Attachment Theory (AT) is essential when determining the relationship between a caregiver and an infant and frequently drawn upon when assessing the “quality” of a relationship (Norton‚ 2003). Attachment to a caregiver is multifaceted and various factors play a role in the assessment of a relationship‚ therefore as a social workers it is critical we understand these factors and also recognize that all theories have their limitations. AT was a term developed by John Bowlby (1988) and was developed
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Attachment Theory John Bowlby was a psychoanalyst and has developed his knowledge and understanding into the theory of Attachment. Bowlby believed that children have been born programmed to form attachments which will help them survive; this is known as evolutionary attachments. Bowlby believed that all attachments are instinctive‚ he said that attachments are shown when the child is under conditions of feeling threatened‚ such as: separation‚ fear and insecurity. In 1969 and 1988 Bowlby suggested
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first relationships‚ attachments and how they relate to others as they develop towards adulthood. The role of a parent is to care for a child’s biological needs‚ provide safe environment‚ to protect and manage discipline however reality is these are not always met. The parent role is partially based on own experiences of childhood‚ relationship
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Theories of attachment 1) “cupboard love” theories – psychodynamic/behaviourists 2) The ethological approach 3) Bowlbys evolutionary theory 4) Social learning theory Studying attachments and their loss can help us understand how early relationship experiences can affect later development What is attachment? An intense emotional relationship that is specific to two people that endure over time. Prolonged separation brings stress and sorrow 1‚ “cupboard love” theory – psychodynamic
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This essay will describe and evaluate Bowlby’s theory of attachment and maternal deprivation hypothesis. The essay will describe the two theories‚ weighing up the strengths and the weaknesses. It will include supporting research by Shaffer and Emerson‚ Ainsworth and Harlow‚ along with criticisms by Rutter. John Bowlby (1907-1990) was a child psychiatrist. He was psychoanalytically and medically trained. In 1945‚ after returning from serving in the armed forces medical service‚ he secured a position
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Outline key features of the evolutionary perspective explanation of attachment and evaluate. An attachment is an emotional bond between two people. It is a two-way process that endures over time. An evolutionary perspective of attachment was researched by the famous John Bowlby in 1969. Bowlby observed both humans and mammals. Bowlby ’s theory is an evolutionary theory‚ he emphasised that attachment had evolved‚ which means it was not something that was taught‚ because of its survival and reproductive
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Attachment is an emotional bond that connects one person to another. It involves the study of human relationships and how they are formed (or not formed‚ in certain instances). Fahlberg (1994) defined attachment as “an affectionate bond between two individuals that endures through space and time and serves to join them emotionally”. The attachment theory suggests that there is a biological importance for infants to form attachments: it is imperative to their survival‚ especially at a young age. Similarly
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Outline and Evaluate Bowlby’s Evolutionary Theory of Attachment. (12mark) Attachment can be described using two theories‚ one being Bowlby’s attachment theory which is based on an evolutionary perspective. The theory suggests that evolution has produced a behaviour that is essential to the survival to allow the passing on of genes. An infant that keeps close to their mother is more likely to survive. The traits that lead to that attachment will be naturally selected. Bowlby has the idea that attachment
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development of children’s understanding‚ through observing them and talking and listening to them while they worked on exercises he set. His view of how children’s minds work and develop has been enormously influential‚ particularly in educational theory. His particular insight was the role of maturation in children’s increasing capacity to understand their world; they cannot undertake certain tasks until they are psychologically mature enough to do so. He proposed that children’s thinking does not
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Describe and evaluate the learning theory for attachments. The learning theory suggests that we are born with a blank slate which means everyone starts off exactly the same‚ and then we learn all of our behaviours once we are born. The learning theory is split into two areas‚ Operant and Classical conditioning. Operant conditioning is one part of the learning theory to describe attachments. This states that attachments are formed through positive and negative reinforcements. An example of positive
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