IJzendoorn, M.H. van

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Leiden University Scholary Publications

Human Dndopmem IW.V..1fi: 10.1-105CommentaryU n i v c i s i t y o f ! eiden,Ί he NcthcrtaiulsIn her study on atlachment in Afr ican-Amcrican f 'amilics, Jackson shows thal a mul-tiple carcgivcr arrangcmcnl is normative IbrAIVican-Amcrican infants . These i n f a n t s notonly havc expcriencc w i t h 2-5 carcgivers, hutarc also rcgularly cxposed to u n f a n i i l i a r peo-plc. Jackson raiscs thc issuc of whcther thet r a d i t i o n a l concepl öl" 'monolropy' ade-qualcly dcscrihcs atlachment devclopmcnt inIhc mul t ip le caregivcr Situation, and shc alsodoubts Ihe validily ol'thc traditional mcasurcof atlachment - thc 'stränge Situation' procc-durc - in cases öl' inl'ants who arc accuslomedlo scparations from their mothcrs and to I'rc-qucnl cncounters with slrangers. Thc devel-opmcnl of atlachmenl relalionships in anAI'rican-American multiplc-carcgivcr conlcxlshould bc analy/.cd and understood on its ownIcrms (thc 'emic' approach), lo avoid an eth-noccntric 'Euro-Amcrican' pcrspcctivc ( the'etic' approach).Jackson's papcr is s l imulat ing in providingan cthnographic account of daily life in AIVi-can-Amcrican familics wilh infants. Her pa-pcr is provocativc in claiminglhal traditionalatlachment concepts and mcasurcs fail to beuscful in thc African-Amcrican conlcxl ofmultiple carcgiving. Furthermorc, shc tries tocmpirically validale her Claim Ihat monot-ropy is abseilt in her sample. An allernativemcasurc of diffcrcnces in strength bclwccnmult iple attachmcnls is used to avoid theallcgcd ctic bias of Ihc 'stränge Situation' pro-ccdurc. Howcver. this al ternative proccdureappeared to contain loo lew slrcsslul compo-ncnls lo aclivale Ihc attachmenl behavioralSystem in thc majorily of cascs. Thcrcfore,conclusions aboul thc abscnce of monotropyin thc African-American group remaincdequivocal.Thc rclalion bctwccn multiple-carcgivcrarrangemcnls and monotropy is complicatcd.Thc prcscncc of mul t ip le carcgivers does nolncccssarily imply Ihc absencc of a specialbond bctwccn infam and molhcr. On the con-Irary, Ihc inl'anl-molher atlachmenl relation-ship appears to bc importanl even whcnmolhcrs take carc of llicir infants during onlya minor pari of thc day. In Ihis rcspcct, Mo-rclli and Tronick's [1991 ] Efc study is illustra-t ive, especially hccausc Jackson claboralcs onIhis study and tcnds lo draw a quitc diffcrentconclusion. The Efc are a semi-noniadic Afri-can group usually considered a huntcr-gath-crcr pcoplc, and Ihcreforc rcprcscntativc ofwhal Bowlby [1984] called the Original envi-ronmcnl of evolutionary adaptcdncss' - thccnvironmcnt in which the basic 'nccd' of themfanl's dltachmcnl lo a piotcctivc tartgivciis hypothcsi/ccl to hc cstabhslicd JacksonClaims that thc Cic stucly throws doubl on (henormat ive valuc of monoliopy or thc cxistcnce öl onc salicnt rclationship belwcen m-lant and an allaehmcnl f iguic Γ-ic infants aiclaiscd in a m u l t i p l e caicgivci e n v i r o n m e n lIrom thc v e i y bcgmnmg and u is suggcsledthal thcy dtvclop multiple atlachmenlsIt is cunous to nolc that Moie l l i and ΓΥο-nick [1991], in oneofthcii mosl iccent papcison thc Cle (not citcd by lackson) aic loiccd toconclude that bv Ihe agc öl 12 monlhs Cfechildrcn dcvclop p n m a i y at tachmcnls lothcir molhcis in thc contcxl of cxpcnencmgsensitive mul t ip le taiegivmg dunng thc f i is lyeai of hfc Although in fan t s aic evcn nursedby scveial d i l f e i c n l women l-ycai-olclsclcaily appcar lo piclci p iox imi ly to thei imothcrs in strcssful silualions Moiel l i andl lonick pioposc lha toneof theicasons thal aspecial mfant-mothcr bond coiitinucs lo cxisleven in thc contcxt öl a multiplc-caicgivciairangcmcnl may bcthecaieal mght DunngIhc nighl, only Ihe molhcis caie Ιοί t h c i iinfants, and slecp is rcgulaily intuiuptcd bycpisodcs of mlciaction cxclusivüy bclwecnmolher and mlant Thc nighl ofcoursc maybc an cspcually strcssful time dunng whichthc infam nceds a protcclivc carcgivei moslThc crucial conlnbution of thc carc almght to thc dcvclopmcnl of allathmcnl in amulliplc-caicgivci ariangcmcnl is also i l luslialcd in a iccenl sludy of homc-bascd andcommunal kibbul/im in Isiael [Sagi cl al inpicparalion] In Uns sludy attathmenl classi-ficalion dislribulions of mfanl-molhcr pairsI ivmg in Iwo lypes of Israeli kibbul/ im wciccompared In bolh Ihc communal and Ihchomc-bascd sclling, infants aie caied for byProfessional caregivcrs foi aboul 9 h each day,6 days per weck ΛΙΙ mfanls spcnd aflcrnoonhours al homc with their paicnts Infanls mIhe home-based sclting rcmain wilh Ihci i par-enls d u n n g Ihe nighl whcieas in fants öl thccommunal group are relumed to Ihe in lanlshousc whcic thcy slay undci Ihc i esponsibiliHöl a nighl watchwoman unl i l Ihc moimngSagi et al weic ablc to show that apail l iomthc mlant sleeping anangcmcnt both gioupsöl molhcis and mfanls wcrc drawn fiom Ihesamc populalion The d i f f c i c n c c in carc alnighl howcvci influcnccd thc quality of m-fanl-mothci a l lachmcnldiamal ica l ly AmongIhe homc-bascd infants 80% wcic lound lo bcsccuicly atlachcd to thcn motheis vcisusonlv 48% öl thc intanls raised undci thc com-muna l slccpmg condilionsfhe iccenl Llc and Isiaeh data suggcsl thati l molhcis lakc carc o f thcn mfanls al mght, aspecial inlant-molhei allachmcnl· rclalion-ship may dcvclop whatcvci olhci caicgivcisa ic involved m la is ing thc ch i ld i cn d u n n g thcdaylimc Nevcilhclcss m a mulliplc-caic-givci airangcmcnl mfanls may dcvclop mul -tiple allachmcnls äs has bccn shown in sev-cial studics on molhci f a lhc i -mlan l allach-mcnl in Fuiopcan and Amcncan cultuicsMolhcrs may icmain vciy impoi lanl allachmcnl figuies but othei caicgivcis have bccnshown to bc pail öl Ihc mfanls altachmenlnclwoiks äs well In Ihis sense thc issuc ölmonoliopy m a mulliplc-caicgivci anangcmcnl has ahcady bccn scllled bccause il is awcll-cslablishcd lacl that mfanls dcvclop anclwoik of allachmcnl iclalionships Fhcqucstion of which allachmcnl ic la l ionship inIhe nclwork is 'sliongcsl' cannol bc answciedsimply bccause altathmcnl thcory clocs nolpiovidc cnlcna lor slicnglh öl attachmcnlonly for qua l i ty of allachmcnl iclalionshipsThe moic mlercsling issuc is how mul t ip leallachmcnls arc mcnlally rcpiescnted i c m-tegialcd mlo an inlernal woiking modcl ölallachmcnl [van IJ/cndoorn el a l , in picss]In Ihc casc öl Ihe Israeli kibbul/ dala Ιοίcxample, wc have shown thal Ihc concept ölaltachmenl nctworks is moic powciful in picv in l)7uuloorndic l ing lalcr socioemotional dcvelopmcntIhan is thc tradil ional conslrucl of single at-lachmcnts [van IJ/endoorn Λ al., in prcss].In thc casc οΓ Afr ican-Amcncan i'amihes,in fan l s e v i d c n t l y dcvelop m u l t i p l e allach-mcnts, and Ihc i n t n g u i n g qucstion is whctherthc q u a l i t y of ' lhc infants ' attachmcnt nelworkis morc dccisive for latcr dcvclopmcnl Ihanthc qual i ty of the separate infant-carcgiverattachmcnt rclationships. Comparing thcslrength of infanls ' attachmcnts to d i f fe ien lcaregivers seems less fruiU'ul. Chikhen's picf-cicncc Ibr a spccific atlachmcnt l'igurc maylargcly bc dclermincd by s i tual ional l'actois.Thc qual i ty oi 'allachmcnt, howcvcr, has bccnshown lo hc lootcd m a history of moie orless sensit ive intciact ions between m l a n t andcaregiver. l-ur lhcrmoic, q u a l i t y of al lachmcnlhas bccn shown to ( p a i t l y ) delermme m e n t a lrepresentations of seif and othcrs. U wouldthercfore bc cxt remely i m p o i t a n l to s ludyq u a l i t y of a l taehmenl nc lwoiks and Iheirmental repiescntations imdci nuilliplc-care-g iver eonchlions.l lovv should \ve s tucly a t lachmcnt in d i f f c i -ent c u l l u r a l seltmgs? Jackson r i g h t l y argucsfor thc complcmcnlari ly of Ihc cmic and ctiepeispcctivcs. If a certain paradigm has bccndcvclopcd in a spccific cu l lura l sclting, il isuscful l o t i y lo lest the l i m i l s o f thal paiadigmin other cu l lura l settings ( the ctie approach); i fIhc paradigm is clcarly not applicablc in a cer-tain cul lura l settmg, a l ternat ives havc to hcdevclopcd in an emie way. From philosophyof seienee, numcrous histoneal and theoiet i-cal rcasons for scverely and pers i s tent ly tcsl-ing the l i n i i l s of a paradigm or icscareh pro-gram may he dcrivcd [van IJ/cndooin andTavecchio, 1987]. In Ihc casc of allachmcnlIhcoiy and i l s niaior assessmcnt measure -Ihc Mrange Situat ion' proccdure- i t has notbccn shown cmpincal ly Ihal thcy fa l l lo bcv a l i d in llie Afnean-Amcrican eu l lura l sct-tmg. The piescnec of m u l t i p l e caregiversdocs. foi cxamplc, not preelude Ihc f r u i t f u luse o f a l l a c h m c n t conccpts and mcasuics inthc I s i a e h ease. lo assess Ihc v a l i d i t y ofa t tachmcnt t h c o i y for A f i i c a n - A m e n e a n m-lanl-caregivci iclationships. wc s t i l l ncedmoic carefulK conduclcd etic s ludiesReferencesR i m l l n l l l ' I S - J ) ln,i< Ιιιικ in und Λ'^In! l tliMlumiil ( S i u n u l oil ll omlon I V i i B U i n\ . i i i l l / i n . l o o n i M I I S.ip λ λ Ι .1111Ιχιιη,ιι ι M V\ l ( i n ριιν,Ι Ι |κ·n i i i l n p k i . H U . l k u | u i . u l i > \ SullHdal,ι h i i m Ι Ι ι ι Ι Ι . ι ι κ Ι .uul Κι.κΙ I nK ( l ' i . i n l . i II d l K,lillli>mhlin hnmi i/li/iliiil am/ min ι«ιι< /im/,/ιΛι/Λ Ν ί ΐ ι 1>ιιι,ιι<ιιι\ in ( Illlil l l i -Κ / ί ' / ι / ί Ι . / ί / S 111 ! I . I I K I S U I I |1SS L \-ll.n·,n 1 1 / u H l n m n M I I \ l m u l i i i .l \\ ( l l l ' S ^ I l In i k \ i Ι ο ρ η κ ϋ ΐ ot, ι ι ι . κ ΐ ι ι ι κ η ι i l u o i \ js i l i k . i l o s i . i nl i s i . m h p i o c u i i i l ' h i l i i s i i p h i , l l.UKl I l l c l l l l H l o l l l c u l l . I m p u l s I nl \\ ( l i x i u l i i n λ Μ Π \ .in 1 1/ u u l o o i n I I d·, l lthi< !ini< in in v . .il.ni! l K U H ι

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