Assess The Importance Of Attachment Theory Essay

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Attachment theory explains how a child interacts with the adult looking after him or her. An attachment can be thought of as a unique emotional tie between a child and another person, usually an adult. If a child has a healthy attachment, this means the child can be confident that the adult will respond to their needs. For example if they are hungry, tired or frightened, the adult will respond to meet their needs or reassure and comfort them. This gives the child confidence to explore their environment and develop a good sense of self-esteem. This will help the child to grow up being happy and will help shape a child’s ability to form other relationships later in life. If a child can’t rely on their adult to look after them and respond to …show more content…

John Bowlby believed that children are born with a need to form attachment with others in order to survive. This is what we now know as Attachment Theory. He suggested that babies have in-built social releasers to ensure the attachment figure stays close by. For example, crying to gain the attachment figures attention.
Bowlby also suggested that babies initially form one attachment in the start and that all future relationships will be based around the quality of this first relationship. This enables the child to form an attachment with the main carer and the more positive this attachment is, the more confident the child will become. As children grow and develop in a secure environment, they develop the key skills needed to form good friendships and relationships. If a child has formed a secure attachment in the early stages, then when it comes time to separate from their carer during the pre-school years, they will find it easier to manage as they already have a secure foundation and know they can rely on their carer to return. This makes the transition into pre-school stress free for the child.
There are different stages of attachment. These

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