C H A P T E R 3
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Chapter Plan
We will review five psychological theories, describing some key concepts of
each. We will also review the therapeutic process supported by each theory
and the contributions of each theory to understanding child psychopathology.
After reviewing the five theories, we will explore some features they have in
common. Finally, I will give my answer to the question, Which theory is
best?
Psychodynamic Theories
Psychodynamic theories focus on how a childs instinctual mind interacts
with his or her social environment and the important people in it to produce
many characteristics and behaviors. A childs mind is viewed as a dynamic
and active force. It has certain characteristics, many of which are innate, that
drive the child to act in certain ways. In addition, components of the mind
interact with each other; the results of these interactions influence how a
child thinks, feels, and behaves.
In this section we explore the psychodynamic theories of two men who
have significantly influenced how we think about human development: Sig-
mund Freud and Carl Rogers. Although many of their views of human nature
are fundamentally different, their theories have many basic similarities.
Fundamental Ideas
Conflicts between Human Instincts and Societal Expectations
Freud and Rogers both believed that the human mind emerges at birth with
certain instincts (Ziegler, 2002). All humans have them; we never lose them;
and they influence our behaviors throughout our lives. They are part of what
makes us human. These instincts have energy, and they drive our behavior
in predictable ways. This is an essential concept. Our instincts push us to
think, feel, and behave in certain ways rather than simply reacting to the
world around us. Just as we drive a nail into wood, a car down the highway,
or our parents crazy, our instincts drive us.
Conflicts develop when our instinctual drives contact the society around
us, which is often intolerant of our instincts and demands that we conform
our behavior to societal expectations (Ziegler, 2002). Beginning early in our
lives, we realize that we cannot simply follow the impulses of our instinctual
drives. Instead we must regularly restrain them so that we do not act in ways
that anger those on whom we depend (our parents early in our lives, but
also teachers, romantic partners, drill sergeants, employers, and others as we
go through life). So there is ongoing tension between the drives of our
instincts and the demands of the society around us. Who we are as children
and later as adults is largely determined by how we handle this tension. To
the extent that our instincts and the expectations of society can coexist, we
are content. To the extent that they cannot, we are anxious, frustrated, angry,
or unhappy.
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Freuds Views Freud postulated two instincts: a life instinct and a death
instinct (Arlow, 1989). The energy from these instincts strives to be expressed
in our lives through drives. The sexual drive is the primary drive associated
with the life instinct (drives toward eating, staying warm, and the other
conditions needed to sustain life also exist, although Freud paid less attention
to them); the aggressive drive is the primary drive associated with the death
instinct. Consequently, humans have considerable mental energy focused on
sex and aggressionenergy that strives for expression in a variety of ways.
Why are movies and songs containing sexual and aggressive themes so pop-
ular in our society? They reflect the sexual and aggressive energy of all
humans. Why do wars, murder, rape, and torture have such prominent places
in human history? At our most fundamental level, humans are driven by
sexual and aggressive energy.
An essential aspect of appreciating Freuds theory is understanding his
definition of sex. Freud defined sex much more broadly than the definitions
most people use today. For Freud, sex meant any activity that resulted in phys-
ical pleasure. Thus a childs sexual energy is released when someone rubs his
back or cuddles with him. Sex does not need to involve the genitalia. Viewed
in this way, discussions of childrens sexual drive make more sense.
These instinctual energies originate in the idthe primitive, fundamen-
tal part of our mind. The newborns personality is all id, and the newborns
behavior is focused solely on satisfying his or her drives. However, even early
in life, an infant begins to experience the world as a place where his or her
drives cannot always be satisfied immediately: A parent may not immediately
feed a hungry infant or may leave an infant to cry in her crib during nap
time. In addition, trying to satisfy a drives demand may create problems.
For example, a parent might become angry with a crying infant or spank a
toddler who acts aggressively. As a consequence, the ego, another component
of the childs mind, begins to develop. The egos primary goal early in a
childs life is to modulate the demands of the id so that the child can live in
the world successfully. In infancy and early childhood, the ego is quite weak
and has little control over the id. However, with proper socialization, the
ego gradually gains strength and can exert control over the ids demands as
the child matures (Arlow, 1989).
The ego develops a variety of strategies for controlling the ids drives.
In some situations, the ego can block the instinctual energies of the id. A
good example of this is when a young child stops herself from hitting another
child who has just taken something from her. However, just blocking energy
does not make it disappear. Rather, it remains and builds, and it must be
released at some point. As the ego matures, it develops the ability to redirect
energy from instinctual drives, allowing for its release in more socially accept-
able ways. For example, the energy from the aggressive drive can be released
through participation in sports or by drawing pictures of monsters destroying
a town (Arlow, 1989).
An important tool of the ego is repression. Thoughts, feelings, and
conflicts that are too troubling for the conscious mind of a child (for exam-
ple, fury at a parent or fear that a parent will kill the child) can be repressed
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into the unconscious by the ego. This frees the childs conscious mind of the
feelings or conflicts. However, as we will explore in the next section, these
repressed feelings, thoughts, and conflicts continue to influence the childs
life, even though they are not available to his or her conscious mind.
The superego, the third component of the mind, begins to develop in
childhood. The superego represents the expectations and rules of society,
initially represented by the expectations and rules of parents. The superego
develops as a child takes parental and societal values into himself or herself.
That is, the values of parents and society become internalized as the childs
own values (Freud called this process introjection). The child with a superego
no longer has to have a parent nearby to prevent him from doing something
wrong; he prevents himself from wrongdoing because his own values prohibit
it. The superego enforces its values through guilt: A child who acts against
his or her own values feels the painful experience of guilt and so is less likely
to act against those values in the future (Arlow, 1989).
As the superego develops, the ego must contend with the instinctual
energy of the id and the values of the superego, working out a strategy to
satisfy both. Problems develop when the ego does not develop sufficient
strength to do this, which results in some childrens characters being
dominated by their id and other childrens characters being dominated by
their superego. If the id dominates a childs life, his or her sexual and
aggressive energies are often unchecked and are likely to be expressed in
socially inappropriate ways. If the superego dominates, a child is frequently
guilt-ridden. In short, how a child learns to negotiate conflicts between his
or her instinctual drives and the requirements of society influence how
content the child is.
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Rogerss Views Rogers has been described as having a much more optimis-
tic view of human nature than Freud. He viewed the primary human instinct
as the actualizing tendency: an innate drive to develop ourselves fully. Our
actualizing tendency drives us toward flexibility rather than rigidity, openness
rather than defensiveness, and freedom rather than control (Nye, 1986;
Thorne, 1992). The developing infant instinctually knows what is good for
himself or herself. Rogers called this organismic valuing. If a child is given
the appropriate environment in which to develop, he or she will pursue a
path to self-actualizationthe full realization of what it is to be human. The
appropriate environment for the childs development is one in which signifi-
cant people (parents initially, and then other adults) consistently give the child
unconditional positive regard. That is, parents and others must be willing to
value the whole child fully and give the child consistent support (Raskin
& Rogers, 1989; Rogers, 1992).
Some have interpreted Rogerss notion of unconditional positive regard
as requiring that parents and other adults let children behave any way they
want (Thorne, 1992). This is not accurate. Rogers would say, for example,
that parents should not allow an angry child to hit her brother. However,
the parents should accept the childs anger as an important part of who she
is and should express their love and positive regard for her even when she
is angry. Behaviors do need to be controlled, especially in younger children;
but a child deserves unconditional positive regard even when she is acting in
ways that parents dislike (Raskin & Rogers, 1989).
Another instinctual drive of the developing infant (and later the child,
adolescent, and adult) is to seek love from others (Raskin & Rogers, 1989).
Conflicts arise for the child when those from whom the child seeks love
provide that love only when the child behaves in certain ways. For example,
if parents withhold love from a child when she is angry, the child learns that
parts of herself are bad and unacceptable. This causes the child to experience
conflict between her instinctual actualizing tendency and the need to restrict
who she is to keep the love of important adults. Because their need for love
is so strong, most children experiencing this conflict begin to abandon organismic
valuing and value themselves based on the rigid evaluations of others (I am
lovable when I am like this, I am not lovable when I am like that). This sows
the seeds of confusion and self-doubt, and they begin to exchange their
instincts toward flexibility and openness for a personal style of rigidity and
pleasing others (Ziegler, 2002). To do this successfully, they must begin to
split the unlovable parts of themselves from the lovable parts. In essence,
they lose touch with all of who they are, becoming what others want them
to be. This leads to anxiety, depression, and a sense of being unworthy.
The unconscious is, by definition, a part of our mind that we can never
access directly. It is not as if we could access it if we tried hard enough, such
as when we search our minds for the name of someone we met last month.
Rather, the mind is constructed so that unconscious material is never directly
available. Consequently, the unconscious is a good place for feelings, thoughts,
desires, and parts of ourselves that are too painful or dangerous to have in
consciousness. Freud suggested that many dangerous desires of the id were
repressed into the unconscious by the ego. (The repression process is unconscious,
carried out by that part of the ego that is unconscious, so we are not even
aware that something is being repressed.) Rogers believed that children
repress into their unconscious the parts of themselves that are unacceptable
to their parents or other significant people in their lives (Arlow, 1989).
You might think that once something is placed in the unconscious, it
is out of the way for goodout of sight, out of mind. With the unconscious,
however, this is only half true: The repressed material is out of sight, but it
is not out of mind. It is not available to the conscious mind, but it is still in
the mind and continues to influence how we think, feel, and behave.
Freud believed that it was possible to gain an indirect understanding of
some unconscious material through analysis of a persons dreams because
unconscious material can be expressed in dreams. Unconscious material could
also be inferred through analysis of a persons repetitive problem behaviors or
psychiatric symptoms. For example, a persons fury at his parents for not meeting
all his needs, which was repressed as a young child, might be revealed in his
chronic lateness for meals with his family or by his repeated and inappropriate
expressions of anger toward his employer (another authority figure). For Rogers,
the parts of a person that had been split off and put into the unconscious could
be inferred through the persons anxieties or through behaviors that he or she
regularly engaged in but wished did not occur. For example, if I am consistently
and irrationally furious at other drivers (such as those going 29 mph in a
30 mph zone), this may result from energy emitted by the angry part of me
that I repressed as a young child (Arlow, 1989; Kahn, 2002).
An important part of Freuds theory, the repetition compulsion, is
related to unconscious forces. Freud noticed that many of his patients repeated
the same problematic behaviors again and again despite their anguish over
them. You may have noticed the same thing about a friend or even about
yourself. Freud was intrigued by this apparent compulsion to engage in
behaviors that create outcomes we dislike. Although he never developed a
clear explanation for the repetition compulsion, it was clear that it had roots
in unconscious material that drove us to behave in certain ways (Kahn,
2002). Because this unconscious material does not disappear, we continue to
behave in the same ways.
the expectations of parents and society. The ways in which they resolve their
initial struggles will influence how they deal with the next struggle they face,
and how they cope with that struggle will influence how they cope with
subsequent struggles. Consequently, early experiences can have dramatic
influences by setting into motion patterns of behaving and thinking that can
stay with a child throughout his or her life.
Particularly important to Freuds theory was the concept of transference
(Kahn, 2002). Repressed feelings and conflicts from early in a childs life can
emerge and attach themselves to other important people in the childs (and
then the adults) life. For example, repressed feelings toward a parent can
emerge and influence how a child experiences his teachers and consequently
how he acts toward them. These same feelings can transfer themselves to
dating partners in high school and to a spouse during adulthood. In essence,
the ways in which we relate to many important people in our lives are influ-
enced strongly by unconscious material associated with those who were
important to us in early childhood.
Key Concepts
The human mind emerges at birth with certain instincts, and a
variety of conflicts develop when our instinctual drives contact the
demands of society.
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Behavioral Theories
Behavioral theories differ fundamentally from psychodynamic theories in many
ways. Rather than focusing on the interplay of unseen dynamic forces of the
mind, they focus on observable behaviors; rather than arguing that a persons
unconscious has important influences on his or her behaviors, they state that
forces in the environment and outside the person have the primary influence.
Two founding theorists of the behavioral movement were John Watson
and Ivan Pavlov (Wilson, 1989). Watson was an influential American
psychologist who wrote passionately in the early 1900s against the prevailing
psychoanalytic theories of the time, asserting that psychoanalysis was based
largely on religion, introspective psychology and Voodooism (Watson,
1924). Watson rejected theories that relied on unseen mental forces, claiming
that they were unscientific. Rather, he argued, environmental influences
determined who a person became, and understanding human behavior
required the scientific study of these environmental forces.
Pavlov was a Russian physiologist who established the foundation for
understanding what has since been called classical conditioning (Wilson,
1989). In his famous experiment with dogs, Pavlov showed that some behaviors
are reflexively elicited by the environment (placing meat powder on a dogs
tongue reflexively elicits salivation) and that when another stimulus is paired
repeatedly with the stimulus that reflexively elicits the behavior (in Pavlovs
case, the sound of a bell), the second environmental stimulus can soon elicit
the response by itself (the bell elicits salivation by itself).
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Fundamental Ideas
Focus on Behavior
As you might assume, behaviorists focus on behaviors (Wilson, 1989). Behav-
iors, they believe, are shaped by their antecedents (things occurring before
the behavior) or consequences (things occurring after the behavior) or both,
rather than by unseen mental processes. Thus as they try to understand a
childs behavior, behaviorists focus not on processes inside the childs mind
but on observable stimuli that elicit the childs behavior or on observable
responses to the childs behavior.
Operant Conditioning
Behavioral therapy based on Skinners operant conditioning paradigm requires
careful analysis of the environments in which problem behavior occurs. This
process, called applied behavioral analysis (Wilson, 1989), involves careful
assessment of the antecedents and consequences of problem and nonproblem
behaviors, either through direct observations of a childs behaviors or from
detailed reports from parents, teachers, or others who know the child well.
Information from the assessment is analyzed by the therapist, who then
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describes to the child and important adults how the childs behaviors are
being shaped. Then, working collaboratively with all involved, the therapist
helps create a plan through which problem behaviors can be extinguished or
punished and more appropriate behaviors can be reinforced. Detailed instruc-
tions are given to the child and adults regarding the creation of a new set
of antecedents and consequences to the childs problem and socially
appropriate behaviors. The therapist monitors the accuracy with which the
plan is implemented, providing corrective instruction if the plan is not imple-
mented correctly. The childs behavior is monitored, and changes to the plan
are made as appropriate (Nye, 1979).
For example, consider a child who acts out in class. Analysis of the
childs behavior might reveal that the teacher has the child stay after school
in detention with her when he misbehaves. From conversations with the
teacher, it becomes clear that the frequency of the detentions has increased
during the school year, as has the childs acting out in class. The therapist
might conclude that the detentions are not punishment, as the teacher believes
they are, but are actually positive reinforcements for the childs acting out
because this behavior has increased. Talking with the child might reveal that
detention stopped him from having to face bullies on the playground after
school or gave him the opportunity to be close to a teacher on whom he
had developed a crush. The therapist might then consult with the teacher
about ways to change the consequences of the childs acting out and thus to
change the childs behavior. For example, the therapist might suggest that the
child be allowed to remain in the classroom after school only when he
behaves during the school day.
If the therapist is correct that staying with the teacher after school
is positive reinforcement, then altering the requirements for earning this
reinforcement should change the childs behavior. If, however, the childs
acting-out behavior does not decrease after the teacher institutes her new
requirements for his staying after school, the therapists analysis may be incorrect.
Further analysis will need to be conducted and a new plan developed and
monitored. Note that this entire process is done in collaboration with the
child, teacher, and possibly the parents. Most often behavioral therapy is not
a process done to a childit is done with the child (Nye, 1979).
Classical Conditioning
Based on the principles of classical conditioning, Joseph Wolpe developed a
therapeutic process called systematic desensitization (Wolpe, 1958). It is used
primarily to treat phobias, which are persistent, irrational fears (such as fears
of heights, spiders, or enclosed spaces). Systematic desensitization uses a tech-
nique called reciprocal inhibition, which pairs a response that inhibits anxiety
(typically relaxation) with the source of the phobia. If the stimulus associated
with the phobia can be paired with relaxation frequently enough, the connec-
tion between the stimulus and the fear it once evoked will be broken. For
example, if the swimming instructor at Cornell can gently encourage frightened
students to be in a swimming pool in a relaxed state, the connection between
the swimming pool and the students fear will gradually be weakened.
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TA B L E 3 . 1
Events That Can Cause Anxiety:
1. The teacher handing out oral report assignments.
2. Thinking about having to learn the material for an oral report.
3. Looking up the material for an oral report.
4. Writing note cards for the oral report.
5. Thinking about having to give the oral report.
6. Trying to remember the cards for the oral report.
7. Practicing the oral report with my mother.
8. Getting out of bed the day I have to give the oral report.
9. Walking to school the day I have to give the oral report.
10. Saying the pledge of allegiance the day I have to give the oral report.
17. Sitting in my desk right before I have to give the oral report.
18. Hearing the teacher call my name.
19. Walking to the front of the class.
20. Standing in front of everyone.
21. Starting to give my oral report.
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standing in the hallway far enough away from the window so that I
did not feel any fear when observing the lightning. Each time there
was a thunderstorm, I went into the hall, stood far from the window,
and relaxed. I then moved toward the window a step at a time. If I
began to feel fearful, I stepped back until I felt relaxed. Once I was
relaxed, I tried moving forward again, always moving back if I felt
fearful. Within a few months I could stand by the window and watch
the beauty of thunderstorms. They still make me nervous, and I quickly
go inside if one is near; but now I feel safe inside, and hearing thunder
and seeing lightning are not nearly as frightening as before.
You can do the same thing. Are you terribly afraid of snakes? Go
to the nearest zoo and stand as far away from the snakes in their
cages as necessary for you to feel relaxed. Gradually move toward the
cages, always stepping back when you start to feel fear.
Key Concepts
When explaining behaviors, behaviorists focus on their current
antecedents and consequences rather than on unseen mental processes
or how the behaviors might have developed initially.
Behaviors are shaped by the environment. The classical conditioning
paradigm suggests that some behaviors are elicited by environmental
stimuli; the operant conditioning paradigm suggests that a person
engages in a variety of behaviors with some being strengthened and
others being weakened through responses from the environment.
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Humans are not automatons. People choose their behaviors, but these
choices are shaped by the environment rather than by unseen forces
such as a sense of responsibility.
Behavioral therapy based on operant conditioning requires careful
analysis of the reinforcements and punishments for a behavior and
changes to those reinforcements and punishments.
Reciprocal inhibition, a therapy based on classical conditioning, pairs
relaxation with a stimulus that evokes anxiety, thereby weakening the
connection between the stimulus and the anxiety.
Behavioral theories have been influential in helping us understand
that the development and exacerbation of many disorders are
influenced by learning.
Cognitive Theories
Cognitive theories focus on how our thoughts influence our emotions and
behaviors. Behaviors are seen as resulting mainly from thoughts and belief
systems rather than emerging from unconscious drives or being shaped by
the environment. In this section we focus on the cognitive theories of two
psychologists, Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis, and the cognitive therapies based
on these theories. Although the theories of both men have many fundamen-
tal similarities, they differ in some important ways.
Fundamental Ideas
Belief Systems
All of us have many beliefs about ourselves (for example, I am generally
competent; I am not very good-looking), our lives (I have a good life; I must
struggle to get everything), and our world (most people are supportive and
helpful; people are generally out to get only what is good for them). Many
of our beliefs are organized into systems called schemata: fundamental beliefs
and assumptions about how we and the world function (Robins & Hayes,
1993). These schemata develop and evolve over a persons lifetime based on
his or her experiences and observations. As a child grows, for example, she
develops schemata about herself based on how she functions in the world
and how others treat her; and she develops schemata about neighborhoods,
friends, adults, teachers, school, and other components of her life based on
her experiences with them. For example, consider a child raised in a family
where she receives considerable support and encouragement whenever she
undertakes a new activity (like riding her tricycle, playing the piano, or fin-
ger painting) whether or not she is initially successful. She is likely to develop
schemata that reflect these experiences: The world is an exciting place, she
is competent, and people are supportive and encouraging. Consider another
child whose initial efforts at a new activity are derided if they are not com-
pletely successful and whose mistakes are consistently emphasized. This child
is likely to develop schemata that reflect his experience: The world is a frus-
trating place, he is incompetent, and people are critical and unsupportive.
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You probably have schemata about what professors are like and how
to interact with them. If you go to the office of a professor you have
never met before, your initial behavior is likely to be influenced by
the professor schemata you have developed through your experiences
with professors. You may act differentially, barge in and act assertively
(or aggressively), or stand quietly and see how the professor responds
to your presence. However you act, your initial decisions about how
to act are made easier by your schemata: You do not need to start
from scratch in deciding how to behave around a professor every time
you meet one. Can you think of schemata you have about others in
your environment (athletes, fraternity and sorority members, engi-
neers, clerks at K-Mart)? How do your schemata influence your inter-
actions with them?
Despite their value, schemata can also create problems because they
bias our perceptions of people and the world (Beck & Weishaar, 1989). Our
perceptions of others and their behaviors are often strongly influenced by
how we expect them to act, and these expectations are based on our sche-
mata. Our subsequent behaviors are then influenced by our perceptions. Beck
(1999) provides the following thought-provoking example for considering
how our schemata can influence our behaviors:
Suppose you see a flying object in the distance. As it comes closer, you
decide that it is probably a bird. If you are not particularly interested in
birds, your attention wanders to other things. . . . Now imagine that
your country is at war. . . . Your attention is riveted to the distant flying
object. If you think it may be an enemy aircraft, your psychological and
physiological systems are totally mobilized. . . . Also, as you move about
off duty, you will be poised to recognize enemy agents who might be
mingling in the crowd. . . . You will focus on small details such as a
mans slight foreign accent, his ignorance of certain sports figures in your
country, or his secret, suspicious-looking meetings with other strangers.
(pp. 7172)
As another example of the influence of schemata, consider a child who
has a schema that adults are hostile and dangerous, developed through
several years of being surrounded by adults with these characteristics. This
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As you can see in Elliss description, our irrational thoughts can get out
of control, with severe consequences for our feelings and behaviors.
Another type of damaging irrational beliefs is based on musts. I
must be happy all the time, I must get an A on every assignment, and
I must be liked by everyone who knows me are examples of what Ellis
calls must-urbation (Ellis, 1993). These musts are always problematic. If we
must be happy all the time, the sadness or anxiety we all experience peri-
odically is terrible rather than just uncomfortable. If we must be liked by
everyone, the social slights we all experience feel awful and devastating rather
than just irritating.
Finally, Ellis asserts that the habit of viewing negative experiences as
indicators of personal worth can produce intensely negative consequences.
For example, a girl can believe that she is a failure because she is not in the
top reading group or because she failed to make the first string on her soft-
ball team; or a boy can believe that he is a social outcast because a girl he
likes will not go to a school dance with him. Being sad in the face of a
failure or setback is appropriate, but it is irrational to base self-evaluations
on the outcomes of individual experiences. They can say, It is good that I
succeed and am loved or It is bad when I fail and get rejected. But they
had better not say I am good for succeeding and I am bad for getting
rejected (Ellis, 1993, p. 4).
Beck also provides a model for understanding how our thoughts influ-
ence our emotions and behaviors. He suggests that dysfunctional schemata
produce automatic thoughts that arise spontaneously, are fleeting, and often
go unrecognized by the person having them (Robins & Hayes, 1993). These
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thoughts can dramatically affect a persons perceptions of events and can also
influence his or her emotions and behaviors. For example, consider a child
walking into a school dance with a schema that she is unattractive and a
social outcast. She may have the automatic thought No one is going to ask
me to dance, which quickly produces feelings of anxiety and sadness and
may cause her to spend most of the dance standing off to the side of the
room. If she notices someone smiling at her, her schema is likely to influence
how she perceives the smile and interprets it. She may think, He is smiling
because no one has asked me to dance or He is just pitying me. Her
thoughts may cause her to look away or walk to another part of the room
rather than smile back. Her behaviors, of course, will contribute to the fact
that no one asks her to dance, which will reinforce her schema. Consider
another example: Many students experience math anxiety, which is usually
associated with a schema about not being able to learn math. A student with
this schema may experience automatic thoughts such as I always fail at
math or I never understand math when enrolling for a course, preparing
to take an exam, or taking an exam. These thoughts and emotions may
produce lack of effort on homework (Why even try?) and heightened
anxiety during tests, which are likely to cause poor performance and rein-
force the schema from which the automatic thoughts sprang.
victim of life; rather, her thinking (which she can control) is influencing what
happens to her.
The therapist might then begin to gently challenge the girls beliefs. He
might ask her, for example, whether she believed the other children would
not play with her because they had repelled her attempt to join the game
or because she just assumed they would not. He could ask whether there
were times when she and another child had worked successfully together on
a class project. He might ask whether other children are friendly with the
girl when she attends church or summer camp. Such questioning can help
the child begin to understand that her schema about no one liking her is
not always accurate.
Long-term cognitive therapy focuses on a childs schemata, musts,
or other basic cognitions that are the source of automatic thoughts or
irrational beliefs (Beck, 1993). For example, the girl who thought no one
would dance with her may have a schema of I am an unlikable person
or may have a series of musts such as Everyone must like me. The
therapist and child work to uncover and describe these fundamental
beliefs, hypothesize about how they developed, and assess whether they
are accurate.
For several decades Ellis has advocated a therapeutic style he developed
called rational emotive therapy (RET), which attempts to show clients that
they had better give up perfectionism if they want to lead a happier, less
anxiety-ridden existence (Ellis, 1989, p. 213). RET focuses on helping cli-
ents identify irrational beliefs and how they influence their lives, and on
helping them identify their own shoulds, oughts, and musts . . . and how
to accept reality, even when it is pretty grim (p. 213). RET often involves
assignments outside therapy to help clients understand that failure might be
uncomfortable but is not catastrophic. Clients are also encouraged to reward
themselves after attempting new activities (whether successful or not) and to
enjoy life whenever possible.
Key Concepts
Schemata are belief systems that develop during a persons life and
assist in the organization of a persons experiences and the responses
that he or she makes in novel situations.
Schemata can bias a persons perception of others or of events. These
biased perceptions influence how a person responds to others or to
events.
Cognitive theorists argue that our thoughts are at the foundation of
our emotions and our behaviors.
Elliss ABC model suggests that an event activates (A) one or more
beliefs (B) that then lead to emotional and behavioral consequences (C).
Catastrophizing refers to irrational thinking that dramatically inflates
the anticipated negative consequences of an event.
Must-urbation refers to peoples tendency to have many musts in
their lives that create strong negative beliefs when they are not met.
Automatic thoughts are fleeting and arise spontaneously during
certain events. They can influence how a person responds to events
emotionally and behaviorally.
Cognitive therapy involves examination of a persons thoughts,
connection of thoughts to emotions and behaviors, and changing of
irrational or problematic thoughts.
Cognitive therapy is effective with children having a wide range of
problems; it has illuminated the strong influence thoughts have in all
of our lives.
Attachment Theory
In 1950 John Bowlby, a British psychiatrist, was invited by the World Health
Organization to report on the mental health of the many London children
who had been made homeless by the war. The report asserted that disrup-
tions in relationships with primary caregivers, especially during the first three
years of life, put children at greatly increased risk for mental illness and
behavior problems (Bowlby, 1951). Although the report was well received
and influential in shaping social policy and caseworker training, it was defi-
cient in one important respect: It failed to explain why or how such experi-
ences could produce these harmful effects. The report motivated a search for
answers that spanned many years. The outcome of this work was a new
theory of child development, attachment theory; Bowlby eventually published
three volumes in which the basic tenets and supporting evidence for attach-
ment theory were described (Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1980).
Fundamental Ideas
The foundation of attachment theory comes from evolutionary thinking.
Humans, like other primates, face the challenge of having children who are
born in such an extreme state of immaturity that they cannot survive without
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adult protection and care for many years. Over many generations in early
human history, certain behaviors of infants and their mothers developed that
promoted the safety of the infant and increased the chance of the infant
surviving into childhood. Through the process of natural selection, these
complementary behaviors became part of all humans.
Bowlby called these complementary behaviors between an infant and
mother an attachment behavioral system; this system promotes the survival
of an infant by encouraging physical proximity between a mother and child.
For example, when an infant is frightened, hungry, cold, or uncomfortable,
he or she cries. This sound not only alerts the mother to the infants distress,
but it also bothers the mother. Consequently she is likely to hold, feed, or
warm the infant. This usually stops the crying, which is a relief to the mother,
and causes smiling, cooing, or other behaviors from the infant that the
mother finds pleasing. This behavioral dance between the infant and the
mother promotes the survival of the infant by keeping the mother close to
the infant and attentive to the infants needs. Interestingly, from the behav-
ioral perspective, the mothers comforting behaviors are being positively rein-
forced (by the babys smiling) and negatively reinforced (by the cessation of
the babys crying); and the babys crying behaviors are being positively rein-
forced (by the comfort received from the mother).
The attachment behavioral system can be easily observed in young
children as well as in infants. For example, consider a 2-year-old playing
at a neighborhood playground. She plays near her mother and may make
occasional forays farther from her mother to explore playground equip-
ment. She is content as long as she feels close to her mother, and she makes
frequent reassuring checks on her mothers whereabouts. If she encounters
something or someone alarmingly unfamiliar, she will immediately retreat
to her mother for comfort or cry or engage in other behaviors that bring
her mother to her. In Bowlbys view, the attachment behavioral system
ensures that a young child can explore and learn about his or her environ-
ment in a safe way.
Development of Attachment
Unlike the imprinting in birds and other animals that promotes physical
proximity between an infant and parent, an attachment bond between a
human infant and parent takes considerable time to develop. The attachment
bond develops similarly for infants and parents living in a wide range of
environments, and this similarity is a strong indication that the attachment
behavioral system is a universal human characteristic. For example, much
research has shown that attachment develops in about the same way across
all human cultures and that it develops in similar ways whether infants are
raised in nuclear families or reared in larger social groups, and whether they
spend almost all their time with a parent or spend much of their time in day
care (Colin, 1996; Kagan, 1982).
During the first two months of life, infants do not care who responds
to their cries as long as someone does. Between the ages of three to six
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months, they begin to be more selective. When they are upset, they direct
their bids for comfort to one or two primary caregivers. Between six and
eight months, they become very particular about who takes care of them,
especially when they are upset. For most infants, this is their mother. It
often comes as an unpleasant surprise to fathers and other family members
when an infant no longer seems comfortable around them and suddenly
starts to cry whenever his or her mother leaves. This change occurs around
the time the infant learns to crawl: Just when an infant has developed the
ability to wander away from his or her mother, the infant has established
the kind of attachment that makes him or her keep track of the mothers
whereabouts and resist separations from her. At this point, the child is fully
attached to his or her primary caregiver. All normal human infants, given
the opportunity to form an attachment to a primary caregiver, will do so
by their first birthday.
Patterns of Attachment
Bowlbys initial investigations involved homeless children who had been sep-
arated from their primary caregivers. One of his collaborators, Mary Ainsworth,
an American psychologist, and her colleagues (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, &
Wall, 1978) established the presence of different patterns of attachment and
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the detrimental effects of some of them. The different patterns were revealed
through a laboratory procedure designed by Ainsworth called the Strange
Situation. In the Strange Situation, a child (usually around the age of
18 months) and mother play together in a laboratory setting. A stranger enters
the room and is seated. After a minute or so, the mother leaves the room.
This creates a stressful situation for the child. Within a short time the mother
returns. The key issue is how the child responds to her return.
When a primary caregiver consistently responds appropriately to an
infants attachment behaviors, the infant develops a secure attachment to the
primary caregiver. The infant has learned that his or her needs will be met
by the primary caregiver and acts as if they will by seeking the primary
caregiver when needs arise. In the Strange Situation, securely attached chil-
dren respond to the mothers return by going directly to her, holding onto
her, and often asking to be picked up.
If a primary caregiver does not consistently respond to an infants
attachment behaviors, the infant is likely to form an insecure attachment to
the primary caregiver. Two types of insecure attachments can be formed:
anxious/resistant attachment and avoidant attachment.
If the primary caregiver is inconsistent in responding to an infants
attachment behaviorssometimes responding appropriately and other times
responding in an angry or indifferent waythe infant is likely to develop
an anxious/resistant attachment. The anxious/resistant attachment pattern
is characterized by excessive clinging (indicating anxiety) mixed with angry
resistance to the parents attempts to comfort the child. For example, in the
Strange Situation, a child with an anxious/resistant attachment may approach
the mother when she returns and whine and seem anxious, but then may
appear angry with her and refuse to be touched or picked up.
If a caregiver consistently ignores an infants attachment behaviors,
the infant is likely to develop an avoidant attachment, which is character-
ized by active avoidance of the caregiver. Avoidance is most evident in
situations where comfort-seeking would be expected, such as when the
infant is distressed. For example, an infant with an avoidant attachment
may not cry or go to her primary caregiver after falling down, and she may
engage in self-soothing behaviors. In the Strange Situation, children with
an avoidant attachment often act as if the mother has not returned to the
room when she doespossibly looking in her direction but then continuing
to play by themselves.
Both insecure patterns of attachment represent strategies by which chil-
dren deal with emotional challenges in ways that are appropriate given the
environments in which they are being raised. Anxious/resistant infants have
learned that if they fuss hard enough and long enough, eventually they may
get the response they are seeking. Consequently, they anxiously seek out their
primary caregivers; but they are so accustomed to being in a state of high
anxiety and anger by the time the primary caregivers finally respond that
they approach the caregivers with anxiety and anger. In contrast, avoidant
infants have learned that their needs for comfort are not likely to be met,
and may even be met by a punitive response from their primary caregivers.
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caregiving. The result was improved mother child relationships (Van den
Boom, 1995).
Other therapeutic work focuses on supporting parents or other care-
givers (such as foster or adoptive parents, teachers, coaches, and others) as
they try to develop and maintain a caring relationship with a child who is
insecurely attached. There is compelling evidence that such a child can
benefit from a single warm and stable relationship, and it does not seem
to matter whether this person is a parent, teacher, family friend, or com-
munity volunteer (Main, Kaplan, & Cassidy, 1985). What matters is that
the individual is consistently available to and supportive of the child when
that child is with the adult. This can be challenging for the adult, however,
because the childs behaviors may repeatedly pull for the type of ineffective
parenting the child experienced as an infant. For example, a child with an
anxious/resistant attachment may repeatedly seek comfort from an adult
and then reject it. Consequently, many adults working with children who
have attachment problems need ongoing support to help them maintain
appropriate behaviors.
Key Concepts
All infants are prepared at birth to attach to a primary caregiver, and
they do so given an appropriate parentchild relationship.
Attachment develops over the first year of an infants life and is in
place by the time the infant can move away from a primary caregiver.
Attachment has important implications for a developing infants
ability to regulate emotion.
Three styles of attachment have been identified in most children:
secure attachment and two forms of insecure attachmentanxious/
resistant attachment and avoidant attachment.
Children develop an internal working model of relationships based
on their attachment to a primary caregiver. A childs internal working
model influences the childs behaviors in future relationships.
Therapies based on attachment theory attempt to repair a childs
attachment by improving parenting behaviors or giving a developing
child a person who can provide consistent and warm caregiving.
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Fundamental Ideas
Many styles of family therapy have been created over the past few decades,
based on differing hypotheses about the development of problems in indi-
viduals and families. Despite the differences in the hypotheses and the ther-
apeutic styles they support, most family systems theories share several key
concepts.
Homeostasis
Families, like all groups, are conservative in nature: They do not want to change
(Minuchin, 1974). Family therapists refer to the force that encourages families
to stay the same as homeostasis. All families are homeostatic. It is not that
someone in the family says, We are not going to change. Rather, the tendency
of all groups, including families, is to continue functioning in the same way
once a pattern of functioning has been established. Some level of homeostasis
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which the mother is angry that she is always the disciplinarian and that the
father is too easygoing with the children. It is not that father is too permissive
because mother is too demanding (linear reasoning). Rather, father is too per-
missive because mother is too demanding and mother is too demanding because
father is too permissive (circular reasoning) (Nichols & Schwartz, 1998).
The circularity of influences on behaviors helps maintain them. Jeremy
might act out less if his father would pay more attention to him, but his
father does not pay more attention to him because of Jeremys acting out.
So Jeremy continues to act out and father remains distant. Similarly, the
father in the second family cannot become more demanding because the
mother is already too demanding, and the mother cannot become more easy-
going because the father is already too easygoing. Consequently, the mother
remains too demanding and the father remains too easygoing.
Seeing problems this way saves family therapists from having to find
a specific cause for a behavior (which often means finding whom to blame
for a problem). Instead family therapists can focus on changing the interacting
pattern of behaviors (Minuchin & Fishman, 1981). For example, a family
therapist might prescribe a week in which Jeremy and his father spend at
least one hour each day doing something they both enjoy, with discussions
of school and of Jeremys behavior prohibited. Similarly, a therapist might
prescribe a week during which the mother is prohibited from disciplining
the children and is required to spend at least two evenings away from the
home, and the father must be in charge of all discipline and cannot be
criticized or overruled by his wife. In both cases, everyone participates in
the solution to the problem. No single person is identified as a culprit who
must change.
might observe that expressions of love between a mother and stepfather are
often interrupted by a 13-year-old insulting her younger sister.
The therapist uses this information about the family to form hypotheses
about the familys functioning and how it may be problematic. Using these
hypotheses, the therapist designs strategies to change the functioning of
the family. These strategies might include encouraging different relationships
within a family or different strategies for solving family conflicts. In some
cases, the behavior that brings the family to therapy receives little direct
attention during therapy sessions; in other cases it may be the primary
focus. Some therapists become integral parts of the family system and
tussle with the family to create needed change. Other therapists are more
remote and analytical and struggle not to get involved in the ongoing
family issues.
For example, the therapist for the family with the acting-out 8-year-old
just described might hypothesize that the acting out helps keep the parents
connected to each other. She might work on developing a closer relationship
between the parents, focusing their energy on each other and away from
their child. The childs acting out may receive little or no attention during
therapy sessions. If the therapist is correct about the function of the childs
behavior in the family, as the parents relationship becomes healthier, the
childs acting out will decrease or disappear because it no longer has a
function within the family system. The therapist for the stepfamily,
hypothesizing that the frequent hostility between the siblings serves the
function of keeping the stepparent distant from the family, might work to
develop a better relationship between the stepparent and the children.
Alternatively, the therapist might encourage the stepparent to be more
distant, hypothesizing that the stepparents attempts to be too close to the
children are fueling the hostility between the siblings.
Key Concepts
Family systems theories focus on how individuals behaviors are
influenced by the functions they serve within a family.
The family, rather than the individual, is the basic unit of analysis in
family systems theories.
Homeostasis is the force that encourages families and other systems
to stay the same. All families experience homeostasis.
The changing needs of family members as they develop require that
the family system change and adapt, which runs counter to the force
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and guidance as a child or adult works to create a new, more conscious, and
self-directed life.
CHAPTER GLOSSARY
Actualizing tendency is the term used by Homeostasis is a force that influences a family
Rogers to describe the innate drive of or other system to remain the same.
humans to develop fully and to be Id is the English translation of the term used
flexible, open, and free. by Freud to describe the primitive
Anxious/resistant attachment is a form of structure of the mind that is present at
insecure attachment that develops when birth and that contains the basic human
an infant learns that a primary caregiver instincts.
responds inconsistently to his or her An instinct is an innate tendency to emit a
needs. It is characterized by excessive specific behavior in a particular
clinging mixed with angry resistance to circumstance.
attempts at comforting. An internal working model of attachments
Applied behavioral analysis is a process of develops from an infants attachment to
analyzing the antecedents and his or her primary caregiver and
consequences of a behavior. influences how a person approaches
An attachment behavioral system is a future relationships and acts during them.
complementary set of behaviors between Must-urbation is Elliss humorous term for a
an infant and a primary caregiver that persons use of many musts in his or
promotes proximity and an emotional her life.
bond between them. Operant conditioning is a form of learning in
Automatic thoughts are spontaneous, fleeting which behaviors are shaped by their
thoughts produced by dysfunctional consequenceseither reinforcement that
schemata that can influence a persons increases the frequency of the behavior
behavior even though they may go or punishment that decreases its
unnoticed. frequency.
Avoidant attachment occurs when a primary Organismic valuing is a term used by Rogers
caregiver consistently rebuffs an infants to describe our innate knowledge about
attachment behaviors. It is characterized what is best for us and what will lead us
by active avoidance of the caregiver by toward self-actualization.
the infant. Reciprocal inhibition is a style of therapy
Classical conditioning is a form of learning initially designed by Wolpe that pairs
caused by pairing a neutral stimulus with relaxation with a stimulus that causes
a stimulus that reflexively elicits a anxiety or fear. After many pairings, the
response. After a series of pairings, the stimulus evokes less fear or anxiety.
neutral stimulus will elicit the response Repetition compulsion is the term used by
by itself. Freud to describe a pattern of repeated
Ego is the English translation of the term used distressing or dangerous behavior
by Freud to describe a part of the mind, influenced by unconscious forces.
mostly conscious but partly unconscious, Repression is a defense mechanism of the ego
that directs a persons life in a way that that banishes unacceptable thoughts,
satisfies the demands of the id, the desires, and fears into the unconscious.
superego, and the external world. A schema (plural schemata) is a fundamental
A behavior is extinguished if, after not being belief system about how we and the
reinforced, it ceases to occur. world function.
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