Although, if a child cannot be with their primary carer, it is important that they receive good quality constant loving care.
This can be a concern with nurseries. Robertson and Bowlby (1952) studied young children who were separated from their mother for some time. They came up with a model called the PDD model, which is:
- Protest
- Despair
- Detachment.
Bartlett suggests this does not take into individual differences into account. Some children may cope really well. A child can also learn a lot in nurseries which can help them later in life. For example: providing play materials is very important to provide children with opportunities for exploring different roles and learning that people are all different and can introduce this understanding. The use of home corners and dressing up in nurseries to help children explore there identity and role of others, using a variety of materials, including items from a range of cultures, for example: cooking utensils, saris, and tunics to help children understand. The child also needs a daily routine and have some emotional contact with one member of staff. Kagan et al. (1980) found that day care need not have harmful effects on a child’s development. Another study in Sweden by Anderson (1992) and the conclusion was that day nurseries had few negative effects, and some children appeared to benefit from the care given. Although, day care in Sweden is of very high quality because of the high funding it receives. Therefore, this shows that high-quality day care has no negative effects.
An alternative form of day care is childminding. People seem to prefer this because it happens to be more similar to what care the child might get at home. However, a study by Bryant et al. (1980) found that some childminders were excellent but others didn’t provide a stimulating environment and the children in their care were failing to flourish. They also suggested that some childminders didn’t feel they had to make emotional bonds with the children. They also found that the minders awarded quiet behaviour therefore encouraging passivity and under stimulation.
Day nurseries appear to offer a good standard of care but childminders may be less desirable when only routine care is offered. Day care has been shown to improve cognitive development in disadvantaged children.
It is suggested that social, cognitive, and emotional development may be affected by day care. It seems that most children benefit in terms of social development, although children who are naturally shy may find this experience harmful to their development. Research shows that day care has positive effects on cognitive development; however it is likely that children receive less personal attention and less stimulation when having to share the attention of the caregiver. This could affect their cognitive development. For emotional development it is shown that children are equally attached to their primary care giver whether or not they are in day care.
It is in terms of individual differences whether children may benefit from day care, but most do as long as it is good-quality.
If the mother lacks in sensitivity or they are insecurely attached at home the child may benefit from day care. On the other hand, if the quality of day care is low, children may not thrive.
From all of the information I have gathered; I have come to a recommendation to any parents considering day care. I think that the child is always better off at home with their parent if they have a secure attachment. If this is not possible, I think they should make sure the nursery is of good-quality, and make sure the child will acquire lots of attention from one member of staff, so they can make an attachment with that person. The parent should go and visit the nursery with the child first. So the child can become familiar with the new surroundings.
