Daughter from DaNang
Holly E. Brown
Grand Valley State University

Micro Assessment The majority of developmental theories say that children must develop a secure primary attachment in order to develop in a healthy manner. A secure and strong attachment is clearly essential for healthy future relationships. John Bowlby’s studies in childhood development led him to the conclusion that a strong attachment to a caregiver provides a necessary sense of security and foundation. Without such a relationship in place, Bowlby found that a great deal of developmental energy is expended in the search for stability and security. In general, those without such attachments are fearful and are less willing to seek out and learn from new
As a child she was forbidden to inquire about her heritage, so it was never discussed and she was never encouraged to learn about the Vietnam culture (Dolgin & Franco, 2002). Heidi has a naïve idea that it is going to be a fairy tale ending. Heidi places huge expectations upon this visit to emotionally fill a void in her life from an unloving and damaged childhood. One of the major challenges Heidi faces was the dreadful clash between the two cultures. Heidi is overwhelmed by the open and often displays of affection. She says she was not raised in such a touchy, feely society so all of this affection was extremely uncomfortable. Heidi was raised as a single child by a single parent. She is not used to large families and having so many people around all the time. Heidi complains that she has only had 2 hours to herself the entire time she has been in Vietnam. She begins to feel the roles have been reversed because her mother is so clingy. It is as if she is the mother and her mother is the child (Dolgin & Franco, 2002).
In Vietnamese culture family is very important. Extended family often live close or in the same home. In American this is not a common tradition. Generally when the children grow up they move out of their parents’ house to live independently and eventually begin a family of their own. Often families live hundreds of miles apart and may only see each other on holidays or special occasions.
Vietnamese live in a collective society where the