Rosemary and David are a young military couple, who just had their first child. Unfortunately, David was recently deployed to a foreign country and is not able to return to the United States for three months. He is very sad that he will not see his daughter for the first three months of her life. Rosemary would love to stay home full time with her new daughter, but financially she needs to work

Question

In fact, Rosemary averages 50 hours per week at her job as the assistant manager of the theater in a nearby town. Jobs in her area are still hard to find, so Rosemary is willing to make the 45-minute drive to the theater. Unfortunately, the long work hours and commute limit the amount of time Rosemary can spend with her newborn daughter. She has a close friend who takes care of her daughter when she is at work. Rosemary fears she will not bond with her daughter and their relationship will always lack closeness. According to ethological or attachment theorists, what might be the concerns regarding Rosemary's inability to spend quality time with her newborn? Also, based on Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory, what might be a concern for the child's psychosocial development?

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Based on a biological perspective, ethological or attachment theorists would have concerns that the young couple are missing an important critical period of bonding. Relying on evidence from early studies with animals, ethological theorists believe humans also engage in "imprinting" or attachment during the early weeks and months of life. Thus, infants will stay close to their nurturing care giver and follow them everywhere. Attachment theorists suggest that if this imprinting experience does not occur, the child may encounter adjustment issues later. Erik Erickson takes a slightly different approach. However, he also believes there is a critical period in infancy when the child needs to resolve a psychosocial crisis and develop a healthy trust. In his stage "trust versus mistrust," Erikson claims infants must develop a sense of trust and know that their needs will be met and they will be comforted. The concern is that the mother spend enough time with her infant for the child to develop trust.