Comparing John Bowlby And Ainsworth's Four Attachment Forms

Have you ever wondered why you act the way the way you do in social or intimate situations? It’s common knowledge that everyone is different, which means that everyone will have different reactions to things. But many people do not know why others or themselves act the way that they do; the way that we act within the relationships that we have with our families, friends and significant others can all be linked to attachment. Attachment can be defined as “ an affectional tie that one person or animal forms between himself and another specific one – a tie that binds them together in space and endures over time”. (SOURCE) Attachment is far from a connection with someone, it’s a bond that makes you want to have consistent contact with that person
In order to better understand those attachment styles we must first understand when and how an infant forms attachments. Bowlby believed there were four stages of attachment; preattachment, attachment in making, clear cut attachment, and formation of reciprocal relationship. Preattachment, newborn to six weeks, infants are able to attract adults to them by crying, smiling, and making eye contact. They are not yet attached to their caregiver, but rather calmed by the company of others. The attachment in the making stage, six weeks to eight months, is when infants begin to develop trust in their caregivers and know they can count on them when they are in need. They also are more likely to be calmed by their caregiver rather than someone else. From the age of eight months to eighteen months-two years, a child is in the clear-cut attachment stage. During this stage attachment is officially established. The child will now start to experience separation anxiety when their caregiver leaves. In the final stage, formation of reciprocal relationships, separation anxiety decreases due to the development of language. The child develops a sense of security and understands that when their caregiver leaves they will return. Using this information on the stages of attachment, Ainsworth was able to use infants that had already formed attachments and thus use her findings to create four
This was not what J.R. Harris, a critic of Bowlby’s theory, believed; she believed that peers have a greater influence on children than their parents do. This belief brings us to the Nature versus Nurture debate. Nature refers to the genetics that parents pass down to their children, while nurture is the way that a child is raised. Harris does not agree that nurture and environment is the same thing like many textbooks lead one to believe, and she also calls this the nurture assumption. She believes that what a child may learn in their home life may not be used in their outside world. This assumption causes parents to think that if they raise their child wrong, it will ruin their child’s life. This is not the case however, because a child is subject to peer pressure and even if parents try to raise their child the best way they know how, their children could still end up acting more like their