Bowlby 's Theory Of Attachment Theory

Evidence of this came from his study of forty-four juvenile delinquents. (Hayes, 1996). His findings from this study proved that there is a correlation between maternal deprivation in babies and subsequent criminal behaviour in adulthood. Bowlby has been criticised by other academics. Michael Rutter (1981) argues that these problems are not due solely to the lack of attachment to a mother figure, as Bowlby claimed, but to factors such as the lack of intellectual stimulation and social experiences which attachments normally provide. (McLeod, 2007). Rutter (1970) in another study of a group of delinquents in the Isle of Wight found no connection between delinquent behaviour and separation from the mother. According to Buchannan (2013), Many feminists have taken issue with attachment theory, describing the attachment field’s prescriptive mothering role as unreasonable, the emphasis on mothering as politically motivated and the rational for focusing on mothering in isolation from context as patriarchal (Contratto, 2002; Morris, 2008).

Bowlby emphasised the significance of the mother-child bond, particularly in the first 3 years of a child’s life. If this relationship was unsatisfactory or if separation occurred during this crucial period, Bowlby asserted that serious psychological problems could ensure. This theory is called – attachment theory- and one does not have to fully support the psychoanalytical tradition to hold the view that, their things being equal, children appear to benefit in there is continuity in upbringing, especially during the early years. (Berridge, D., Cleaver, 1987, p

Bowlby’s attachment theory has greatly influenced practice. His theory of attachment explains the importance of having a figure that the child shares a strong bond with. Having an attachment can significantly support a child’s development as Barbara Woods suggests that “his theory of attachment proposed that attachment is innate in both infants and mothers, and that the formation of this attachment is crucial for the infants development” Wood, B (2001, p.53). Bowlby believed that forming an attachment will help a child develop in all areas e.g. emotionally, physical and mentally. However if they did not form an attachment in the sensitive period, the child may have issues or problems in their cognitive, emotional and social development.

He drew on several different resources which included Harlow’s rhesus monkeys and Lorenz’s (1935) imprinting. John Bowlby’s evolutionary theory had stemmed from Lorenz’s (1935) study of imprinting. Lorenz showed in his research that young ducklings had an innate tendency to attach for survival purposes. Bowlby saw humans being just like animals also having that instinctive nature to attach for survival purposes this gives infants an adaptive advantage to survive. Bowlby also believed that infants had to form an attachment to their caregiver within a specific time frame, this being from birth to 2.5 years old. They would then go on to form several attachments to others at a later stage. If the infant did not form an attachment within the critical time frame then Bowlby believed they would be damaged for life they would go on to become socially, emotionally, intellectually and even physically damaged. Maternal deprivation hypothesis claimed that if the mother and infants attachment was broken in the primary attachment stage then this would also have a severe effect on the infant’s emotional development Bowlby (1951). Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis was mainly based on studies that were conducted in the 1930’s and they were based on children who were brought up in nurseries and

John Bowlby’s work in attachment has been the foundation when determining the attcahments and bonds that a child and parent may experience (Webb, 2011). According to Bowlby, “attachment” is referring to a lasting, mutual bond of affection that is dependent on an individual or more than one person (Webb, 2011). Establishing a secure attachment during infancy and early childhood is an important task of a parent or a caregiver. Not all parents or caregivers can provide their child with a secure attachment at this important in life due to various reasons. Since parents are the main providers in their child’s development of attachment, their lives and history has a great influence on their children’s lives.

This is his Maternal deprivation hypothesis, which stated the belief that if an infant was unable to build a “warm, intimate, continuous relationship with its mother”, it would then result in having difficulties building relationships with other people and also the risk of behavioural disorders. This hypothesis says that relationships that are discontinuous or where there are separations

One of the key theorists of attachment is John Bowlby and his ‘Attachment theory". Bowlby believed ‘the attachment of a caregiver is an inherited mechanism to

A resounding theory that was also present was an addition to Bowlby's attachment theory. This being the most important one in this study, Ainsworth's theory based on the Strange Situation was also apparent. When the children start reacting to the

This then led to his ‘Maternal Deprivation’ theory, investigated by Mary Ainsworth (1913-1999), which is when a relationship is broken or fails to be formed. It researched the effects of short term deprivation and how the child reacts to being left with a stranger in a room in an experiment to also split attachment into 3 different types; secure attachment, avoidant attachment and Ambivalent attachment. which suggests that “any conditions that threaten to separate mother and child activate instinctive attachment behaviours and feelings of insecurity and fear”, Collins et al (2012, p275)

Bowlby said that early attachment was crucial to a child’s healthy mental development & this is a key part for how they build relationships later on in life. He said that children are influenced the most by the relationship with their primary carer (mainly mother). For the 1st 6 months of a babies life they have a need to attach to one main person. This is called the monotropic attachment. He also said that a child should be cared for by the same person for the first 2 years of their life as any kind of disruption would lead to lasting effects of their development. E.g. depression & antisocial behaviour. He then changes what he said and stated that children were capable of forming multiple attachments and it was important for them to build

Bowlby explored a wide range of fields in order to formulate the attachment theory which includes psychoanalysis, control system theory, evolutionary biology, ethology and cognitive psychology. Bowlby became concerned about the disturbance of children in understaffed orphanages and nurseries as they were not provided with much emotional interaction, so the children showed an inability to form close and long lasting relationships with others which seemed to Bowlby that they were unable to love because they had missed their opportunity to form solid attachment to a mother figure in early life. In 1948, World Health Organization commissioned Bowlby to conduct the research evidence on such institutional deprivation. In 1951, Bowlby put forward his hypothesis in Maternal Care and Mental Health that

Bowlby believed that babes had have built in social releasers that help form attachment, for example, crying and smiling. These would stimulate responses in caregivers. Bowlby also suggested that the infant would form only one primary attachment, and that this attachment would act as a secure base for exploring the world. This theory was also backed up by Mary Ainsworth ‘The Strange Situation’, Eysenck (2000). Another conclusion in Bowlbys attachment theory was that there was a sensitive period; a period were imprinting was important. This would affect attachment and have lifelong consequences. He

The name suggests the purpose of this theory, Bowlby wanted to explain the bonds infants develop with a primary caregiver as well as the previously mentioned negative reactions or distress in their separation with them (Hazan & Shaver, 1987). Bowlby observed that in separation, an infant will go through a series of predictable emotional reactions, such as protest, despair, and detachment (Hazan & Shaver, 1987). In protest, the child may actively search for their mother, cry, and resist any attempts of comfort from others. In despair, the infant shows passivity and sadness. Finally, in detachment, the child may seem defensive and can be avoidance of the mother

John Bowlby had worked with residential school children as a volunteer early on in his career and had determined that the children who suffered the most from anger outbursts, aggressivity, and whom her termed “affectionless” were also the children who had suffered the most maternal deprivation (). Bowlby advanced that the loss of the mother figure was extremely distressing and damaging and could influence adults' behavior years later. Hence, where psychoanalysis had been concerned “solely with the imaginings of the childish mind, the fantasied pleasures and the dreaded retributions” (Fonagy), Bowlby showed that humans do not develop in a void or as “individual monads” but as members of interacting systems. Bowlby developed his theory on attachment for several decades, and at a time where any dealings with childhood trauma were still rigorously influenced by Freudian psychoanalysis through the likes of psychoanalysts such Anna Freud or Melanie Klein. Even Winnicott was “revulsed” upon reading Bowlby's papers (siegel). It certainly was a bitter pill to swallow for psychoanalysts who had been repeating since Freud that the newborn was a little tyrant fighting for oral gratification at the mother's breast and merely clinging on to fulfil sexual instinctual needs. Bowlby's work was thus eschewed for a considerable time, despite his involvement with the World Health Organisation and the considerable empirical weight that was added to his findings by Mary Ainsworth's studies in

John Bowlby’s attachment theory established that an infant’s earliest relationship with their primary caregiver or mother shaped their later development and characterized their human life, “from the cradle to the grave” (Bowlby, 1979, p. 129). The attachment style that an infant develops with their parent later reflects on their self-esteem, well-being and the romantic relationships that they form. Bowlby’s attachment theory had extensive research done by Mary Ainsworth, who studied the mother-infant interactions specifically regarding the theme of an infant’s exploration of their surrounding and the separation from their mother in an experiment called the strange situation. Ainsworth defined the four attachment styles: secure,