Ainsworth [1917-1999] <fwd>

[Guest guest]

FYI:

on Sunday March 21, Ainsworth

(Patterns of Attachment) died at age 82. She had been in a nursing home

in Charlottesville, VA. Following a series of strokes over the past 2

years.

Ainsworth devised scales of measurement that identified maternal

behaviour and interaction in the first three months of an infant’s life.

One interesting outcome of Ainsworth’s research was to show that those

mothers who were highly sensitive to infant signals were similar in

their behaviour; whereas those who were insensitive were so in variable

ways.

Her work, based on research undertaken in Uganda in the 1960s, described

many different kinds of behaviour that infants show in their first year

towards a familiar figure. Ainsworth, however, found this criterion

alone to be insufficient. Reflecting on her observations of the Ugandan

infants, she wrote:

" some of the infants . . . who seemed most solidly attached to their

mothers displayed little protest behaviour or separation anxiety, but

rather showed the strength of their attachment to the mother through

their readiness to use her as a secure base from which they could both

explore the world and expand their horizons to include other

attachments. The anxious, insecure child may appear to be more strongly

attached to his mother than does the happy, secure child who seems to

take her more for granted. But is the child who clings to his mother --

who is afraid of the world and the people in it, and who will not move

off to explore other things or other people -- more strongly attached,

or merely more insecure? "

This work, pioneered by Ainsworth has been used more and more to

understand the security of a child’s attachment. A relevant

consideration in respect of Ainsworth’s notable work with the Ugandan

children is whether due regard has been paid to the cultural aspects of

the varied societies amongst whom studies have been made.

We all owe her a great deal of respect for the work she undertook, and

many appreciate her efforts on behalf of children past, present and into

the future. In UK there has not been a great deal of awareness of how

much she has contributed to child welfare. Pre-eminence perhaps having

been given to the work in similar fields, but earlier, by DW Winnicott

and Bowlby.

Pete

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