Bowlby Attachment Theory Essay

Attachment theories is an area that has received a large amount of attention and been subject to a considerable amount of further research since the 1950s. This essay will strive look at what makes up the foundations of Bowlby's theory, as well as looking to consider in more detail how this theory has been developed and expanded by other psychology researchers such as Ainsworth and Main and Goldwyn.
Bowlby is a major leading figure in the investigation of parent/child relationships and the development of attachment theory. The interest for him in taking up research in this field was triggered by becoming aware of ethological research surrounding animal imprinting. Mostly the work of Lorenz, who was responsible for discovering the theory that
by being the first moving, living object that an infant greylag goose came into contact with during the early stages after it's hatching, he could in fact fulfil the role of their mother, regardless of his species and gender (Oates, Lewis & Lamb, 2005).
In this study infant geese would follow Lorenz and show an attachment to him as one would expect they would to their mother. For humans in psychology, an 'attachment' can be defined as an emotional bond between an infant and their caregiver which provides the infant with emotional security (Oates, Lewis & Lamb, 2005).
Bowlby was also inspired in his studies by the work of Winnicott, a theorist at the Tavistock Clinic.
Winnicott worked directly with mothers and their infants in order to investigate the importance of emotional availability within the relationship and in doing this he looked to challenge the ideology of the 'perfect mother'. Winnicott coined the term 'good-enough mother' in reference to his ideas of how to best build an infants independence and sense of self. These original theories based on the direct relationships between caregiver and infant were a strong basis for Bowlby's ideas and prompted him to personally investigate the significance of attachment to
humans.

According to (Oates, Lewis & Lamb, 2005), Bowlby recognised that the biology of certain species of animals such as geese and primates might be similar to human beings. He believed that human infants are born programmed to become attached to their mother because their mothers provide them with comfort as well as emotional security and protection.
In this scenario Bowlby's theory is supported and expanded by Harlow's 1958 study, who demonstrated in his work that infant macaque monkeys, when in need, would seek comfort from a 'terry-cloth mother' instead of the alternative, which was a metal 'wire mother' which contained their feeding bottle. These findings suggested that feeding is not the main focus of or reason for attachment, therefore is possibly reason to argue that attachment is based on more than a basic need to survive.

Bowlby's original theory of attachment was concerned with the bonding relationship that develops between an infant and his primary caregiver in the early stages of life. Bowlby believed the process of bonding had a biological basis as the genes of those infants who successfully sought the protection of a caregiver will have survived and been passed on.
In 1953, he formulated the Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis which is associated with his theory of attachment and resulted from a study of his on delinquent boys, he found that many of these boys shared a history of being subject to institutionalised care and therefore he came to the theory that infants need to bond with and maintain a loving relationship with a mother figure in order to develop sound mental health and stability later in life.
Another key aspect of Bowlby's original attachment theory which has not been modified but yet has provided considerable basis for further research, is the concept of internal working models (IWM). An IWM is made up of a series of impressions: of the self, the other, and the relationship between the two. These three impressions form a model which enables us to study relationships (Oates. Lewis & Lamb,
2005).
Bowlby argued that the IWM is established early in childhood and has consequences for an individual later life, in that the relationship between the infant and their care-giver will form the basis of their IWM and therefore act as a guide for how they relate to others. Bowlby believed a healthy IWM would provide adequate reassurance so that the infant would feel confident to explore the world around them.

Ainsworth is another key attachment theorist, she believed that the primary caregiver who has bonded with the infant should remain available to the infant, providing a secure base from which that child is able explore the environment around him whilst being aware of it's safety and security. One of the main strengths of Ainsworth's research was her extensive use of observation. For her research she used a great deal of naturalistic observation and observations of behaviour in staged laboratory settings. She was interested in the quality and strength of the infant/caregiver relationship and due to this helped develop the 'Strange Situation' study and technique which she then used to help identify three patterns of attachment.
The 'Strange Situation' experiment is conducted in a laboratory set up as a playroom and then observed by those running the study through a two way mirror.
The quality of attachment between infant/caregiver is judged by the type of reunion behaviour displayed by the infant after a separation from the mother. The three most common patterns of attachment are labelled as Type A - insecure-avoidant, Type B - secure and Type C – insecure-ambivalent. This research has been enhanced in itself by Main and Soloman (1990), who suggest there is a fourth classification: Type D, which identifies infants who would present themselves as confused and behave apprehensively towards their parents. The later addition of this fourth type is interesting, suggesting that infant behaviour has potentially changed over the years since the original understanding of attachment types, or that more recognition is given now to the difficulties many children face in terms of abuse and neglect. (Oates, Lewis & Lamb, 2005).

Attachment classification was a significant enhancement and expansion of Bowlby's original theory, as it allowed for a more experimental approach to the original theory. Another aspect of Bowlby's theory that has been developed to allow for more measurement and scientific analysis is the continuity of internal working models and the influence of attachment in childhood. Main and Goldwyn (1994) developed the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) which was similarly used to assess attachment styles of matured adults. This method focused instead on participant answers to a series of questions presented to them in a structured interview. The purpose was to capture the participants memory of early relationships with their primary caregiver. Their responses were categorised as either - dismissing, if they were indifferent to their childhood; autonomous, if they realised the importance of relationships; or preoccupied, if there were any detected emotional issues still unresolved.

Thus far we have seen how Bowlby's idea that the security of attachments formed during a child's infancy contributes to the development of their IWM, which can by extension also be linked to their adult attachment style. Hamilton (1994) discovered that when an individual's family life remains stable, their IWM remains consistent too. However, Zimmerman et al. (2000) conducted research that suggested attachment styles do change throughout a person's life, therefore looking to challenge some of the older original theories. Research has also raised the newer theory that some children, who did not form a secure type of attachment during their infancy, can look to find 'earned security' through healthy adult relationships later in life (Wood et al., 2007).
Bowlby's work has provided a good foundation for further research given the broadness of his research. The Strange situation technique for example is still widely used today in assessing the strength and quality of attachment. The idea of the IWM is also still very much useful today and has provided us as psychologists with ways of how to go about considering the improvement of our modern day parenting skills. Newer modern research has however in contrast, largely rendered the Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis redundant, similarly disagreeing with the idea that mothers should be the ones who stay at home to raise the children.

In addition to research regarding the classification of attachment styles and the levels of their stability, thought has also been given to the effect of different types of attachment on behaviour. As an example, a poor attachment can be said to stem from disturbed behaviour. As previously mentioned regarding Bowlby's study on delinquent children, his findings showed that a higher percentage of delinquent children had experienced some type maternal separation during their infancy, in comparison with the control group, therefore he ultimately concluded that there was a link between the two factors. Woodhead, Rhodes and Oates (2005) also highlight a number of other risk factors for disturbed behaviour, including marriage, maternal mental states, or parental attitudes to the child.
Another area of research that has developed in order to investigate the relationships between parents and their children recognises the active role of children. For instance, Bell (1968) believes that a child's temperament will somewhat influence how their parents behave towards them, for example the parent of an irritable or upset child may in turn respond with anger, which might also encourage the infant to display anxiety and be more disruptive in their daily life. Despite some scepticism about research into the cause and effect of influences on child development, research continues to investigate and challenge other research. For example the idea of transactional models challenges studies of Sears et al. (1957) who claim the cause of aggression in children is down to parental style.

In conclusion, this essay has looked to highlight how Bowlby's original attachment theory has been developed and enhanced by other researchers using a variety of methods, research has branched off in many different directions thanks to Bowly's original work with other psychologist using the original work to enhance their own work in varying degrees. Ainsworth developed a classification system that offered a means of defining and measuring attachment styles. Main and Goldwyn developed this classification method further by designing a method of assessment that included ways to define adult attachment styles also.
Attachment theories are a field that are still constantly being developed, as with Main and Solomon's 1990 addition to Ainsworth's original attachment classifications. We are constantly changing and adapting to different ways of life and different lifestyle structures and as this develops, so must or methods of understanding it. Further research could be needed also to assess the extent to which attachment styles may be culturally differing. Bowlby did not see monotropy a concrete necessity in order to obtain long-term stable infant/caregiver relationships and due to this, the field of attachment theories is open to further study and research in order to bring more ideas to what constitutes a 'healthy attachment'.