other. It is a continuous and dynamic process, rather than the exchange of discrete information.

Cupboard love is a popular learning theory of the 1950s and 1960s based on the research of Sigmund Freud, Anna Freud, Melanie Klein and Mary Ainsworth. Rooted in psychoanalysis, the theory speculates that attachment develops in the early stages of infancy. This process involves the mother satisfying her infant's instinctual needs, exclusively. Cupboard love theorists conclude that during infancy, our primary drive is food which leads to a secondary drive for attachment.

Maternal deprivation Work on the effects of separating infants/young children from their mother

Maternal deprivation is a scientific term summarising the early work of psychiatrist and psychoanalyst John Bowlby on the effects of separating infants and young children from their mother although the effect of loss of the mother on the developing child had been considered earlier by Freud and other theorists. Bowlby's work on delinquent and affectionless children and the effects of hospital and institutional care led to his being commissioned to write the World Health Organization's report on the mental health of homeless children in post-war Europe whilst he was head of the Department for Children and Parents at the Tavistock Clinic in London after World War II. The result was the monograph Maternal Care and Mental Health published in 1951, which sets out the maternal deprivation hypothesis.

History of attachment theory

Attachment theory, originating in the work of John Bowlby, is a psychological, evolutionary and ethological theory that provides a descriptive and explanatory framework for understanding interpersonal relationships between human beings.

Attachment-based therapy applies to interventions or approaches based on attachment theory, originated by John Bowlby. These range from individual therapeutic approaches to public health programs to interventions specifically designed for foster carers. Although attachment theory has become a major scientific theory of socioemotional development with one of the broadest, deepest research lines in modern psychology, attachment theory has, until recently, been less clinically applied than theories with far less empirical support. This may be partly due to lack of attention paid to clinical application by Bowlby himself and partly due to broader meanings of the word 'attachment' used amongst practitioners. It may also be partly due to the mistaken association of attachment theory with the pseudo-scientific interventions misleadingly known as attachment therapy. The approaches set out below are examples of recent clinical applications of attachment theory by mainstream attachment theorists and clinicians and are aimed at infants or children who have developed or are at risk of developing less desirable, insecure attachment styles or an attachment disorder.

Patricia McKinsey Crittenden is an American psychologist known for her work in the development of attachment theory and science, her work in the field of developmental psychopathology, and for creation of the Dynamic-Maturational Model of Attachment and Adaptation (DMM).

Separation anxiety disorder (SAD) is an anxiety disorder in which an individual experiences excessive anxiety regarding separation from home and/or from people to whom the individual has a strong emotional attachment. Separation anxiety is a natural part of the developmental process. It is most common in infants and little children, typically between the ages of six to seven months to three years, although it may pathologically manifest itself in older children, adolescents and adults. Unlike SAD, normal separation anxiety indicates healthy advancements in a child's cognitive maturation and should not be considered a developing behavioral problem.

Studies have found that the father is a child's preferred attachment figure in approximately 5–20% of cases. Fathers and mothers may react differently to the same behaviour in an infant, and the infant may react to the parents' behaviour differently depending on which parent performs it.

There are multiple consequences of different attachment patterns that are formed in childhood development. This article will explore the way attachment patterns are formed, how parents pass on their attachment styles, long-term consequences of attachment patterns, and cross cultural attachment patterns.

Internal working model of attachment is a psychological approach that attempts to describe the development of mental representations, specifically the worthiness of the self and expectations of others' reactions to the self. This model is a result of interactions with primary caregivers which become internalized, and is therefore an automatic process. John Bowlby implemented this model in his attachment theory in order to explain how infants act in accordance with these mental representations. It is an important aspect of general attachment theory.

Joyce Robertson British psychiatric social worker (1919–2013)

Joyce Robertson was a British psychiatric social worker, child behavioural researcher, childcare pioneer and pacifist, who was most notable for changing attitudes to the societally acceptable, institutionalised care and hospitalisation of young children, that was prevalent. In the late 1940s Robertson worked with Anna Freud first at the Well Baby Clinic and later in the Hampstead Child Therapy Clinic. She was later joined by her husband James Robertson. In 1965, both of them moved to the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations to work with John Bowlby on the Young Children in Brief Separation project and the development of attachment theory. This was to research the mental state and psychological development of children who underwent brief separation from their parents. Later in her career, Robertson worked with her husband to produce a series of celebrated documentary films that highlighted the reaction of small children who were separated from their parents. These were shown in hospitals, foster care and state run hospitals. Later she was known for promoting the idea of foster care instead of residential nurseries.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Alfredson, Lisa, (2002) 'Child Soldiers, Displacement and Human Security', 4 Disarmament Forum pp. l 7-27
  2. 1 2 CWAB - Session 6.2 - Reasons for displacement Archived 2012-03-20 at the Wayback Machine European Union – Canada project Child welfare across borders (2003)
  3. ↑ "IDMC | Internally displaced children". Archived from the original on 2012-05-29. Retrieved 2012-06-20.
  4. ↑ Amato, P. R. (2000) The consequences of divorce for adults and children. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 1269-1287
  5. ↑ Bowlby, J. (1969) Attachment and Loss: Vol I Attachment. New York: Basic Books.
  6. ↑ Yarrow, L. J. & Goodwin, M (1973) The immediate impact of separation: Reactions of infants to a change in mother figures. In L. J. Stone, H. T. Smith, & L. B. Murphy (Eds), The competent infant (pp. 1032-1040). New York: Basic Books.
  7. ↑ Rutter, M (1972) Maternal Deprivation Reassessed. London:Penguin
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Lamb, M (2003) "Child development and the Law" in Handbook of Psychology, Vol 6 p559-577.
  9. ↑ Ainsworth, M.D.S., Blehar, M., Waters, E., & Wall, S (1978) Patterns of attachment. Hillsdale, New Jersey:Relbaum.
  10. ↑ Lamb, M.E. (1981) The development of social expectations in the first year of life. In M. E. Lamb & L. R. Sherrod (Eds.), Infant social cognition: Empirical and theoretical considerations (pp. 155-175). Hillsdale, N.J: Erlbaum.
  11. ↑ Amato, P.R. & Gilbreth (1999). Nonresident fathers and children's well-being: A meta-analysis. Journal of marriage and the Family, 61: 557-573.
  12. ↑ Lamb, M. E. (2002a). Infant-father attachments and their impact on child development. In C. S. Tamis-LeMonda & N. Cabrera (Eds.), Handbook of father involvement: Multidisciplinary perspectives (pp. 93–117). Mahwah, New Jersey: Erlbaum.
  13. ↑ Bowlby J (1973). Separation: Anxiety & Anger. Attachment and Loss (vol. 2); (International psycho-analytical library no.95). London: Hogarth Press. ISBN   0-7126-6621-4
  14. ↑ Lamb, M. E., Hwang, C. P., Ketterlinus, R. D., & Fracasso, M. P. (1999). Parent-child relationships: Development in the context of the family. In M. H. Bornstein & M. E. Lamb (Eds.), Developmental psychology: An advanced textbook (4th ed., pp. 411-450). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  15. ↑ Lamb, M. E. (2002b). Noncustodial fathers and their children. In C. S. TamisLeMonda & N. Cabrera (Eds.), Handbook of father involvement: Multidisciplinary perspectives (pp. 169–184). Mahwah, New Jersey: Erlbaum
  16. ↑ Maccoby, E. E., and R. H. Mnookin. 1992. Dividing the Child: Social and Legal Dilemmas of Custody. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
  17. ↑ Peters H. E. (1997) Child custody and monetary transfers in divorce negotiations: Reduced form and simulation results. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Economics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
  18. ↑ Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Fitzgerald, H., Mann, T., Cabrera, N., & Wong, M. (2003). Diversity in caregiving contexts. In R. Lerner, A. Easterbrooks, & J. Mistry (Eds.), Handbook of psychology, Vol 6: Developmental psychology (pp. 135-167). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  20. 1 2 Rutter, M (1979) Maternal Deprivation, 1972-1978: New Findings, new concepts, new approaches, Child Development, 50, 283-305
  21. 1 2 Deegener, Günther (2002) 'Child Abuse', in International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioural Sciences (eds) Smelser, N.J.; & Baltes, P.B. Oxford, England : Elsevier, Vol. 3 pp 1672- 1676
  22. ↑ Vandell, D. L., Belsky, J., Burchinal, M., Steinberg, L., Vandergrift, N., & NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2010). Do effects of early child care extend to age 15 years? Child Development, 81, 737–756.
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