John Bowlby Attachment Theory Essay

The birth of a child begins a life-long process of joint adaptation between the child and his or her caregivers and the larger social environment. Relations and forms of interactions developed during the early stages of life serve as a basis for many interactions later in life and might have life-long effects (Bowlby 1969). Young children do not have the ability to verbally express what they need to their caregivers, so children often convey their needs through their behavior. Parents are often unmindful of their child's feelings or the mental depictions of their emotions. This un-mindfulness can cause adverse effects to a child’s positive attachment goals later in life but being mindful of these feelings can help to develop healthy attachment relationship’s (Flemming, 2008). Whether a child has
Bowlby theorized that there are four phases within the attachment theory. Phase 1 is from birth to two months, where infants automatically focus their attachment to human figures, meaning strangers, siblings, and parents are equally likely to produce smiling or crying from the infant. Phase 2 is from two to seven months, where the attachment becomes more focused on a single figure, usually the primary caregiver, as the baby slowly learns to differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar people. Phase 3, from three to 24 months, is where specific attachments develop. With the increase in locomotor skills, babies enthusiastically seek contact with regular caregivers, like their mother or father. Phase 4, 24 months on, is the phase where children start to become conscious of the feelings, goals, and plans of other people and start to take these into consideration in leading their own actions (Driscoll,