Case study of Abigail Based on Theories of John Bowlby and Jean Piaget

Abigail is a 6-year-old girl who lives in a quiet area within Kilwinning, North Ayrshire. She lives at home with her mum Wendy and pet dog named Sacha. Wendy is currently a student, therefore has a low income. Abigail attends Pennyburn Primary School and is in primary 2. Most days she attends breakfast club and after school care while her mum is at college. Abigail likes swimming, football, dancing, karate, reading, drawing, painting & unicorns.

The past year has been a particularly hard year for Abigail as her Great-grandmother passed away. Around the same time Wendy had her own health issues which lead to hospital admissions, where Abigail’s Great-grandmother had passed away. Abigail struggled with the grief of her Great-grandmother alongside the worry for her mum. Before this happened, Abigail would regularly stay with her grandparents for Wendy to have time with friends or time to herself. However, after the death of her Great grandmother and her mother’s health issues she became insecure and struggled to leave Wendy. She still maintained a close relationship with her grandparents and seen them regularly but would no longer stay overnight. During this time Abigail began to isolate herself, she is a very friendly and talkative child but struggles to trust anyone enough to develop and maintain any lasting friendships.

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Since birth Abigail has had ongoing issues with her legs and feet as she was born with femoral anteversion. This means there is an inwards twist to the top of her femur (thigh bone) at the hip causing her knees and feet to point in the way. Wendy also suspects that Abigail has flat feet and is awaiting confirmation from the doctor. Due to these issues Abigail struggles to run and keep up with her friends as she keeps tripping over. When at school the children are asked to sit with their legs crossed, it hurts Abigail to sit this way. Her class teacher is aware of this and allows Abigail to sit in a place where she can have space to sit with her legs in front or at the side of her, the way that she is comfortable. However, when Abigail’s teacher is absent, or she is in another class the other teachers do not make the same allowances as they do not understand the situation. This causes Abigail to get upset leading to her resenting school.

John Bowlby

The first theorist is John Bowlby. Bowlby believes that the need for attachment is instinctive and the behaviour that comes as a result of an apparent threat to the attachment is natural. Things that can cause an apparent threat include separation, insecurity and fear. According to Bowlby children need to attach to one main caregiver, although other attachments are also required this first attachment is the most important in the child’s development. Bowlby believes that the main attachment figure in a child’s life should provide continuous care for at least the first two years of life. Part of Bowlby’s theory states that if the attachment between the child and the primary care giver is stopped or unsettled during the first two years the child will experience continuous, permanent consequences of this, which is known as maternal deprivation. The risk of this outcome continues until the age of five. (McLeod, 2007)

To test his theory, Bowlby studied 44 teenaged criminals in a child guidance clinic. The aim of this was to examine the lasting effects caused by maternal deprivation on people to investigate if the criminals had in fact suffered deprivation. From 1936 until 1939, 88 teenagers were carefully chosen from the clinic where Bowlby worked. From the 88, 44 were criminals and had been referred to him because of their stealing. Bowlby selected another group of 44 teenagers with emotional problems, but not committed any crimes as a control group. (McLeod, 2007)

When the teenagers arrived at the clinic they had their IQ tested by a psychologist who also evaluated the teenager’s emotional attitudes towards the tests. A social worker interviewed the parents to note details of the child’s early life like periods of separation etc. The psychologist and social worker made separate reports. Bowlby would then interview the teenager and accompanying parent to complete the study. At least half of the teenage criminals had been separated from their mothers for longer than six months during their first five years. In the control group only two had had a similar separation (McLeod, 2007).

However, not everyone agreed with Bowlby, Schaffer & Emerson (1964) stated that definitive attachments started at around 8 months and then very soon afterwards the infants became attached to other caregivers and peers. By 18 months only 13% were attached to only one person; some had at least five attachments. Rutter (1991) points out that numerous pointers of attachment, such as protest or distress when attached person leaves, have been shown for various attachment figures – fathers, siblings, peers and even inanimate objects (McLeod, 2007).

This theory benefits Abigail as it highlights the importance of maintaining the bond with her mum. Abigail’s great grandmother passed away when Abigail was 5, shortly after this Abigail’s mum was admitted to hospital and although, realistically, her mum was not going to die Abigail still thought this was a possibility due to recent events with her great grandmother. This has then caused a bit of separation anxiety in Abigail. Bowlby’s theory helps those involved with Abigail understand some of Abigail’s emotions and helps to ensure she as much contact with mum as possible whilst mum is in hospital and then once mum is home support is in place to allow them to get back to normal routines.

In modern practice, support of Bowlby’s theory is evident in several ways. When a child is admitted to hospital there are provisions for the main carer to stay with the child. Social workers are more likely to try and repair families and educate parents to ensure the child is safe, it is only in worst case scenario that social work will remove a child from their mother. Within the nursery and school systems there are induction days, days for parents to go in, transition days and half days at the beginning. All of which helps the child to have a smooth transition and minimal impact on attachment with primary care giver.

Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget was a theorist who studied cognitive development. Piaget believes that children instinctively take part in their learning process as they experiment, observe and absorb the world around them. As children interact with objects and people around them, they continually build on their knowledge (Cherry, 2018). According to Piaget there are 4 stages of cognitive development that everyone goes through. The first stage is the sensorimotor stage, the norm of this stage is birth to 2 years. This stage is where the child develops, discover and explores there 5 senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste). At this stage the child also develops and starts to strengthen both fine and gross motor skills (Study.com, 2019). The second stage of cognitive development is explained as the Preoperational stage which is expected to last from 2 years until 7 years. This is the stage where the child will start to participate in symbolic play and discover how to operate most objects. Nevertheless, Piaget stated that the child will not yet comprehend realistic logic (Cherry, 2018). According to Piaget’s theory age 7 to 11 is known as the concrete operational stage, during this stage the child comes to terms with reality, develops logic and shows an understanding of timescales, quantity etc, (McLeod, 2010). When the child reaches the age of 12 they are expected to be in or approaching the formal operational stage, this is the stage where personal opinions can be formed through facts, knowledge and emotions with a general understanding of the possible outcome or answer (WebMD, 2017)

Piaget started his studies using the known method of his time by collecting data, however he was not confident in his findings which inspired him to transform the way research is carried out. He used a combination of information which was obtained from observations in a natural environment, examining how the thought process works and observations performed in a clinical environment with further examination. Piaget believed that this would give a more realistic result as it was not structured. The key aim was to perceive how children reacted under certain circumstances with their own perceptions, in order to study how a child’s mind works (Mayer, 2005). Piaget performed a study on 15 boys between the ages of 10 – 14 years. He asked the boys to explain the connection between 2 bouquets of flowers, one was mixed colours and the other was all the same colours. This study was to examine the way the boys were thinking and to find information on the reasoning behind their judgement. This is classed as a psychometric technique of research (Mayer, 2005).

In relation to Abigail Piaget’s theory and research methods could be beneficial as it will help all professionals involved to measure Abigail’s cognitive ability in ways that are age and stage appropriate to give a realistic measurement. Abigail’s teacher, her mum and any agencies involved would work together in finding how Abigail’s thought process works and how best to support her on the level that she is at academically and emotionally.

Piaget’s theory and research methods are evident in modern day practice through the way that schools assess the pupils and record their progress. In primary children are tested weekly on their spelling and reading to ensure their cognitive development continues to grow. In later childhood through to adulthood it is an I.Q test that is used to measure your cognitive potential.

Reference List

1. Saul Mcleod. 2007. Simply Psychology. (ONLINE) Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/bowlby.html. (Accessed 21 November 2018)
2. Rutter, R., 1991. Maternal Deprivation Reassessed. Penguin Books Ltd.
3. Schaffer, H. R. & Emerson, P. E. (1964). The development of social attachments in infancy. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 29 (3), serial number 94.
4. Kendra Cherry. 2018. Very Well Mind. (ONLINE) Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/jean-piaget-biography-1896-1980-2795549. (Accessed 16 December 2018).
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8. Study.com. 2019. Piaget's Sensorimotor Stage of Development: Definition & Examples - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com. [ONLINE] Available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/piagets-sensorimotor-stage-of-development-definition-examples-quiz.html. [Accessed 02 January 2019].
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10. Verywell Mind. 2019. Preoperational Stage of Cognitive Development. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/preoperational-stage-of-cognitive-development-2795461. [Accessed 02 January 2019].
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12. Bibliography
13. Saul Mcleod. 2007. Simply Psychology. (ONLINE) Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/bowlby.html. [Accessed 21 November 2018]
14. Rutter, R., 1991. Maternal Deprivation Reassessed. Penguin Books Ltd.
15. Schaffer, H. R. & Emerson, P. E. (1964). The development of social attachments in infancy. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 29 (3), serial number 94.
16. Kendra Cherry. 2018. Very Well Mind. (ONLINE) Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/jean-piaget-biography-1896-1980-2795549. (Accessed 16 December 2018).
17. Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development | Simply Psychology. 2018. Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development | Simply Psychology. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html. [Accessed 09 January 2019].
18. Verywell Mind. 2018. Jean Piaget: Life and Theory of Cognitive Development. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/jean-piaget-biography-1896-1980-2795549. [Accessed 09 January 2019].
19. Verywell Mind. 2018. Piaget's 4 Stages of Cognitive Development Explained. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/piagets-stages-of-cognitive-development-2795457. [Accessed 09 January 2019]
20. Study.com. 2019. Piaget's Sensorimotor Stage of Development: Definition & Examples - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com. [ONLINE] Available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/piagets-sensorimotor-stage-of-development-definition-examples-quiz.html. [Accessed 02 January 2019].
21. WebMD. 2019. What is the formal operational stage in Piaget's stages of development?. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.webmd.com/children/qa/what-is-the-formal-operational-stage-in-piagets-stages-of-development. [Accessed 09 January 2019].
22. Verywell Mind. 2019. Preoperational Stage of Cognitive Development. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/preoperational-stage-of-cognitive-development-2795461. [Accessed 02 January 2019].
23. Mayer, S. (2005). A Brief Biography of Jean Piaget. [ebook] Available at: http://gseacademic.harvard.edu/~hgsebio/presentations/A%20Brief%20Biography%20of%20Jean%20Piaget.pdf [Accessed 9 Jan. 2019].