This innate tendency can be either developed or damaged with life experiences, particularly by the emotional lessons learned during childhood and adolescence. Parents play a crucial role in the overall development of a child. The presence of parents, and the love and affection provided by them to the child, affects the child in a significant manner. Many children are blessed with both mother and father and a normal childhood. On the other hand there are several children who are unable to receive any kind of love and care from their parents, many times because such children have one parent i.e. either the mother or the father, or they are orphan. In all the three cases the social adjustment process of the child is affected deeply. The UN estimates that up to 8 million children around the world are living in care institutions (Pinheiro, 2006). Child rearing practices has a significant impact on the social adjustment of children. Most developmental theories (e.g., psychoanalytic theory, Freud in 1940; social–cultural theory, Vygotsky in 1978; social-learning theory by Bandura in 1977; attachment theory Bolwby 1958) emphasize the importance of early social–emotional experience and the opportunity to experience human relationships for typical social and mental development. Attachment theory, in particular, focuses specifically on early experience with a few warm, caring, and socially–emotionally responsive adults who are relatively stable in the child 's life as the foundation of appropriate social–emotional development and long-term mental health (e.g., Ainsworth, 1979; Ainsworth, Bell, & Stayton, 1974; Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978; Bornstein & Tamis-LeMonda, 1989; Bowlby, 1958, 1969; Grusec & Lytton, 1988; Spitz, 1946; Sroufe, 1983; Sroufe, Carlson, Levy, & Egeland, 1999). Theoretically, a child, with a warm, responsive caregiver develops an internal working model of
This innate tendency can be either developed or damaged with life experiences, particularly by the emotional lessons learned during childhood and adolescence. Parents play a crucial role in the overall development of a child. The presence of parents, and the love and affection provided by them to the child, affects the child in a significant manner. Many children are blessed with both mother and father and a normal childhood. On the other hand there are several children who are unable to receive any kind of love and care from their parents, many times because such children have one parent i.e. either the mother or the father, or they are orphan. In all the three cases the social adjustment process of the child is affected deeply. The UN estimates that up to 8 million children around the world are living in care institutions (Pinheiro, 2006). Child rearing practices has a significant impact on the social adjustment of children. Most developmental theories (e.g., psychoanalytic theory, Freud in 1940; social–cultural theory, Vygotsky in 1978; social-learning theory by Bandura in 1977; attachment theory Bolwby 1958) emphasize the importance of early social–emotional experience and the opportunity to experience human relationships for typical social and mental development. Attachment theory, in particular, focuses specifically on early experience with a few warm, caring, and socially–emotionally responsive adults who are relatively stable in the child 's life as the foundation of appropriate social–emotional development and long-term mental health (e.g., Ainsworth, 1979; Ainsworth, Bell, & Stayton, 1974; Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978; Bornstein & Tamis-LeMonda, 1989; Bowlby, 1958, 1969; Grusec & Lytton, 1988; Spitz, 1946; Sroufe, 1983; Sroufe, Carlson, Levy, & Egeland, 1999). Theoretically, a child, with a warm, responsive caregiver develops an internal working model of