Preview

Explain John Bowlby's Theory Of Attachment

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
395 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Explain John Bowlby's Theory Of Attachment
John Bowlby believed that behavioural and mental health problems can be traced back to childhood. His theory of attachment suggests that children are hardwired to develop attachments to other people because it will ensure survival.

Attachment behaviour and caregiving behaviour are complementary to each other because they behave in ways that secure an attachment.

In a 1951 report, Bowlby claimed that children who were deprived of maternal care for prolonged periods of time during early childhood suffered some degree of intellectual, social, or emotional deficiency later in life.

In extreme cases of children being deprived of maternal care, their condition could potentially result in “affectionless psychopathy”, a term coined by Bowlby,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Furthermore, there are few weaknesses that Bowlby`s attachment theory displays. For instance, his theory promotes the idea that attachment behaviour has evolved therefore the child`s development presents good face validity. But he fails to take into consideration that these evolutionary ideas he proposes are seen as outdated and not universal to today’s modern society. Secondly, the theory is viewed as gender bias because it emphasises on the role of the mother being the caregiver. There is a research that has shown within two parent families, the father `s involvement in the quality of attachment can play major role in the child’s behaviour and development (Grossman & Grossman,…

    • 108 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    John Bowlby was a psychoanalyst and believed that mental health and behavioral problems could be attributed to early childhood. Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachment suggests that children come into the world biologically pre-programmed to form attachments with others, because this will help them to survive.…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Looking over a couple theories that related to Chris and his family, it seemed like attachment theory fit best. I believe that attachment theory is best for Chris because he had that secure attachment with his mom that allowed him branch out and do something completely unexpected of him. He knew that if anything went wrong he had someone there who had his back, which was his mom and sister. That knowledge of security allowed him to go on this journey and experience the unknown. Attachment theory, established by John Bowlby, is a set a concepts that are used to explain the emergence of the emotional bond that forms between an infant and their primary caregiver. It then goes on to explore that way in which the bond affects the child’s emotional…

    • 142 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    We are now going to look into john Bowlby's theory of attachment. John Bowlby was psychoanalyst. This means he looked into how social factor and individual behaviours interact with one another. He believes that a child is influenced the most by relationships.…

    • 177 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bowlby was an evolutionary Psychologist who believed that attachment is a part of evolutionary behaviour and focus on an animal’s instinctive and innate capabilities, and the functions of their behaviour. They believe this is useful for learning about human instinctive and biological behaviour. Attachment behaviour keeps a young animal or human safe. It is behaviour seen in all species of animal. Many species of animal form rapid attachments to either mother almost immediately after birth and young babies follow their mothers around as soon as they can physically walk and use their mother as a secure base for exploration.…

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bowlby’s theory of attachment suggests that children instinctually form attachments with others to help them survive. Overtime children learn to depend on the caregiver and recognize that they will be there to comfort them and keep them safe. Attachment behaviors develop to protect against situations that threaten the closeness of those attachments. Bowlby suggested that infants and mothers have a biological need to stay in contact with each other so the child would have a secure base for exploring the world.…

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Firstly, this essay is going to discuss John Bowlby’s Attachment Theory, which was developed in 1969(REFERENCE), and how it can identify differences between individuals. According to Gross (2015), an attachment is:…

    • 1727 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Bowlby (1969) proposed that millions of years of evolution had produced a behaviour that is essential to the survival chances of human infants. He believed that human babies are born helpless and totally independent on the primary caregiver producing the baby with food, warmth, shelter, for their well-being and survival – this helplessness and total independence on the primary caregiver acts as a social releaser making the caregiver have a caregiving reaction towards the baby helping to produce an attachment between the baby and the primary caregiver. Bowlby believed that if this attachment was not made during a sensitive period the infant would not be able to make attachments as the child grew up and wouldn’t be able to survive to a reproductive age.…

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bowlby Attachment Theory

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages

    John Bowlby believed that mental health and behavioral problems could be attributed to early childhood. Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachment suggests that children come into the world biologically pre-programmed to form attachments with others, because this will help them to survive.…

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Bowlby’s theory of attachment led to believe the importance of the child’s relationship with their mother in terms of their social, emotional and cognitive development. Specifically, it shaped his belief about the link between early infant separations with the mother and later, led Bowlby to formulate his attachment theory.…

    • 1428 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the development through the lifespan textbook, Feldman mentions that the most important part of a child's life is attachment. It all starts when an infant at the end of the first year develops stranger and separation anxiety (Feldman, 2007). When children are around their parents and other caregivers, they feel safe at all times. When a child is around someone who is a stranger and not their caregiver, they're more likely to experience fear. According to John Bowlby's view of attachment, attachment is needed for children to feel safe and secure around their parents.…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be...”(John Lennon). Fate is shown to have a big significance in literature to progress stories and showcase themes. In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare it is demonstrated that fate, not choice is the most influential force to shape one’s life.…

    • 247 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Attachment is a key part of childhood and there are many theories on how humans attach to their caregivers in childhood. Bowlby’s(1958) theory on childhood attachment drives from his idea that humans have an innate disposition to form a close attachment to one special caregiver or monotropy. This is the survival of the fittest idea, that only babies with strong attachments to their mothers will live through to adulthood and although that is not something that strictly applies to modern day life, research has shown that children who don’t make a secure first attachment with in the critical period, before the age of two and a half, may suffer major consequences such as difficulty showing affection(counselling dictionary), higher levels of aggression, lower IQ’s. Bowlby’s theory also distances itself from the learning theory as Bowlby thought that children attach through…

    • 1015 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Harry and Marguerite Harlow, John Bowlby, and Mary Aisworth figure among the most notorious attachment theorists. The Harlows conducted the first experimental research regarding the effects of attachment. In their study they used baby monkeys and separate them from their mothers approximately eight hours after birth. These monkeys were raised in experimental chambers, were they were exposed to non-living surrogate mothers: some were made of wire, others were covered with terrycloth. Some of the monkeys were allowed to come in interaction with both figures.…

    • 671 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays