How research into attachment and day care has influenced child care practices

Research into attachment

• Robertson and Bowlby helped change ideas of what should happen to children when they are in hospital. Previously parents were hardly even allowed to visit their sick children; now they are usually allowed to stay with their child all the time that their child is in hospital, so bond disruption is minimised. Children who are in child care should be assigned key workers to have continuity of care.

Research into attachment

• Rutter’s research concluded that adoption is a good outcome for children, even if the adoption takes place after the child is 6 months old. Ideally adoption should happen very quickly after it becomes clear that the child cannot stay with its birth parents, and after Bowlby’s ideas were published it was common for babies to be adopted when they were only one week old. Whilst this isn’t the case anymore, it is recognised that adoption is good and that more needs to be done in the UK to speed up the adoption process, which is lengthy.

Research into Day Care

• Studies such as EPPE project showed that day care is good for children if it is high quality, including factors such as high staff to child ratio, low staff turnover, good resources, good staff training. As a result of this from 2004 free pre-school places were available to every 3 year old. Group day care centres are now inspected for quality by Ofsted (Government school inspectors).

Research into Day Care

• Campbell showed that day care at an early age could be associated with negative social effects, such as aggression. Therefore maternity leave has recently been extended to last for 12 months.

Exam question• Q) Explain how child care has been influenced by findings of research into attachment (4

Marks - Jan 2011 – Mark Scheme below) • Children who are not looked after by their parents need to have an opportunity to form an

attachment with someone else. Candidates may refer to the advantages of foster care or adoption rather than institutional care.

• Reference to key workers in day care would be relevant, as would parents staying with children in hospital.

• Candidates may legitimately refer to children who are looked after by their parents. In this case reference to a sensitive period and/or the importance of high levels of sensitive responsiveness would be credit worthy.

• There is a very wide range of potentially relevant material for this question including

children who are cared for by their own parents. Candidates may give a reasonably detailed answer in relation to one area such as day care or refer to several areas more briefly.

Advice for Day Care based on evidence

Consistency of Care• A secure attachment more likely to occur if the same caregiver

consistently looks after the child. In many establishments a key worker is assigned to each child so that relationship can develop. In childcare establishments with a high staff turnover they are less likely to provide consistent care.

• Evidence: Shaffer (1998) found that consistency of care was one of the most important factors in good outcomes, as children may fail to form an attachment if there is a high turn-over, or suffer anxiety if they do form an attachment, but the staff leave.

Advice for Day Care based on evidence

Sensitivity of Day-care Staff• Children are more likely to be able to feel secure and use

their key worker as a secure base if the key worker is sensitive. This means that children are more likely to form a secure attachment, which in turn means that children are less stressed in day-care.

• Evidence: the NICHD study found that 23% of infant-care

providers give highly sensitive infant care, 50% only moderately sensitive and 20% are emotionally detached from the infants in their care.

Advice for Day Care based on evidence

Staff to Child Ratios• Higher staff to child ratios mean that children get more

adult attention. It also means that adults are able to be more sensitive to the individual needs of the children they are looking after and can provide suitable stimulating activities.

• Evidence: the NICHD study found that its day-care staff could provide sensitive care only if the staff to child ratio was 1:3, and even then, the member of staff may be overwhelmed and not give consistent, sensitive care.

Advice for Day Care based on evidence

Well Trained Staff• Well trained staff are aware of issues such as the importance

of sensitivity in the formation of attachments. They are also able to provide suitable activities for each child's level of development and have good knowledge about early years curriculums and methods of delivering activities.

• Evidence: Sylva et al (2003) reported from the EPPE study that quality was associated with the qualification levels of the day-care staff, and the higher the qualifications of staff, especially the manager of the centre, the better the outcomes for children on social development.