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29 OCTOBER
No 1236
Relation-based interventions
Efforts to promote resilient development in youth are of particular importance for young people living in care. Within the study of psychology the term resilience has generally come to refer to “a dynamic process encompassing positive adaptation within the context of significant adversity" (Luthar, Cicchetti, & Becker, 2000, p. 543). Therefore, resilience is not a static trait of the individual, but a series of contextual, dynamic, and interactive processes, which draw upon resources within the individual, the family, and the wider social environment. In fact, current research in the field suggests that resilience is not a magical, extraordinary quality in a person, but a common experience that occurs from basic, “ordinary" human adaptational systems (Masten, 2001).
One of the most consistent findings in resilience research is the strong value of supportive relationships in a young person's life. A young person' social networks, both formal and informal, are related to favourable outcomes. Interpersonal attachments are important conduits for realizing normal development in all young people, but they appear to have particular protective value for young people who face adversity (Masten & Reed, 2002).
For over a century attachment theory has also told us that connection to others is a fundamental human need and the basis of healthy development. In the early part of the 20th century Freud's view of attachment, or these "bonds of mental energy" (Freud, 1989), was that they were so significant that when there was a threat to attachment it would necessarily bring about activation of one of the predefined defined defense mechanisms, which would in turn play a large part in the development of the individual's personality. In the latter part of that century, Bowlby (1979) proposed that attachment is both inherent, as a response to danger, and experiential, in the manner in which attachment is played out, and thus core to our safe relationship to the world.
If a function of attachment behaviours is to ensure safety, the effect of attachment is that it becomes the "safe base" for an individual's exploration behaviours, a necessary requisite for cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. Safe early attachment opportunities and the effect they have on exploration and growth are reported to be the most critical from birth through early childhood as this is when the brain is most sensitive to social, emotional, cognitive, and physical experiences, both positive and negative (Perry, 2002). It is the balance between a child's attachment seeking behaviours and a child's exploratory behaviours that were first demonstrated through the now famous "stranger situation" experiment by Ainsworth and Bowlby (Ainsworth, 1978).
These early experiences in relationships form the internal working models that are the basis of future attachments (Bretherton, 1992) and inform the general conclusions young people make about themselves and others. These conclusions include whether they possess the qualities that attract the care giving and benevolence of attachment figures (i.e., am I worthy of being cared for properly). Other conclusions may include the degree to which others possess the capacity and predisposition to provide nurturance and protection (i.e., can adults be counted on to take care of me and meet my needs). Interactions, or the dance, between children and their caregivers over time create and solidify beliefs about the self and others.
LEE HACKNEY AND KAREN MACMILLAN
Hackney, L. and Macmillan, K. (2006). Relational-based interventions: The medium is the message. Journal of Child and Youth Care Work, 21, pp. 57-58.
References
Ainsworth, M.D. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. New York: Halsted Press Division of Wiley.
Bretherton, I. (1992). The origins of attachment theory: John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. Developmental Psychology, 28(5), 759-775.
Bowlby J. (1979). The making and breaking of affectional bonds. London: Routledge Publication.
Freud, S. (1989). The Freud reader (F. Gay, Ed.). New York: Norton.
Luthar, S. S., Cicchetti, D., & Becker, B. (2000). The construct of resilience: A critical evaluation and guidelines for future work. Child Development, 71(3), 543-562.
Masten, A. S. (2001). Ordinary magic: Resilience processes in development. American Psychologist, 56(3), 227-238.
Masten, A. S., & Reed, M. G. J. (2002). Resilience in development. In C. R. Snyder, & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 74-88). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Perry, B.D. (2002). Childhood experience and the expression of genetic
potential: What childhood neglect tells us about nature versus nurture.
Brain and Mind, 3, 79-100.
