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REFLECTION OF OWN CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT IN CONTEXT OF

DEVELOPMENT THEORIES

Introduction

Human development is a complex process, and it involves family, culture, surrounding

environment and the individual's active participation. Bowlby-Ainsworth theory of attachment

describes the importance of attachment of child with caregivers as the basic and the most

important factor in the development of a child. Bronfenbrenner's theory of ecological systems

identifies 5 different ecological systems affecting the child's development in a broadening

fashion. It helps identify the effects these surroundings have on the personality and attributes of a

child as he/she matures through life. Maslow's theory of hierarchy of needs is one of the most

important theories in human development and it divides the human's needs into hierarchies with

dependence on society increasing with advancing age. When the person is still a child, his/her

needs are more dependent on caregivers and family only but with advancing age, his/her needs

start to shift from family to society. This is so true in the context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islanders (ATSI) as these communities are at the level of development that what they lack in a

serious context is the contribution from society.

Active participation of the individual in development is as critical as these other factors. The

development process has various stages and active participation by the individuals makes this

process practically capable of achieving the goal of better human development.

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This reflective essay is about the application of these development theories on my childhood to

evaluate how these developmental processes affected my personality and attributes as I matured

through life.

Reflect on own family and cultural context

Family and culture have an important influence in the period of child development and form

his/her basic norms and ethics (Roostin, 2018). I used to live with my parents, siblings, and

grandparents. The very incidents and happenings of being an infant cannot be remembered much

but what I have come to know from my parents is that they planned to raise me healthily

positively shape my personality. They always took care of me and were always loving. I was

more attached to my mother since I was born because I spent most of my time as an infant with

her. With time, I started to become familiar with my grandparents and siblings. I started getting

familiar with my elder brother by visual and then his voice. I used to play with him. He used to

go to school in my earlier years and this also started to make me unhappy as I cherished his

presence. My parents always taught me the lesson to be respectful to elders and live with my

siblings affectionately. This formed strong values and a sense of responsibility in me for my

siblings and I still take care of them as much as I can. My grandparents used to play with me and

tell me stories to teach me good lessons in life. Truth, integrity, unity, and discipline are the good

qualities I learned from them. As I grew up, I became familiar with my culture. It was an Eastern

culture that what value children as the assets of the nation. We had different festivals which were

celebrated with participation from all members of the family. These festivals reflected love,

sacrifice, and care for each other. My uncles, aunts, and cousins showed much love whenever

they visited us. This positive environment was nourishing for my mental growth and gave me a

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good start to the endeavors of life. Once the child is comforted, he/she starts to explore the

surrounding environment and people (Bureau, et al., 2017).

With advancing age, I learned to interact with other people around me when I started school. My

parents always encouraged me to make new friends and be good to others. It helped me socialize

in later life and groomed my social skills. Therefore, my family and culture always had a positive

impact on my development and helped me become a better person.

Application of Bowlby-Ainsworth's Attachment Theory in My Childhood

Attachment is a child caregiver relationship which is more often a Parent-child relationship. It

plays a significant role in the development of the child which affects his/her life, interactions,

and emotions in recent upcoming years as well as in later life. Attachment is seen as a very

important factor in the development of a child and a good attachment is necessary for balanced

personality of child as he/she gets matured (Holmes & Farnfield, 2014).

Bowlby-Ainsworth's theory of attachment describes four distinct attachment patterns i.e., Secure,

Anxious Resistant, Anxious Avoidant, and Disorganized (Cherry, 2019). Of this Secure

attachment is considered the one with positive outcomes in later life while disorganized

attachment is the one with most severe consequences. This has been observed in multiple pieces

of research that children having secure attachments have parents who are responsive to their

needs while insecure children usually have ignorant, inconsistent, or resistant parents.

As for myself, when I was a child, I had caring parents who were responsive to my needs. I can

fairly say that I had a Secure Attachment pattern as I had intensive care from my mother as well

as from my father. I used to get worried when my parents left me at home with my grandparents

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for their work. I used to play with toys to make myself relaxed in absence of my parents and I

became happy to see my parents back at home. I was comfortable and happy with my

grandparents too. Securely attached children are more prone to feel safe and protected, are

confident in their decisions, and have a good overall personality. I got attached to my

grandparents easily and I was having no unsafe feelings staying with them at home. This also

explains my secure attachment applying Bowlby-Ainsworth's theory.

Other members of my family like my uncle, aunts, and my cousins visited us very little due to

which it was a bit late when I started recognizing them and got comfortable with them. Once I

was comfortable, I realized that they all were also loving and caring. Of the anxious-resistant

pattern of attachment, I remember that I used to keep a bit of distance from my fellows who used

to misbehave with teachers and other fellows because of my parents' consistent lesson of having

a good company of friends who have good conduct and values for elders.

In this regard, I can apply Bowlby-Ainsworth's attachment theory to my childhood and say that

this attachment style set a basis for me to have a sound, stable and confident personality in the

future.

Application Of Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory in My Childhood

Bronfenbrenner's theory states that child's development is affected by his/her surroundings,

environment, and the community he/she lives in. This affects his/her mental health and overall

personality. Bronfenbrenner's theory identifies five different ecological systems affecting a

child's development i.e., microsystem, mesosystem, ecosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem

(Evans, 2020).

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As per the theory, when I was a child, my microsystem consisted of very caring and responsible

parents, my siblings, grandparents, friends, and teachers. All of them played very positive roles

in shaping my personality in a good way.

My parents used to take care of me, loved me, and taught me the good stuff. A school is an

important place for a child's development as it provides educational opportunities and helps them

to learn to interact with new people (Fulantelli, Scifo, & Taibi, 2021). I had good teachers at

school who were friendly and caring. I used to play with my friends at school and with my

siblings at home. My grandparents took care of me when my parents were not at home due to

work. As of mesosystem, I had neighbors and I used to play with their children. This helped me

to learn to interact with other people. Of ecosystem, it had no negative effect on my

development. My parents did not let their personal and occupational issues affect my

development in any way.

Macrosystem may seem a bit distant, but it has a greater role in the development of the child as it

affects the parenting style (Paat, 2013). I was born in a Muslim family. My parents, teachers, and

grandparents used to teach me the holy religion. I started to believe and have trust in God. This

shaped my personality in a very positive way.

Now I can well apply Bronfenbrenner's theory at all levels of ecological systems, and I recognize

how these levels have helped shape my personality in a better way to make me emotionally,

socially, and mentally, a stable person.

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Impact of attachment and environment on my personality as I matured through life

Based on the discussion of Bowlby-Ainsworth and Bronfenbrenner's theories, I can well

recognize that my family, culture, and ecological systems have been helpful in a positive way in

shaping my personality.

I have good communication skills and I have very little difficulty in getting comfortable with

different persons. Secure attachment develops with a child's negative or positive responses to

different emotions and the caregiver's approval to them forming a strong basis for regulation of

emotions in adult life (Set, 2021). Therefore, I can say that my parents, in a very suitable way

altered my responses towards different emotions and helped me regulate my emotions. I am an

emotionally stable person, and I can withstand the shortcomings of life.

Ability and confidence in a person's decision-making start being formulated since childhood if

the caregiver reasonably supports the child. I can fairly say that my mother always supported the

decisions I made for myself and helped me correct them even if they were inappropriate rather

than making me embarrassed over them. This, over years, has boosted up my confidence and

made me a confident person.

Parenting style is important in the development of children and my parents adopted a

"Permissive Parenting". Permissive parenting is associated with better problem coping

capacities, lesser substance use, and better conduct (Sahithya, Manohari, & Vijaya, 2019).

Therefore, their parenting was good enough to make me a person with valuable conduct and a

person who can cope up with difficulties in life.

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A child learns what he/she observes happening around and I always observed my parents taking

care of my grandparents. This has inculcated this sense of responsibility in me in such a way that

I am a responsible person now and I realize that my parents have supported me a lot, now it is

my responsibility to take care of them and pay them back. I am not only responsible for myself

and my family's needs but also, I am responsible for a better community and state.

Discipline is an attribute which a person introduces in his/her personality since childhood and my

parents always tried to make me a disciplined person, have values for other's views, and good

conduct with everyone.

Conclusion

Evaluating my childhood as per discussion of these two theories has made me able to state that

family, culture, parenting style, attachment pattern, and ecological systems have significant roles

in shaping the personality of a child.

Children with secure attachment have a positive attitude towards life and other people with better

abilities to cope up with difficulties they face in later life. On contrary, children with insecure

attachment (Anxious resistant, anxious-avoidant, and disorganized) have different issues in later

life, for example, difficulty in socializing with people, lack of confidence, lack of moral values,

and a higher susceptibility to having psychological and psychosocial disorders.

The application of these theories to my childhood has made me recognize the importance of

family, culture, and ecological systems for better development and shaping a child into a mature

adult.

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References
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human development, 19(2), 130--150.

Cherry, K. (2019). {Attachment theory: the importance of early emotional bonds. Psychology Today.

Evans, O. G. (2020). Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. Retrieved March, 25, 2021.

Fulantelli, G., Scifo, L., & Taibi, D. (2021). Training School Activities to Promote a Conscious Use of Social
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Holmes, P., & Farnfield, S. (2014). The Routledge handbook of attachment: Implications and
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