Reference no: EM1395164

Stranger anxiety

Summary

In this report, I will discuss two different authors' opinions on the subject of stranger's anxiety. I will discuss what the author has written about the subject, and also tell you what I think the author is trying to say. I will also, agree or disagree, and by observation, tell you what I have noticed on the topic. Stranger's anxiety is a development in which infants become anxious and fearful around unfamiliar people. This occurs around the ages of 8 months old. This behavior includes outwards, fearful behaviors of the child in the presence of strangers, which includes the symptoms of crying, recoiling, and clinging.

Author of The Journal of Genetic Psychology: Research and Theory on Human Development, Michael Ferrari, has conducted research on infants' reactions to strangers. He conducted his experiment on 30 infants at a New Jersey mall photo session. The purpose of the experiment was to assess whether infants stranger anxiety would witnessed. He took six infants, 3 of each sex, ranging from 67-81 week of age, to see if they give any facial, body, or cry with unfamiliar strangers. When trying to interact with the infants to take picture, and capture the reaction to stranger, he found that older infants ranging from 54 to 66 weeks showed negative expressions and younger infants showed more positive reaction to strangers.

From my observation of my nephew as a baby, I could relate to Mr. Ferrari's finds, because when babies are young, they don't know anything, and they will allow anyone to hold them. When babies get older, they start to become more familiar with their surroundings and people around them. I know I live in Bremerton, and my nephew lives in Seattle, and when he was first born I seen him a lot, but when he got older, I rarely seen him until now, and I noticed that he had Stranger anxiety, and he would cry, follow my brother around, and give tantrums. When he started be around me more and more the anxiety went away, and now he doesn't would cry, follow my brother around, and give tantrums. So, I do agree with Mr. Ferrari's observations, because his observation is similar to mine.

My second author is Henri Parens, who wrote Attachment, Aggression, and the Prevention of Malignant Prejudice. Did a 7-year-long study of mothers with their newborns? He found a relationship between the child's attachment to mother and the child's aggression profile. He found that both attachment and aggression of a child has a direct bearing on the development of prejudice. He stated that the two attachment factors are stranger anxiety and identification. He found that when a child is in the comfort of the mother, they feel more secure and safe, but when introduced to others they feel prejudice against others. The conclusion of his study found that parents who are overbearing, children become more prejudice towards other, and will exhibit malignant prejudice.

I also, can relate to Henri Parens, I have observe red that when a kid that is from an overbearing parent or parent are more prejudice toward others, and are most likely to take the parents social, cultural, and belief. I also, notice that in some cases that the child that is prejudice toward other might want to hurt them because of what they have learned from the parents.