Relationships with parents and family

Abstract

Children can be on the receiving end of parenting skills which range from good to bad. There is a variety of caregiving environments and family contexts in which children can find themselves. This chapter outlines the full spectrum of attachment experiences, from children who are denied the opportunity to develop close relationships with a caregiver to children who enjoy a close and secure relationship with one or more selected caregivers. Most children remain with the same people in the same social setting throughout most of their childhoods. We consider the developmental implications of living in the same social and psychological environment for the first fifteen years or so of life. If the relationships in that environment are disturbed, which is the case when parents quarrel and fight excessively, this can have an adverse effect on the children’s development. We also consider the kinds of relationship children experience when one or both of their parents suffer a mental health problem.