by Carolyn Ferrando

Created on: March 08, 2007   Last Updated: January 08, 2008

Choices The keys to success?

It is said that your identity, your very nature is molded and developed from day dot. Many child welfare specialists and educators pin point the first 5 years of a child's life as the very core of their development. It is suggested that during this time a child's nature, temperament and attitude is shaped. Important things such as; love, affection, warmth and discipline are said to all play a vital role in shaping a child for the person they are going to become. Is it possible however, to develop a sense of belonging out side of a family? Is it possible to reach ones potential without the love and support of a stable family environment? Or are children who miss out on bonding, love and affection in their early years, doomed to a life of misery and crime, victims of a parental system which let them down?

This is a completely valid and rational argument and is supported by a plethora of anecdotal and scientific research. A. Woodward in the Encyclopedia of Childhood and Adolescence writes that, American pediatricians, John Kennell and Marshall Klaus pioneered scientific research on bonding in the 1970s. Kennell and Klaus surmised that the separation immediately after birth interrupted some fundamental process between the mother and the new baby. They experimented with giving mothers of both premature and healthy full-term babies extra contact with their infants immediately after birth and in the few days following birth. Mothers who were allowed more access to their babies in the hospital seemed to develop better rapport with their infants, to hold them more comfortably, smile and talk to them more. Some people have misinterpreted bonding to mean that if the early sensitive period is missed, they cannot become successful parents'.

It is necessary however, like all good arguments to weigh up not only the stance of the scientific community but personal experience along with good old common sense. It is true that many children who are neglected in the early stages of life often go on to exhibit anti social and addictive behaviors. They are the ones who are most often caught in abuse cycles and who display little or no social conscience.

However, while a majority may indulge in deviant or destructive behaviors, what about the minority who do not? What about the people who are stable, loving and able to create a sense of community around them regardless of their upbringing? The ones who may have been abandoned at birth, adopted, neglected or

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