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Part I:
Status of Research
Characteristics of Resilient Individuals
II. Social and Relational Competence
Secure Attachment and Basic Trust
The emergence of [the attachment] system is clearly a critical foundation for competence in our species; therefore, fostering strong and healthy relationships between children and their care givers is a key strategy for intervention.
-Drs. Ann Masten and Douglas Coatsworth (1998)
Since the pioneering work of Dr. John Bowlby (1969) and Dr. Mary Ainsworth (Ainsworth & Wittig, 1969), the importance of "a competent mother-infant pair" has become abundantly apparent. Masten and Coatsworth (1998) note that this attachment system is "so
basic and universal that lack of behavior associated with attachment usually occurs where there is something fundamentally wrong with the organism or the environment, with high risk for adaptive failure" (p. 208). Initially, the infant was seen as a passive recipient in this system, but researchers have identified differences among infants in their innate competence at eliciting caretakers' help for their physical needs and for regulating their emotional reactions and behavior. If all goes well, the competent pair provide the infant with a secure base of operations from which to explore the world.
The quality of one's early attachment has been shown to predict later functioning in several arenas. Fonagy and his colleagues (1994) cite other researchers who have found that children deemed to be securely attached at age 2 later score higher than insecurely attached children on measures of social behavior, affect regulation, endurance in challenging task situations, orientation to social resources, and cognitive resourcefulness. Fonagy's group (1994)
concludes that "there is thus a prima facie case that resilient children are securely attached children; i.e. that secure attachment is part of the mediating process where resilience is observed" (p. 235).
In his classic essay, "The Eight Ages of Man," Dr. Erik Erikson speaks of the importance of what he called Basic Trust. He writes as follows:
The infant's first social achievement is his willingness to let the mother out of sight without undue anxiety or rage, because she has become an inner certainty as well as an outer predictability. Such consistency, continuity, and sameness of experience provide a rudimentary sense of ego identity which depends, I think, on the recognition that there is an inner population of remembered and anticipated sensations and images which are firmly correlated with the outer population of familiar and predictable things and people(Erikson, 1963, p.247).
In essence, Erikson is talking about our internal working models of self and others, which are formed initially in our interactions with early care givers, but which may be modified as we develop and have interactions with other significant people. This means that children develop cognitive and affective expectations about how early care givers, and later people in general, are likely to behave toward them. Securely attached children "demonstrate an expectation of an empathic response," while insecurely attached children tend to be anxious, fearful, or clingy and to see the world and other people as threatening (Fonagy et al., 1994, p. 235).
Fonagy's group (1994) is especially interested in whether and/or how a parent might transmit his or her internal working model of relationships to the child. Using the Adult Attachment Interview and other measures, they found that "it is possible to identify before the birth of a child, on the basis of the parents' quality of attachment, the nature of the relationship they are likely to develop with their child during the first 18 months of life" (p. 237). They found overwhelmingly that those parents who showed secure adult attachment tended to have securely attached children, while those with insecure adult attachment tended to have insecurely attached
children.
Fonagy's group also wanted to determine whether secure attachment is actually a part, or only a correlate, of resilience processes. To do this, they had to demonstrate "that the transmission of infant security is care giver-specific, not the artefact of constitutional factors,temperament, assortative mating or the spreading of security from one care giver to the other." They reanalyzed their data and found no evidence that the security or lack thereof of either parent affected the relationship with the other parent. They concluded that "each parent 'transmits' their internal working model independently of the actions of the other," and that "the child develops and maintains distinguishable sets of mental representations of relationship expectations with each of his or her primary care givers." They acknowledge that they "do not yet know if, how,and when such separate internal working models are combined to determine the child's general stance towards attachment relationships." They further note that this "insulation of the internal working models of young children allows for the creation of a secure internal working model alongside one or more highly insecure ones." This may be what happens with resilient maltreated children, and "why the presence of even a relatively remote, but stable and responsive figure in the child's early life can be a protective factor, foster a secure internal working model of relations, and contribute to the child's resilience to hardship" (Fonagy, et al., 1994, 240).
Fonagy's group acknowledges that the risk of transmitting abuse across generations is at least 30% (i.e., three times the risk of intergenerational transmission of schizophrenia). They are interested, however, in the 70% of resilient parents-those mistreated children who grow up to become parents who show secure attachment patterns and do not abuse their children. They investigated this issue via a critical component of the internal working model of relationships--what they call the reflective-self function. This involves the ability to reflect upon the mental states of oneself and others, and the awareness of mental states in the organization, development and maintenance of attachment relationships. People who score high in reflective-self function have the capacity to think of their own and others'actions in terms of mental states; they hold "a coherent mental representation of the psychological world of their own care givers, and of themselves as adults, and earlier as children." Those low in the trait are "unwilling or unable to reflect on their intentions or those of others." This construct is similar to what ego psychologists call "psychological mindedness,"which is usually operationalized as "self-awareness," and to what William James called the ability "to think of ourselves as thinkers" (Fonagy et al., 1994, pp. 241-242).
The researchers found that, among the mothers from deprived backgrounds, all 10 of those with high reflective-self function had securely attached children, whereas only one of the 17 of the low reflective-self function group did so. Especially important was the former mothers'awareness of the qualitative differences between the mental functioning of children and adults. The researchers speculate that "reflective-self function may enhance the likelihood of planning effectively, successfully eliciting partner support and making good use of previous child care experience" (Fonagy et al., 1994, p. 245).
The reflective-self function is especially important to the study of resilience because it is a prerequisite to the development of other elements of resilience, including the ability to see different perspectives, the capacity to plan, creativity, and a sense of humor. Moreover, the capacity helps account for psychological plasticity, the ability to change one's inner world. In the words of Fonagy and his colleagues: "The opportunity of reflection upon intention allows for the modification of unhelpful internal working models of relationships through encounters with new significant figures; it equips the individual with ballast, a self-righting capacity" (p. 250).
Other writers have approached the issue of our "internal models" a bit differently. Drs. Steven and Sybil Wolin have written extensively about what they call the Seven Resiliencies - Insight, Independence, Relationships, Initiative, Creativity, Humor, and Morality. Their discussion of the development of Insight adds greatly to our understanding of the development over time of internal models of self and others. They see the early signs of insight in children's being able to sense the affective quality of life around them. As the child develops intellectually and emotionally, he seeks answers to the question, "What's going on here?" and sensing evolves into knowing. He can gather information and give a name to what he sees (Wolin & Wolin, 1994, pp 67-76).
The development of formal operational thinking in adolescence allows knowing to evolve into understanding, "a reflective frame of mind [that] results from spending your childhood examining evidence, sorting out the truth, and protesting illusions....Resilient adults do not take people, themselves, or life at face value. Striving always to understand, resilient survivors process their experience, look for meaning hidden beneath the surface of events, and confront
themselves honestly" (Wolin & Wolin, 1994, pp. 80-81).
As understanding evolves into insight, people develop "the mental habit of asking searching questions and giving honest answers....In adulthood, the psychological awareness of resilient survivors ripens into a penetrating understanding of themselves and other people." This capacity enables people to understand problematic aspects of their past and "take deliberate measures to ensure that life for them will be different and better...." (Wolin & Wolin, 1994, pp.
80-83).
In closing this section, we should note that the unanticipated downside of the enthusiasm for attachment theory is that, among some, it fostered a kind of "infant determinism," the notion that, if all did not go well between mother and infant early on, the child was doomed forever. Abundant evidence exists now, however, that the caretaker need not be the biological mother, and that some early attachment problems may be corrected by an adequately facilitating environment. Be that as it may, few would disagree with Werner's assertion that "a stable competent person needs to be around at the beginning of your life" (1996b, p. 22).
The Ability and Opportunity to Recruit Actively People Who Can Help
Throughout her writing, Werner has stressed the importance of children's having relationships with caring adults other than, or in addition to, their parents. In Vulnerable but Invincible (Werner & Smith, 1982), she and her co-author note that "resilient youth more often sought support from non-parental adults, especially teachers, ministers, and neighbors; these supports were seen as influential in fostering resilience" (p. ). Later she stated that without exception, all the children who thrived had at least one person that provided them consistent emotional support-a grandmother, an older sister, a teacher, or neighbor" (Goleman, 1987). And in 1996, she wrote that, as toddlers, some children can "reach out and make friends with everyone around the room" while others "shy back and cling only to their mothers," and that the children who reached out as toddlers also did so in middle childhood and adolescence (1996b, p.23).
Similarly, in an extensive literature review of attributes of competent African American children raised in inner-city neighborhoods, Garmezy and Nuechterlein (1972) found "there was at least one adequate significant adult who was able to serve as an identification figure. In turn,the achieving youngsters seemed to hold a more positive attitude toward adults and authority figures in general." The researchers also reviewed studies of the adaptation of children during World War II and of children in wars in Ireland and Israel. That concluded that "successful adults provide for the children a representation of their efficacy and the demonstrable ability to exert control in the midst of upheaval. From that standpoint, the sense of confidence in the adult community provides a support system of enormous importance to the well being of children" (Garmezy, 1983, pp 220-227).
Robins, West, and Herjanic (1975) found that African American children of low- income, divorced, or separated parents were less likely to drop out of school if influenced by grandparents who provided continuity and support. In Dunn's (1993) study of nine adults who grew up with a psychotic mother, all of her subjects reported having supports outside the home. Many of the women said they actively sought "individuals and families who would welcome
them and with whom they felt comfortable and safe" (p. 186). The men were less aggressive in seeking support and said they sometimes had difficulty accepting it when it was offered. Be that as it may, "participants told of their supporters being major changing-points in their lives and described them as rescuers, saviors, and people who kept them from growing up crazy like their mothers" (Dunn, p. 187).
Not only do resilient children find other adults who can help them, but they also have a strong ability to make and keep a few good friends. Werner (1996b) found that her resilient children were not especially popular or a part of the "in crowd," nor did the girls necessarily date a lot. But they were very good at choosing a couple of friends who stuck with them, sometimes from kindergarten through middle age.
The importance of positive peer relationships cannot be overemphasized.
Benard (1990b) summarizes the work of several researchers to elaborate on how peer relationships contribute to a child's social and cognitive development and socialization. First, she says, they provide "another arena...for support, opportunities, and models for prosocial development.... Children directly learn attitudes, values, and skills through peer modeling and reinforcement" (p.2). Second, peer interaction are "frequent, intense, and diverse, and allow for experimentation" (p. 2). Third, peers contribute significantly to one's moral development because the child "needs opportunities to see rules of society not only as dictates from figures of authority but also as products that emerge from group agreement" (Segal & Segal, 1986, p. 16).
Fourth, in peer interactions, children "learn to share, to help, to comfort, to empathize with others...[and] empathy (or perspective-taking) is one of the most critical competencies for cognitive and social development" (Benard, 1990b, p. 2). Fifth, in peer resource groups, children learn impulse control, communication skills, creative and critical thinking, and relationship skills. Lack of these is a "powerful, well-proven early predictor of later substance abuse, delinquency, and mental health problems" (p. 2)," and that there is a "huge body of research [that] supports social competence as a predictor of life success" (p. 2).
Sixth, positive peer relationships are strongly correlated with liking school, higher school attendance rates, and higher academic performance. And finally, peer relationships exert "a powerful influence on a child's development of identity and autonomy... [because'"it is through peer relationships that a frame of reference for perceiving oneself is developed" (Benard, 1990b, p. 2).
Consistent with the above findings, Hill and Madhere (1996) and Hill et al. (1996) found that, for urban elementary students chronically exposed to violence, support of teachers enhanced their social competence in the classroom, support from peers had a slight moderating
effect on their anxiety and increased the likelihood of their behaving competently in the classroom, and family support was critical in relieving the children's anxiety.
Not only are supportive people important to children and adolescents, they are vital to adults dealing with adversity as well. In investigating the high incidence of injuries among ballet dancers, researchers found that, among dancers who reported high levels of social support, negative life events were unrelated to injury, whereas stressful life events accounted for nearly 50% of the injury variance in dancers who reported low levels of social support (Patterson et al., 1998). Moreover, in a study of 137 hemophilic men (mean age, 36.26 years) with HIV, marital satisfaction and support from friends predicted how well their partners functioned (Klein, et al.,1994).
How does it happen that some children are better recruiters than others? What are the cognitive and emotional conditions and the behavioral skills needed? The Wolins (1994) see early signs of children's recruiting ability in their "connecting or attracting the attention of available adults. Though the pleasure of connections are fleeting and often less than ideal, these early contacts seem enough to give resilient survivors a sense of their own appeal." Later, if children are adequately confident of a benign response, they "branch out into recruiting - enlisting a friend, neighbor, teacher, policeman, or minister as a parent substitute." Given adequate development and positive experience, children's "recruiting rounds out to attaching, an ability to form and to keep mutually gratifying relationships. Attaching involves a balanced give and take and a mature regard for the well-being of others as well as oneself" (p. 111). Hence, the Wolins see the development of mature relationships as an evolution that begins with the infant's very early attempts at connecting.
This evolution is seen clearly in follow-up reports of adult women who had been raised in institutions. Among these women, the establishment of a stable child-adult relationship was correlated with better social adjustment of the child. Moreover, the women's adult functioning was closely associated with their marital situation. Those women who had a supportive spouse, as reflected in a harmonious marriage with warmth and confiding, showed a level of good parenting as high as the comparison group, but there was an absence of good parenting when such support was lacking (Quinton, Rutter, and Liddle,1984; Rutter and Quinton, 1984). Rutter
(1987) speculates that the protective function of this marital support might operate through enhancing the mother's self-esteem or by the husband's sharing the responsibilities and tasks of parenting. Moreover, he says, the availability of someone to talk with about family problems might increase the mother's social problem solving skills. Whatever the mechanism, the adult version of the ability to recruit people who can help is clearly a valuable protective factor
throughout one's life.
As noted above, vital components of relational competence are interpersonal awareness or role-taking abilities and empathy. One study that involved 51 6- and 7-year-olds, 89 of their parents, and 45 of their teachers found that children's empathy correlated with prosocial behavior in the family, while their role-taking ability correlated with ego resiliency and prosocial behavior in school. Both empathy and role-taking were associated with imaginative thinking, a key prerequisite for creativity and humor (Strayer & Roberts, 1989).
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