Darcia Narvaez writes that, similar to other life forms, humans have evolved with particular needs. We are born incomplete, barely formed, and are deeply impacted by the postnatal environment, in particular, how physical and psychological needs are met. The sequence of development and maturation assumes an expected environment that fulfils those needs – a growth-facilitating or ‘good enough’ environment. When this is not present pathology and suboptimal growth occur.
The developmental nest provides for the basic needs of each species and leads to outcomes that are ‘species-typical’. This nest is made up of reliable and repeatable features of stimulation and experience that occur in the organism’s environment. It is the set of social and ecological circumstances inherited by the members of a species. This nest or niche is reconstructed in every generation and serves as the basis for the development of species-typical behaviour. Postnatal development coincides with an expected environment of parenting practices that comes from social mammalian heritage from 30 million years ago. These conditions include: Soothing perinatal experiences; parental responsiveness and prevention of distress; physical closeness and extensive touch with no physical or emotional isolation; long-term breast-feeding on demand; a community of caregivers; a positive social support system; and free-play within multi-age groups.
Humans come from a hominid or ape line that emerged around 14 million years ago. When we began to walk on two feet with smaller pelvis’ but bigger brains needed to exit the womb early due to head size. About 75 per cent of the brain develops after birth through interaction with caregivers. Parenting became more intensive, with holding, extensive breast-feeding and responsive care. The human brain is less developed at birth that other apes and so we are in need of even more care for longer. Among basic needs like safety, trust, belonging and autonomy we also have a need for intersubjectivity and co-regulation of all our physiological and psychological systems. As such we need to bond with caregivers. Primates need ‘indulgent’ early care which means that adults are tolerant in providing what their offspring need. Responsive care helps physiological systems and emotion and self-regulation systems to develop in an optimal way. Perhaps more than any other species we are the most reliant on care for the first five years of life. In small-band hunter-gatherer societies these needs are met routinely. When needs are met species-typical outcomes emerge but when they are not met species-atypical outcomes occur.