Attachment - Applications

HOSPITALS

- Years ago, only physical needs were considered

• Emotional factors are now also considered
• Newborns used to be taken immediately after birth, and kept in separate wards. This was to protect the child from infection and to give the mother a chance to recover. However, this meant that contact was usually limited 
• Parents were not encouraged to vist, and the opportunites to vist were limited

- The more contact a baby has with its mother in the first few days, the stronger the attachments

• As long as there is no problems, skin to skin contact is encouraged as this is when bonding begins
• Babies are placed by the bedside to ensure continual contact

- Bowlby showed 3 stages of separation 

• 1 - Protest. The child is panic stricken and visibly upset
• 2 - Despair. The child is upset, and they become uninterested and and apathetic
• 3 - Detachment. The child rejects their caregiver

- Mothers are encouraged to stay with children

• A cot is often placed at the mother's bedside

- Hospital policies were changed

• Flexible and frequent visiting hours are in place
• Parents can sleep over when a child is in hospital to avoid seperation effects

NURSERIES

- Nurseries are controversial, as it helps people to socialise but separate children from their caregivers

- Generally, a high quality nursery requires

• Highly trained staff - to understand children's needs
• Low staff turnover - to avoid separation effects when a child attaches to a carer
• Low staff to child ratio - such as 1 carer to 3 babies

FAMILY

- Parents used to be able to bring children up as they pleased

• They now actively educate parents
• Parents are educated on things such as attachment behaviours and parenting styles that benefit the child

- Institutions are in place that can help and intervene such as the police, child services, and social services.