The importance of parent-child relationships: what attorneys need to know about the impact of separation; examining the formation of parent-child relationships and how attachment is impacted by parental contact can assist the court in determining the parameters of visitation.

• Author: Kuehnle, Kathryn

Children who develop secure attachment relationships with their parents are at an advantage cognitively, socially, and emotionally compared to peers who have not developed secure attachments. (1) Within the family law arena, the relationship between a parent and child is a sign determining residential placement and reunification (see F.S. [section] 61.13(3) and F.S [section] 39.4085). Examining the formation of parent-child relationships and how attachment is impacted by parental contact can assist the court in determining the parameters of visitation in family law and dependency cases.

Formation of a Parent-Child Attachment Bond

When discussing the relationship between parents and children, attorneys and judges often use the terms "bonding" and "attachment"; however, these terms typically are used in a loose and imprecise manner. It may assist the legal professionals in their consultations and decisionmaking if they gain an understanding of the precise social science meaning of affectional and attachment bonds. A child's affectional "bond" is determined by five factors: 1) persistent; 2) enduring; 3) linked to a specific person (not interchangeable with anyone else); and 4) emotionally significant. The child must also 5) maintain proximity to or contact with the significant person because distress will likely be experienced at involuntary separation. (2) The attachment bond that forms between a child with his or her parent includes these five criteria, plus an additional critical factor, which is the child's pursuit of security and comforting in the relationship. Seeking security is the defining feature in the parent-child "attachment bond." (3)

The attachment bond between child and parent is often described in layman's terms as "strong" or "weak." The bond more accurately is classified as "secure" or "insecure." Security is established when the child has confidence in the primary caretaker as an available and responsive provider. (4)

Maintaining Attachment Bonds

Most young infants are thought to form more than one attachment bond. (5) Generally, the mother and father have primary roles as attachment figures early in an infant's life. (6) During their first year of life, children may have two or three attachment figures, who are usually family members or individuals closely involved in the child's care. These attachment figures are not equivalent, nor are they interchangeable.

Infants tend to prefer a principle attachment figure for comfort and security, but if the principle figure is not available, the infant is likely to seek and derive comfort from other attachment figures, but not from strangers. The attachment hierarchy may be determined by the following set of factors: 1) how much time the infant spends with each caretaker; 2) the quality of care each provides; 3) each caretaker's emotional investment in the child; and 4) the repeated presence across time of the attachment figure in the child's life. (7)

To ensure safety and security, close physical proximity to the attachment figure is the set goal of the attachment system for very young children. Infants and toddlers use physical contact with the attachment figure as a secure base from which to explore and learn about their world. In school-age children the availability of the attachment figure, rather than the physical proximity, becomes the set goal of the attachment system. This attachment behavioral system is no less important than for infants or toddlers, in that school-age children still are not competent to make decisions completely on their own regarding their activities, supervision, or protection. Secure attachments for both younger and...