Attachment and Spiritual Maturity 21
parent and child relationships may all have an attachment component, but not all have the
foundational secure base which forms the enduring affectional bonds or 'attachment'.
The affectional bond is the control system that is sensitive to the availability of
the attachment figure and triggers attachment behavior. If the attachment figure is close
enough, the system is calm; but if the range of proximity is exceeded, the person
experiences a threat to the relationship and separation anxiety arises. This separation
anxiety triggers behaviors designed to foster a reconnection to the attachment figure and a
felt sense of security (Pistole, 1994).
The role ofthe attachment figure then is to provide a secure base of support and
to offer assistance as needed without interfering with or limiting the independent
explorations of the child. The ability to depend on someone in times of stress is viewed
as an adaptive human quality developed through the role of affect.
The Development of a Working Model of Attachment
In order for dyadic patterns to become self-regulating, the infant must develop
both a working model ofcaregiver response and appropriate strategies for regulating
attachment behavior (Kobak, Cole, Holland, Ferenz-Gillies, & Fleming, 1993). The
research design of Ainsworth's Baltimore study comprised a 20 minute sequence in which
the young child was exposed to an unfamiliar place, an unfamiliar person, parental
separation, and the experience of being alone. Children's attachment styles were
categorized as 'secure', 'anxious/ambivalent', and 'avoidant' depending on the quality of
reunion behavior illustrated how infant strategies for regulating attachment behavior in the
Strange Situation are linked to differential patterns of caregiver response in the home
(Ainsworth, Biehar, Walter, & Wal, 1978). Ainsworth recognized in her development of
the Strange Situation that the security or insecurity of an attachment relationship
constituted a crucial aspect of individual differences in relationships (Ainsworth et al.
1978). This approach has become the standard form ofmeasurement in attachment
research (Rutter, 1995).
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