Mother-Infant Attachment, Culture And Research: A Pilot Study

Abstract

The Strange Situation was developed in the United States in the 1970's as a measure of mother infant attachment. Since then there has been increased interest in its cross Cultural applicability. This paper reports on a pilot mother-infant intervention study conducted in Hanover Park, Cape Town. Its focus is on the attachment component of this study and its cross cultural relevance, highlights common shortcomings in the research and makes a number of suggestions about how to provide the data that will ensure meaningful attachment data in the South African context.