John Bowlby's Attachment Theory And Theories

Perhaps the most influential explanation of attachment was presented by John Bowlby who began developing his ideas in the 1940s. Bowlby was commissioned by the World Health Organisation to investigate whether young children were likely to be harmed if they are separated from their mothers in the early years. (Hayes, 1996). Bowlby (1951) reported that infants possesses an innate need to attach to one main attachment figure (this was usually the mother). According to Hayes (1996), this is a special relationship which is qualitatively different from the relationship they form with any other kind of person. He described this as the process of monotropy; however, Bowlby did not deny that babies formed lots of attachments. (Bailey et al. 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.

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

1.) Bowlby's attachment theory stresses the importance of a secure attachment between an infant and his or her mother. If the caregiver, most likely the mother, makes the infant feel like he or she is well-taken care of, then the child learns that they can trust that the mother will always be around and will be there when or if the child ever needs someone to depend on. This is achieved in four distinct ways (Myers, 2009). The infant needs to have a secure base with the child. The child needs to know that if he or she becomes afraid, they will always have someone to go back to. This secure base also needs to be a safe haven where the child can be comforted upon feeling afraid. The child will also always try to stay near the caregiver in order to feel this safe haven, and any separation will cause distress because of being away from their secure base and safe haven. All of these factors come into play in the article "Ghosts in the nursery: A psychoanalytic approach to the problems of impaired infant-mother relationships" (Fraiberg et al 1975). By lacking these specific features, the infant going into the program were deprived of the necessary mechanisms that Bowlby asserted were essential to forming a well-rounded secure person.

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 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 Development of Attachment Theory and Its Strengths and Limitations English psychiatrist John Bowlby is a leading and influential figure within the history of social reform. His work has influenced social work policies and legislation relating to child psychiatry and psychology. Bowlby was trained as a psychoanalyst, and was influenced by Freudians theories, but became influenced again in his attachment theory by the work of ethologists. The ethologists theory concentrates on looking at the role parents play rather than only the child. Bowlby believes that parenting has strong ties with biology and it explains why there are such strong emotions attached.

According to Simply Psychology, Bowlby’s attachment theory says an individual can have an attachment with someone that is not shared. Attachment is characterized by behaviors in children such as seeking proximity with their attachment figure when upset. Bowlby’s experiments led him to see the importance of a child and mother relationship. (Saul McLeod, 2009) With more research later came four phases of attachment. Phase one is from birth to two months, this stage is where babies seek comfort, and can attach to anyone. Phase two is from two months to seven months. Babies start to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar faces. Also, they can tell between primary and secondary caregivers. Phase three is seven to 24 months old. This phase is when babies have the knowledge of who their caregiver is, which causes separation anxiety when the caregiver has to leave. Phase four is from 24 months and after, which is when the child can reciprocate the relationship. (Maianu, 2015)

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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

Bowlby undertook his study after being influenced by ethological studies, made suggestions that infants form attachment, due to genetic programming, to a single carer (usually the mother).

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,

John Bowlby, a British psychologist (1907 to 1990) coined the term attachment. He was a psychiatrist and his influences were Freud, Melanie Klein and Lorenz. Bowlby’s attachment theory suggests that children come into the world biologically pre- programmed to form attachments with others as this will help them survive.

Many psychologists have come and gone, and many different theoretical orientations have been developed. With each orientation has come a new perspective on development, behaviour and mental processes. Some are similar, yet others could not be more contradictory. Attachment is one such theoretical orientation, developed by John Bowlby out of his dissatisfaction with other existing theories. Although Bowlby rejected psychoanalytical explanations for early infant bonds, the theory of attachment was influenced in part by the principles of psychoanalysis; in particular the observations by Ana Freud and Dorothy Burlingham of young children separated from