Early life of an infant plays a critical role in the later development of human beings

Social Work

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nIntroduction

nEarly life of an infant plays a critical role in the later development of human beings. The effects of early life determine personal differences in terms of emotional, social, behavioural and cognitive responses (Turner 2011). More importantly, early experiences of a human being affect the long-term progressive outcome or safeguards against consequent trauma. A child that suffers from emotional detachment during the early stage of his/her life is likely experience challenges in his/her personality in development (Verhaeghen and Hertzog eds. 2014). In this respect, early stages of life shape the ability of the child to resist vulnerability to stress and enhance a distinctive personality. The paper will explore the life of Lucy whose mother experienced a period of severe postnatal depression. Consequently, the baby suffered from rejection for 5 months. In addition, the paper will apply theories of human development in the Clarke Family case study to assess the implication of transition on social work. It will also distinguish between normal and abnormal development and interpret the effect of adverse environment on human development.

nAfter Lucy was born, her mother – Marie suffered from post-natal depression (PND) leading to rejection of the baby for 5 months. Her father Kenneth and half-sister Catherine was forced to care for the baby during this period. Following this period, Marie struggles to be attached to Lucy as compared to her sibling Anthony. Research points out that after a baby is born, she/he is responsive, social and competent to understand her or his environment (Bosmans and Kerns 2015). During this period of development, the infant is able to move, hear and recognize her mothers rhythm. More importantly, he/she moves in those rhythms which promotes connection between the mother and infant (Bifulco and Thomas 2012). Additionally, at this point an infant anticipate a proficient caregiver who is able to pay close attention, offer necessary support, and care (Sigelman and Rider 2014). In this respect, mother-child relationship is crucial for emotional, social, behavioural and cognitive development of a child because it promote attachment between the child and the mother. (Verhaeghen and Hertzog eds. 2014) It also strengthens parental-infant bonds, which are very important for development in later stages.

nImpacts of Human Development

nLucy is exposed to post-natal depression of her mother in her early stages of development. Subsequently, she suffers from psychopathology and socio-emotional challenges. At this stage, her mother – Marie failed to offer secure attachment that guarantees her daughter ability to develop normally (Turner 2011). In fact, Lucy suffers from maladaptation that is characterized by inability to integrate and develop positively. Post-natal depression is likely to contribute long-term negative effects to Marie, and her daughter in their family relationships. The effects of this relationship compromised various factors of Lucy development in terms of her social and cognitive skills, brain development and higher rate of withdrawal or fussiness (Bosmans and Kerns 2015). Moreover, maternal depression during early stages of infant development contributes to challenges in parenting, behavioural difficulties and social incompetence during late stages of development. On the other hand, Marie is insensitive to the needs of Lucy because of disrupted infant-mother relationship (Sigelman and Rider 2014).

nLucy suffers from poor emotional development because she has started to become clingy to her mother before she leave for work and gets upset whenever her mother leaves the house. In this regard, her communicative ability and engagement with her parents are affected hence she is unable to share affectively in an interactive way (Turner 2011). Lucy is also experiencing poor mental development, which is associated to effects on her cognitive ability. At this point, she does not cope with the relationship between her father and Esther. Behaviourally, she fails to develop problem-solving skills hence she become vulnerable to aggressiveness, and depression (Kochanska and Kim 2013). Due to lack of mother-infant attachment during early stages of life, Lucy changes her behaviours since she does not want to participate in physical activities such as in dance classes (Bifulco and Thomas 2012).

nAttachment theory

nAttachment theory by Bowlby John suggests that mother-infant relationship play a critical role in the future stages of development of a child. The theory explains the significance of a relationship between the mother and her child with regard to cognitive, emotional and social development. It proposes that there is a connection between the mother and early infant, which can contribute to maladjustment later in life (Bosmans and Kerns 2015). The attachment theory noted that infant suffer from severe distress in case their mother separate from them especially in post-natal depression. Moreover, the theory noted that even when the other caregivers provide required care and support, this do not reduce the anxiety of the child. Therefore, attachment grows via a variety of stages (Kerns and Brumariu 2014). In addition, between birth and nine months, infants prefer a single figure for attachment who acts as a source of protection, comfort and security. In addition, the infant indicates stranger fear and becomes unhappy easily when alienated from special individual (Kochanska and Kim 2013). Therefore, this stage is characterized by separation anxiety and stranger fear.

nAttachment theory also proposes that the source of attachment between him/her with the mother is not food but responsiveness and care. Additionally, the mother acts as figure for attachment, which helps him/her in world exploration (Fonagy, Bateman, Lorenzini and Campbell 2014). The attachment association works as original foundation for all social associations in the future. Therefore, if this relationship is disrupted it can cause severe challenges to the child life. Similarly, the most important stage for attachment is between 0-5 years (Sigelman and Rider 2014). On the contrary, if a relationship is not established at this stage, the infant will experience permanent development challenges including, aggression and low intelligence capacity (Kerns and Brumariu 2014).

nNormal and abnormal development

nAccording to George and West (2012) normal development occurs when a child establish secure attachments between him/her and the mother. A secure attachment helps the child such as Lucy to regulate her emotions such as feelings and expressions (George and West 2012). In addition, Lucy is able to develop a basic feeling of trust in the environment. Consequently, a child is able to achieve higher competency, which helps her to be independent in future (Lerner, Lamb and Freund 2010). On the other hand, abnormal development occurs when a child establish insecure relationships. Due to maternal post-natal depression, Marie was unable to connect with Lucy leading to serious impairment of attachment-based relationship (Bosmans and Kerns 2015). When bonding failed between Lucy and her mother, it led to adverse effects on her future life. In this regard, it contributes to depression, affectionless psychopathy and social maladjustment as well as anxiety and aggressiveness (Fonagy, Bateman, Lorenzini and Campbell 2014).

nConclusion

nIn the Clarke family case study, it is evident that attachment-based relationship between the mother and infant is very important for well-being, function and development of an individual (George and West 2012). Certain instances, such as post-natal depression contributes to insecure attachments between mother and infant. Lucy suffers from emotional, behavioural, social and cognitive development because of poor relationship between her and Marie. This should that during infant stage of development, parents should pay close attention to secure attachment since this period determine the negative or positive experiences in adulthood (Bosmans and Kerns 2015). Therefore, healthy relationship between a child and the mother should be promoted in order to guarantee development.

nReferences

nBifulco, A. and Thomas, G., 2012. Understanding adult attachment in family relationships: Research, assessment and intervention. Routledge.

nBosmans, G. and Kerns, K.A., 2015. Attachment in middle childhood: Progress and prospects. New directions for child and adolescent development, 2015(148), pp.1-14.

nFonagy, P., Bateman, A.W., Lorenzini, N. and Campbell, C., 2014. Development, attachment, and childhood experiences. The American Psychiatric Publishing textbook of personality disorders, p.55.

nGeorge, C. and West, M.L., 2012. The Adult Attachment Projective Picture System: attachment theory and assessment in adults. Guilford Press.

nKerns, K.A. and Brumariu, L.E., 2014. Is insecure parent–child attachment a risk factor for the development of anxiety in childhood or adolescence?. Child development perspectives, 8(1), pp.12-17.

nKochanska, G. and Kim, S., 2013. Early attachment organization with both parents and future behavior problems: From infancy to middle childhood. Child Development, 84(1), pp.283-296.

nLerner, R.M., Lamb, M.E. and Freund, A.M., 2010. The handbook of life-span development, social and emotional development (Vol. 2). John Wiley & Sons.

nSigelman, C.K. and Rider, E.A., 2014. Life-span human development. Cengage Learning.

nTurner, F.J., 2011. Theory and Social Work Treatment. Social work treatment: Interlocking theoretical approaches, p.1.

nVerhaeghen, P. and Hertzog, C. eds., 2014. The Oxford handbook of emotion, social cognition, and problem solving in adulthood. Oxford University Press.