Bowlby's Attachment Theory

Attachment theory is a concept in developmental psychology that concerns the importance of "attachment" in regards to personal development. John Bowlby was the first Psychologist to experiment this childhood development that he believed depended heavily upon a child's ability to form a strong relationship with at least one primary caregiver. Bowlby’s studies led him to believe that children needed someone dominant for support and reassurance. Without this relationship, Bowlby felt that children would long for stability and security. On the other side of this theory, he believed a child with a strong attachment to a parent knows that they will have their “backs”, and will tend to be more adventurous and eager to have new experiences. Mary Ainsworth
continued to develop many of the ideas that went alongside Bowlby’s ideas. Ainsworth identified the existence of what she called the, "attachment behavior." This behavior is something that insecure children will perform in hopes of establishing a relationship to a absent caregiver. In the study she conducted an experiment of a broad section of children with varying degrees of attachment. The children were then separated from their caregivers and their responses were observed. The children with strong attachments were relatively calm, seeming to be secure in the belief that their caregivers would return shortly, whereas the children with weak attachments would cry and demonstrate great distress. Later in the same study, children were exposed to more stressful situations, during which nearly all of them began to exhibit particular behaviors that were effective in attracting the attention of their caregivers. This theory is one I truly support since I have experienced a lot of detachment issues while I have babysat children. This theory and the context that goes along with them seem to be the best representation of what I have experienced.