Bowlby's Attachment Theory

Parents play a vital role in the social development of a child. Social development is the way in which children interact with their peers and how they progress within society. This develpment is highly determined on the parent’s role in the child’s early life and can sometimes have long term effects. There are many studies that have been carried out that support the theory that a parents role and parenting style can effect a child’s social development; Bowlby’s (1969) attachment theory, Mary Ainsworth’s strange situation procedure and Murray’s (1992) theory on maternal responsiveness play a crucial part in this theory.
British philosopher John Locke stated that all children were born as ‘empty vessels’. These ‘empty vessels’ acquire knowledge from interacting with other people. Parents have a big impact on the knowledge that children learn; this is done through social interactions with the child. Grossmann (2010) stated that children have been able to recognise their mother’s voice from birth and would prefer to look at their own mothers face rather than any other woman’s face, therefore this particular interaction between the mother and child would be crucial for the child’s social and emotional development.
An attachment is a strong emotional bond between two individuals.
Bowlby (1969) believed that there are two types of attachments; Secure and insecure attachments. The type of attachment a child has formed will affect the way they develop socially and emotionally. According to Bowlby, children that have formed a secure attachment tend to use their parents a safe base and see their mother as responsive. However, children who have formed an insecure attachment may avoid their parents and explore their environment less. These children tend to be less dependent on their parents and show no signs of distress when their parents leave them
alone.
Bowlby’s theory is supported by the work of Mary Ainsworth (1978). Ainsworth carried out the strange situation procedure in order to test out Bowlby’s theory. In this procedure Ainsworth assessed the reactions of the children, in order to determine the attachment type. Initially both mother and child are together, they are then joined by a stranger. The mother leaves the stranger and baby alone. Mother returns and stranger leaves. After a few moments, the mother leaves again and the infant is left alone. The stranger re-enters. The mother returns after a few minutes and the stranger leaves. Ainsworth found that the child’s behaviour was influenced by the mother’s behaviour. Although the procedure was found to be highly reliable as a study was carried out in Germany by Warner et al (1994) and found similar results. However, the study does not take in to account any other attachments that the child has formed as the child may have a stronger attachment to their father or grandparents, therefore the procedure lacks validity.