Adult Attachment Paper

The purpose of this paper is to have you explore the relationships between attachment, especially adult attachment, and Eriksons stage theory of psychosocial development.  For this assignment, you will read the article by Pittman, Keiley, Kerpelmen, & Vaughn (2011), summarize and connect ideas from the article, and reflect on your own attachment and development.  Because part of the paper requires reflection, you may use first person (I, we, etc.) when writing the reflection parts of the paper.

APA formatting & style guide – OWL at Purdue site

Write a paper and answer each of the following questions separately (be sure to use section headings):

    Part 1: Introduction
o    Write a brief introduction paragraph or section that introduces the topic of this paper and explains what the reader can expect to find in the paper (thesis).

    Part 2: The Purpose and Formation of Secure Base Attachment
o    What is meant by secure base attachment, and how is it developed in early childhood?
o    Why is attachment important?
o    What are the patterns of attachment in early childhood and how do attachment figure behaviors (usually the mother) influence the development of these patterns?  In other words, describe each attachment pattern of early childhood.  Also, describe the types of behaviors that mothers might exhibit that contribute to the attachment patterns.
o    What are the patterns of attachment in late adolescence/early adulthood? Describe these patterns and provide examples.

    Part 3: Eriksons Developmental Framework
o    Discuss the importance of the quality of the caregiver-child relationship in early childhood.  In other words, why is the quality of this relationship so important for the early stages, as well as adolescence and early adulthood (stages five and six)? In your response you might consider and discuss the importance of exploration and engagement for healthy development.
o    Discuss the complexity of the concept of identity.  How might the quality of early relationships, as well as comfort with exploration and engagement, influence an adolescents identity formation?  Include in your discussion the patterns of identity process and outcome that Marcia identified in his research.
o    What is the relationship between identify formation and intimacy?  In your response, discuss why intimate relationships are important to identity formation and maintenance.

    Part 4: Bringing it Together: The Parallels between Attachment Theory and Eriksons Theory
o    Discuss the parallels between attachment and psychosocial development in early childhood.
o    Discuss the parallels between attachment and psychosocial development in adolescence and early adulthood.

    Part 5: Reflection and Conclusion
o    Conclude your paper by reflecting on your own development.  Do you agree with the authors of this article on the parallels between the two theories?  Why or why not?

o    What do you think your attachment pattern was in early childhood?  Why do you think so? 
    In your response, consider the behaviors and nurturing behaviors of your attachment figure (most likely one of your parents), and to what extent exploration and engagement were encouraged by your attachment figure.

o    What do you think your attachment pattern is as an adult?  Why do you think so?
    In your response, consider your process of identity development (so far since adolescence).  Which of Marcias patterns of identify process do you most relate with?  Explain why you think so.  How have your parents (attachment figures) informed your identity process? How have intimate friendships or intimate partner relationships informed your identity process? 
    What do you think is your adult attachment style?  Why do you think so?  How closely does it match your attachment style from childhood?  What do you think were the biggest influences of this?

Grading

    Be familiar with the policy on late assignments that was published in the syllabus and that is emphasized at the top of this instruction document.

Formatting Requirements:
    This paper will have the following structure
o    5-7 pages total: 1 title page + 3-5 content pages + 1 reference page. (it is OK if your paper is a little longer than 7 pages)
o    Correct APA formatted Title page including: a title for the paper (e.g., Adult Attachment Paper); students name, course number and name (HDFS 225 Lifespan Human Development in the Family)
o    Use of section headings is required.
o    In-text citations (for Parts 2-4) and a reference page are required.
o    Correct APA formatted Reference page is required

    Follow these formatting guidelinesyou will lose points if all of these are not followed:
o    Times New Roman, size 12 font
o    1 inch margins (be sure your default formatting is not set for 1.25 right/left margins)
o    Double spaced (be sure your default formatting is not set to add extra space to lines)
o    Do not use bullet pointswrite in complete sentences.