John Bowlby's Path to Developing the Attachment Theory Essay

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’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.

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

Precious is a movie based on the novel Push by Sapphire (Daniels and Fletcher, 2008). It is on the life of an illiterate 16 year old African American girl, Claireece “Precious” Jones. (Natividad, 2010). I have applied John Bowlby’s Attachment Theory and Erik Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development on the film. These theories helped identify an understanding of the characters, family group, and community in the film. I have primarily assessed Precious as the chosen character. This paper will analyze the many factors in assessing her human behavior.

Attachment theory came about by reknowned psychologist Bowlby in 1958 (Bretherton, 1992). This prestigious discovery explores the effects of relationship between a primary caregiver and an infant’s neural pattern of attachment and emotional regulation behaviors. An infant that securely attaches with a primary caregiver has more implications to grow into a more securely attached or stable adult with similar securely attached relationships. This is seen as learned adaptive emotional regulation. On the other hand, Bowlby speculates how the insecurely attached infant will grow into maladaptive emotional regulation behaviors (Caspers, 2006). The insecurely attached or maladaptive behaviors are potentially seen as precursory to addiction behaviors

Worries the significance of "Attachment" as to self-improvement. In particular, it makes the claim that the capacity for a person to shape an enthusiastic and physical "connection" to someone else gives a feeling of solidness and security important to go out on a limb, fan out, and develop and create as a personality. Actually, Attachment theory is an expansive thought with numerous expressions, and the best comprehension of it can be had by taking a look at a few of those expressions turn. Strong attachment between mother and child is shown through physical contact and while holding the child, they face each other. Adolescents Form Attachments with Peers as a child reaches adolescence, they tend to depart away from the attachment relationships with any parental type figure. Attachment bonds between parents and adolescents are "Treated by many adolescents more like ties that restrain than like ties that anchor and secure, and a key task of adolescence is to develop autonomy so as no longer to need to rely on parents ' support when making one 's way through the world". A way of seeking independence from the parents is to rely more on peers as attachment figures. Eventually, adolescents will form long-term relationships with their peers that may be of the romantic kind, which may become full attachment relationships. These relationships are formed not only because of the need for attachment, but also

Research suggests that infant’s brain continues to develop long after birth and infant’s first relationships have long-lasting effects on their later learning and development. John Bowlby’s attachment theory focuses on the idea that the bond between a child and mother, is an important part of children’s healthy emotional development in their childhood and later in life. A key point of Bowlby’s theory shows that infants go through stages when forming relationships with caregivers. Bowlby suggests that infants that are six weeks to six- eight months old, start to respond differently to caregivers they know, then to strangers. They then start to show signs of attachment to a familiar caregiver from this age (Berk, 2013, p. 429).

John Bowlby was a psychoanalyst who felt that a child’s mental health and behavioral problems could be accredited to early childhood attachments. Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachments says that before children are born they are genetically pre-programmed to generate attachments with others. Infant’s behaviors such as crying, smiling or laughing stimulate responses from their caregiving adults. Bowlby suggests that the cause of attachment is not food/nutrition but they need for care and comfort. Typically the infant will only bond with one parent and form one primary attachment that will be the basis for all future attachments.

The child may become angry, depressed, completely passive or non- responsive. The behaviour shown towards them would be erratic, extreme, frightening and confusing. The child becomes confused not knowing whether their needs are going to be met or not. Research shows that the homes of these children often had physical or sexual abuse histories, mental health or drug/substance misuse. Bowlby’s ideas had a great influence on the way researchers thought about attachment.

Attachment theories look at the different ways in which children form attachments to others, usually their primary carer. This bond is usually formed very early on by a baby becoming attached to the adult who feed’s, changes and comforts them. John Bowlby’s believed that this primary carer did not have to be the child’s natural mother, but that they did need one central person. As a result of a close bond with their primary carer, from the age of 5 or 6 months, children who are separated from them experience emotions of loss and grief. Bowlbys findings have brought about many changes. It was this research that led to the introduction of the key worker system. Many Early Years settings have a settling in policy to help children during their

An attachment is a strong emotional connection in which animals, and people, depend on each other for a sense of security. Attachment is not always reciprocal and is characterized by specific behaviours in children such as seeking proximity to the attachment figure when upset or threatened (Bowlby 1969.) Within the context of child psychology, attachment is the strong bond which forms in early years of life between babies and their primary carers. This concept helps explain development and personality.

Attachment refers to an affectional bond; a bond which is exclusive to an individual and cannot be exchanged to another. A particularly important bond is the emotional one between an infant and its primary care giver. When it comes to attachment it is often said that it is either down to nature or nurture. Nature is the belief that it is genetic based whilst nurture believes it is our environment and experiences.

In the late 1960’s John Bowlby created the attachment theory. The attachment theory is a concept in developmental psychology, which in personal development concerns the importance of attachment. Specifically, it makes the claim that the ability for an individual to form an emotional and physical attachment to another person. It gives a sense of ability and security necessary to take risks, to branch out, to grow, and develop a personality. The attachment theory is mainly focused on long-term relationships and bonds, particularly between a parent and child.

Introduction A client has presented their child to a psychiatrist complaining that the kid is reporting abysmal scores at school and is also having trouble focusing on small details at home. The client suspects that their child has the mental disorder, ADHD. The psychiatrist researches on the disorder and discovers some relevant information. Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) includes one of the common neurobehavioral childhood disorders in contemporary time and can have profound effects on the academic performance, well-being and social life of a child (2007, 2015).

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,