Bowlby believed that attachments are natural and adaptive. He also believed that we are all born with an inherited need to form attachments and this is to help us survive. This can also line up with Darwin’s theory of natural selection, which explains that any behaviour that helps us to survive to maturity and reproduce will be maintained in the gene pool. For example; a baby relies on its mother for food and care etc and without the mother the baby would be helpless. Babies have social releaser which unlocks the innate tendency for adults to care for them; these are both physical and behavioural social releasers.
Bowlby argued that the attachment behaviours in both caregivers and babies evolved ensuring the survival of the baby until maturity and reproduce. Babies produce instincts like crying and smiling which encourages the caregiver to look after it. Parents especial mothers as per to Bowlby have instincts to protect their baby from harm and nurture them ensuring their survival until maturity. Those babies and mother who don’t possess these behaviours have been less successful. A second most important concept in Bowlby’s theory was the idea of monotrophy a single attachment to one person who is most important to the baby.
This means that this theory is much more valid and so can be applied to real life situations such as ensuring that a baby is immediately given to the mother after birth to ensure that they become attached. Having said this, this theory lacks historical validity. This is because it is sexist as it was put forward before the feminist movement in which women gained much more independence and no longer remained the primary caregiver. In the modern day there are many fathers who stay at home to take care of the infant while the mother goes out to work, these children do not always go on to form emotional problems. This shows that this theory needs to be altered slightly so as to apply to the modern day.
Bowlby begun to explore this. Bowlby (as cited in Oates, 2005) was inspired by this previous ethological work and was interested in linking such findings with human development (Oates, 2005). Bowlby’s focus was children’s attachment during the critical period and the effect it has on later development. Bowlby was influenced by work of Winnicot. Winnicot’s (1953) work on mothers and infants demonstrated the important for mothers to be emotionally ready to be a ‘good enough mother’ by having tolerance of waiting out a child’s frustration and the confidence in providing satisfaction (Oates, 2005).
Whilst early theories pertaining to maternal interaction and deprivation can be found in the works of Sigmund Freud, Rene Spitz and Harry Harlow, Attachment Psychologist John Bowlby is largely regarded as the pioneer in the field (Peterson, 2004). Bowlby believed attachment to be an innate adaptive method applied by the child in an attempt to meet primary survival needs (i.e. food, shelter, mental stimulation). In order to secure these primary needs, newborn infants will attempt to form secure attachments to primary caregivers. If secured the child will receive ample attention and have basic needs met.
Therefore, if there is no consistent caregiver over this period, it is highly unlikely that the baby will form an attachment. However, the amount of time adults spend with infants is not the only factor determining whether attachments will develop. The quality of the adult-infant interaction also becomes equally important. Accordingly, Bowlby believed that infants will develop an attachment to caregivers who have been associated over time with consistent, predictable, and appropriate responses to the infant’s signals, needs and desires (Lamb, Bornstein, and Teti,
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Mai YongsakulPsychology: ATTACHMENTFriday 1 st October 2010Mr. Smith OUTLINE & EVALUATION OF BOWLBY'STHEORY John Bowlby's theory was more evolutionary based. He proposed that attacment wasimportant for survival – infants are physically helpless and need adults to nurture, care andprotect them in order for them to grow. Without this assistance, they would not survive.Therefore, it is likely that human beings had been evolved in such a way that infants were bornwith an intrinsic tedency to form an attachment in order to increase their chances of survival.On the other hand, adults/ the care-givers of an infant too develop an attachment to them.Bowlby suggested that all human beings had some sort of innate programming which helpedthem form attachments – adults would have a drive for helping the infant to survive: caring,nurturing, feeding them etc. The bond/attachment between the care-giver and infant wasconsidered to have a long-term benefit in addition to the short-temr beneifit of ensuring foodand safety.
Discuss the Nature-Nurture debate, as applied to attachment area of developmental psychology. “The reason why the infant in arms wants to perceive the presence of its mother is only because it already knows by experience that she satisfies all of its needs without delay. (Freud 1926, cited in Holmes 1993: p. 63) Freud lay the ground works for the research that has been carried out and is continuously being investigated; the question; What is the nature of the bond linking one human being to another and how does it develop? According to Martin et el, (2007) evidence suggests that human infants are innately able to produce special behaviours that shape and control the behaviour of their carers. Bowlby put forward the principle of monotropy, believing that the infant displays a strong innate tendency to form an attachment with one significant person, not necessarily, but usually the mother.
Child Custody The biggest question that divorcing parents face is who is going to retain custody of the children after the divorce and what role will the other parent play and to what extent. Most parents stress about the outcome of the child and how the divorce will also affect the child. Prior to the 1970’s most mothers were awarded majority of the custody, in the 1970’s research began to show that it was more beneficial for a child to have equal time with both parents, if they are both “fit and loving” (Demo & Fine, 2010, p.66). Although laws have changed to provide father’s more time and access to their child/ children research does show that although some divorced noncustodial fathers become closer to their children after the divorce, the majority greatly reduce their involvement with their children (Bokker, 2006). This is more harmful to the child’s wellbeing on many different levels.