ABSTRACT
The emotional tie between infant and mother, conceptualized in terms of the attachment relationship, figures prominently in contemporary writings concerning infant socioemotional development. Bowlby’s (1969, 1973), Ainsworth’s (1973, 1982), and Sroufe’s (1979; Sroufe & Waters, 1977) theoretical and empirical writings have done much to promulgate the position that the quality of this relationship, particularly in terms of the security it affords the developing child, is likely to be influenced by the nature and quality of care the child receives and to contribute in important ways to the child’s future development.
