Running Head: Research Paper
“I Want My Mommy!”
Attachment Disorders in Children Placed in Child Care
The first five years of a child’s life are the most important years for forming lasting healthy attachments, especially infancy (helpguide.org, 2008). Children with attachment disorders have learned not to trust the world around them. “They have developed a protective shell around their emotions (radkid.org, 2008). There are two types of attachment disorders and several subcategories, including, but not limited to: avoidant, ambivalent and disorganized (helpguide.org, 2008). Infants who are placed in child care run an increased risk of developing an attachment disorder due to caregiver neglect, caregiver abuse and too many changes in caregivers.
According to Answers.com the term attachment is defined as “a form of behavior whose goal is to maintain proximity to another person (smiles, vocalization, tears and approach behavior). When a child is within the first year of life he or she has a need for nurture, and in that nurture the infant will create an attachment with the nurturer. A parent is the most logical first choice for the job of creating a secure attachment. Often times, that is not possible and a child will need to be placed in childcare outside the home. At that point, the caregiver is now in responsible for helping to create a healthy bond with a child. Unfortunately that does not always came naturally, when a child is not related to the caregiver. When this process goes awry, an insecure attachment can be created.
According to DSM-IV reactive Attachment occur where there has to be “gross deprivation of care or successive multiple caregivers, (Lubit MD, PhD, 2006). There are two types of Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD):
A. Inhibited- in which the child is not responding in a developmentally appropriate manner, and
B. Disinhibited- in which the child is...