Assignment: Attachment and Child-Rearing Style

A key element of social-emotional development during infancy and toddlerhood is the establishment of bonds of attachment. A child’s temperament can influence the nature of attachment with caregivers. For instance, an infant’s difficult temperament might make it more likely that he or she will develop an insecure attachment to the caregiver. If caregivers receive sufficient social support, thereby establishing a “goodness of fit” between temperament and environment (i.e., parenting), they can overcome some of the challenges of raising a difficult child.

The child’s temperament and the caregiver’s parenting style work in tandem to affect the child’s social-emotional and cognitive development. Caregivers who exhibit open displays of warmth and affection and who respond to their children’s needs in a timely manner (thereby acknowledging that each child has some influence on other family members) are likely to socialize their children so that they feel positively about themselves, learn to trust, and are secure with their caregivers. As you examine other parenting styles, think about how the level of caregiver responsiveness affects infant attachment.

For this Assignment, you will explore different parenting styles and forms of attachment, and you will examine how culture might impact the type of attachment.

To prepare for this Assignment:

• Review this week’s Learning Resources and select two child-rearing styles. Based on these child-rearing styles, consider two different types of attachment.

For this Assignment:

Write a 2- to 3-page paper and include the following:

• Briefly describe the two child-rearing styles you selected.
• Describe the two types of attachment you might expect, based on each child-rearing style you selected and explain why.
• Finally, explain how culture may impact the type of attachment.
• Be specific, provide examples, and justify your response with citations from the Learning Resources/literature.

Support your Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are asked to provide a reference list for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course.