The Attachment Theory And Why Is It An Important Aspect Of Intimate Relationships And Love?

Unresolved / Disorganized Attachment the child has an unusually high level of fear and might be disoriented, which can be caused by a traumatic event such as a parent 's death or abuse. A person with a fearful disorganized attachment lives in an ambivalent state of being afraid of being both too close to or too distant from others.  They tend to be mixed up or unpredictable in their moods and experience emotional storms.

They are not bothered by small issues. When a person has a secure attachment, they are capable of developing very trusting, and lasting relationships. They usually have good self-esteem also. They are comfortable sharing with their family and friends. Securely attached adults tend to have a good view of themselves, and their relationships with others. They feel comfortable balancing intimacy and independence, without any issues. This style of attachment usually results from a history of warm and responsive interactions with relationship partners. They often talk about experiencing more fulfilling relationships than people with other attachment styles. Being reliable and consistent, people who are secure may seem boring at first to those with other styles because there is little drama in their love lives, but secure people have a stabilizing effect on those with less secure styles and they report the highest level of satisfaction in their relationships.

The attachment theory is a theory proposed by John Bowlby. The theory basically states that infants need to be attached to someone in order to have successful relationships as they grow older. Bowlby says, “Attachment is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space”

Infants with attachment disorder can be described as being either securely attached or insecurely attached. Securely attached children rarely reach the anxiety overload threshold. There are three types of insecure attachment: resistant, avoidant and

' (Haith, 2014b, p. 466) Although a secure attachment does not occur from birth, ‘babies show signs of attachment through smiling, eye contact and crying. ' (Brandon et al., 2015) This shows the child 's main caregiver needs to begin to bond with their child for them to form a secure attachment. Bowlby believed ‘caregivers who neglect their children, bring up avoidant children. ' (Larose, & Bernier, 2001, p. 96-120). ‘Ambivalent/resistant children show negative behaviours to gain attention from others. ' (Kobak et al., 1993, p. 231-245) These statements show children who have an insecure attachment with their caregiver have a risk in behaviour problems. They will also have a less chance of developing their social and emotional skills effectively.

The attachment theory links into practice because the whole concept of it is forming an attachment, this theory therefore links into practice because for example if a child has a strong bond/attachment such as recognising and being able to share problems and concerns then this gives children the confidence and support and they can acknowledge that and practitioners can meet their needs e.g. if a child forms an attachment with their caregiver then the care giver will become aware of their needs, their likes and dislikes and can put certain interventions into place, so just say a child only communicates with their caregiver and no one else then the caregiver will become aware of that and may do certain things one by one in order for them to communicate

Infants with secure attachment feel comfortable and confident separating from their caregiver. In the toddler 's eyes, their caregiver is a base for exploration that provides assurance and enables experiences of discovery. Infants with secure

The Attachment theory is a psychological, ethological and evolutionary theory that gives a descriptive and explanatory framework of understanding interpersonal relationship between human beings. Presented by John Bowlby, the important tenet of this theory is that an infant needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to progress generally.

When maternal love is not consistent, infants then begin to develop insecure attachment, for example, when an infant cries or shows distress and the care giver does not respond or only responds in a loud, abrupt way the infant can become more distressed as they pick up on emotions around them. If the care giver does not comfort the infant for example, holding, cradling or showing affection the child becomes frustrated because his or her needs

There are three types of attachment styles which are secure, insecure: avoidant, and insecure: anxious (Paloutzian, 2017, pg. 89). During the Easter ceremony I had the opportunity to watch a baptism of a child who surround by her parents and family members. The baby became a bit restless and at that moment both parents took steps to calm her by taking turns rocking her back and forth until she felt comforted. According the course recordings, a secure attachment is when a caregiver responds to a child’s needs, provides safety in times of trouble, and is less likely to convert to a different religion. Thus, this baby is likely to grow up to be securely attached to her parents as they are responsive to her needs and are emotionally available (Veenvliet,

The four attachment categories that infants are put into are: secure, insecure/resistant (or ambivalent), insecure/avoidant, and disorganized/disoriented.

An infant with a secure attachment style has a natural bond with their parent, where they are able to trust them, at the same time leaving their side to discover and explore their surroundings. In an insecure/resistant attachment the relationship the child has with their mother or caregiver is very clingy, thus making them very upset once the caregiver is away. When the mother or caregiver is back they are not easily comforted and resist their effort in comforting them. In an insecure/avoidant attachment the infant is, “indifferent and seems to avoid the mother, they are as easily comforted by a stranger, as by their parent” (Siegler 2011, p.429). Lastly, the disorganized/disoriented attachment is another insecure attachment style in which the infant has no way of coping with stress making their behavior confusing or contradictory. Through these brief descriptions of the attachment theory, many researchers have defined the turning point in which each attachment definition can have an influence on one’s self esteem, well-being and their marital relationship.

John Bowlby, who originally developed the theory of attachment, describes it as a “lasting psychological connectedness between human beings” (Somerville, 2009). Furthermore, there are four main characteristic of infant attachment, proximity maintenance, safe haven, secure base, and separation distress. Proximity maintenance is the desire to stay close to the people we have formed an attachment. Safe haven refers to the action of returning to the attachment figure for comfort and safety when danger or fear is present. A secure base is a place where the attachment figure acts as a base of security from which a child can explore the surrounding world. Separation distress is the anxiety that occurs when the attachment figure is absent (Cherry, 2011).

Mary Ainsworth in the early 1950’s developed a technique to measure attachment, called the “strange situation procedure”. She wanted to observe how children react to their mother’s leaving the room, being left alone with a stranger, and how they react to their mother returning.(Brain et al, 2009). She noticed that children with secure attachment were upset when their mother left, but were easily calmed and settled when their mother returned. She also noticed that children with secure attachments appeared to be those whose mother were consistent and sensitive and met their needs. This made them feel safe and trust their caregivers and thus develop a secure attachment. (Alleydog.com 's online glossary.) What if this was not present? If this consistent, nurturing and responsive relationship between the caregiver and the child is not present then the child will develop an insecure attachment. (Simplypsychologyorg, 2016)

Lastly, avoidant attached infants are untroubled when the caregiver leaves and returns. The infant wants to keep closeness to the caregiver but this attachment style lets the infant maintain closeness to the caregiver even in the face of rejection. In order to control their feelings of distress and to prevent more rejection, the infant may just give up on seeking closeness to the caregiver (Walsh, 2015).