What Is John Bowlby's Attachment Theory

Bowlby characterized connection as an "enduring mental connectedness between individuals." His ethological hypothesis of connection recommends that babies have an inborn need to frame a connection bond with a guardian. This is a developed reaction that expands a tyke 's odds of survival. Infants are conceived with various practices, for example, crying and cooing, and parental figures are organically modified to react to these signs and take care of the kid 's needs.

The attachment theory, developed by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth is an essential key that explains many child-parent relationships and the influence it has on development. Attachment is a process that begins during infancy in an individual’s life and can have long lasting effects. Bowlby’s theory concluded that the bonds formed between a caregiver and a child during the early years were the blueprints for future relationships. Ainsworth’s “strange situation” experiments and numerous studies tested Bowlby’s original theory and expanded on it. This paper will provide an overview on the research that has been conducted on the effects of attachment patterns on an individual’s early and later development.

Although Bowen’s family systems theory, and Bowlby’s attachment theory are unique with their own thoughts and perceptions, both of the theories can also be taken as different viewpoints of the same human experience, specifically the development of relationship patterns and human attachment. Both theories touch upon the influence that unsolved problems in the parents may have on their children. Attachment theory focuses more on the infant’s first attachment, or primary attachment. This is usually between the mother and the infant. If the attachment is interrupted and the infant’s needs are not being met by the primary attachment, mother, this could adversely affect the infant’s cognitive and mental development as well as future attachments.

Babies are born with an innate ability to learn and their brain to develop after birth. The neural pathways of a human’s brain are built based on their early experience in the world. A baby’s world is based on how they are treated by people in it therefore if the environment is scary then the baby will be reluctant to explore, as demonstrated n Bowlby’s and Ainsworth’s attachment theory. The brain and body become wired enough to understand what is safe and what should be feared.

Bowlby suggested that due to the attachment between children and their carers, children suffer loss when they are separated. Bowlby’s study with the ethologist Robert Hinde, inspired the idea that certain attachment behaviours have evolved as a survival mechanism (Bergen, 2008). The core of the theory today is that the quality of close relationships affects personality, emotional and social development not only in childhood but throughout the life of the individual (Howe, 2001). This suggests that attachment theory is effectively a biological, psychological and social theory of human development.

Bowlby believed that infants are a product of evolutionary processes pre-coded with a survival instinct to form an attachment with an individual to provide it with comfort, guidance, safety and security (Bowlby 1958, cited in Lishman 2007) Generally attachments were formed with responsive persons who interacted and played with the child a lot, simple caregiving such as nappy changing was itself not an important factor. This strong attachment to the primary caregiver provides a strong base for exploration and reissuance when the child felt insecure (fox, 1977 pg 109). Bowlby believed that there are four main features of attachment. These are safe haven, he believed that the primary care giver would make the child feel safe, secure base, here

Attachment theory is the idea that a child needs to form a close relationship with at least one primary caregivers , this theory provided that attachment is necessary to ensure successful social emotional development of an infant. This is a very crucial stage in occurs in the early infant years this factors relationships with the child and the primary child care giver. In this case the parents and the educator can share the primary role. John Bowlby began researching after he graduated, he believed the attached processed involved the cognitive emotional and social features of attachment. Stating four different style of attachment and how they can all have leading factors as well as long term affects. Bowlby’s evolution theory of attachment states children are almost “pre programmed” to form attachment’s in order to survive what kind of attachment they will form now that really depends on the care giver .

Attachment is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space (Ainsworth, 1973; Bowlby, 1969). Certain behaviours often define the kind of attachment one shares with the other person although there is no necessary condition regarding the mutuality of the feelings and emotions. With respect to children, attachment is often noticed in situations where in the child looks for some sort of closeness when vulnerable. The same can be observed when adults respond to the needs and requirements of the child. The levels of attachment differ from person to person and the kind of bonding they have. This relationship is explained through ‘attachment theory’ that came into being with the works of John Bowlby who

However, the things that occur with the presence of an attachment are really difficult to understand, and this is the reason why attachment theorists emerged. Perhaps the most prominent of this group of theorists, John Bowlby was the first psychologist who started an extensive study on attachment. According to Bowlby's Attachment Theory, attachment is a psychological connectedness that occurs between humans and lasts for a long period of time. To Bowlby, attachment is what keeps a baby connected to his mother, considering the needs of the child that can only be satisfied by his

Attachment theory is the combined work of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth (Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991). John Bowlby formulated the basic principles of this theory to explain the emotional bond between infants and their caregivers (Fraley & Shaver, 2000). Bowlby explains that a motivational system, called the attachment behavioural system, I based on an evolutionary model which states that “genetic selection” preferred attachment behaviours, because they increased the likelihood of protection and provided survival gains, such as feeding, social interaction, and learning about the environment, while in close proximity to the attachment figure (Cassidy & Shaver, 2008). Further, Bowlby (1969) developed the idea of attachment to highlight the role

The general opinion on the causes of mental disorders has evolved over the centuries. Many ancient civilisations, like India, China and Greece, referred to mental abnormality as ‘madness’ or ‘lunacy’, and blamed it on demonic possessions and divine punishment. This theory continued throughout the Middle Ages, despite more environmental factors had been suggested, e.g. intemperate diet and alcohol. It is not until the 19th century when more sophisticated ideas were developed. Sigmund Freud’s famous psychoanalysis theory in the 1890s changed the way scientists dealt with mental illnesses: Before, mental illness was almost universally considered 'organic', meaning it was thought to be caused by some kind of physical deterioration or changes of

Attachment theory originated from the research of psychoanalyst John Bowlby. Bowlby spent time working as a psychiatrist in London in the 1930s where he worked with orphaned children. This period of time encouraged Bowlby to evaluate the importance of the child's relationship with the mother. It helped form his belief about the connection between early infant separations with mothers and later issues with the child's social, emotional and cognitive skills and ultimately led Bowlby to construct his attachment theory (Bowlby, 2005).

Social relationship is very important to individuals. It can affect individual’s working efficiency, corporation and even the personality. In this essay, three types of caring attachment will be introduced. Also, the influence from each attachment among the caregivers in baby’s childhood and adulthood will be discussed.

Mary Ainsworth’s study on attachment theory continues to be widely discussed today. If a child has been mistreated by a primary caregiver, how does that affect the child? When a child is raised in an abusive household, it has an impact on the child’s life. What do they do? Where do they turn? If their primary caregiver is proven untrustworthy, who can the child trust? Furthermore, how does the child cope? The environment children are raised in has an immense impact on their lives. According to Ainsworth, “attachment refers to an affectional tie that one person forms to another specific individual… attachment is thus discriminating and specific” (Salande & Hawkins, 2016). Without an attachment to an adult, a child has no guidance or direction in life. Therefore, if a child grows up in an unstable family structure, this child is more likely to develop an insecure attachment style in adulthood. Attachment theory confirms the importance of human relationships and their consequences for individual development (Schneider, 1991). As one continues to grow into an adult, it is important to have one to look up to for guidance, no matter what the situation may be.

One of the most important factors that affect a child 's development is the relationship and attachment of the child with their primary caregiver. John Bowlby studied the development of the child; he was interested in how childhood relationships affected kids as they grew older and became adults. He was also concerned with the relationship of the child and primary caregiver and how they interacted, and the effect this had on later life. Bowlby 's theory established that children’s earliest relationships shaped their later development and characterized their human life, "from the cradle to the grave"(Bowlby, 1998). The attachment style that an infant develops with their parent later reflects on their overall person. Bowlby 's attachment theory had vast investigation done by Mary Ainsworth, who studied the interactions between mother and child, specifically, the theme of an infant’s investigation of their surroundings and the separation from their mother. This essay will focus on Bowlby’s attachment theory and Mary Ainsworth’s experiments and findings, discussing their views on the development and importance of attachment in early life.