and Q: Describe and Evaluate Bowlby’s theory of attachment (12): Bowlby’s theory consists of five different areas. First of all, there is ‘adaptive’. Bowlby believed that all attachments are adaptive and that it is an advantage in order to survive. This action promotes survival because it ensures safety and food for offspring, and individuals who are attached are more likely to survive and go on to reproduce. Secondly, he suggests that infants are born with innate social releasers, such as crying and smiling, and that they also have cute faces to elicit care-giving.
Bowlby argued that attachment was an "evolved mechanism;" an innate response that ensured the survival of the child. Bowlby argued that the first attachment between a baby and its caregiver provided the child with an internal working model. This is referred to as the continuity hypothesis and it gives the child an idea of themselves as lovable (or not) and of other people as trustworthy (or not.) Bowlby suggested the idea of monotropy in his attachment theory; the idea that an attachment to a single caregiver provides the experience of an intense emotional relationship and forms the basis of the internal working model; it is the schema a child has for forming future relationships, both socially and personally. He also described social releasers; sucking, smiling, crying and cuddling.
John Bowlby There is a great deal of research on the social development of children. John Bowbly proposed one of the earliest theories of social development. Bowlby believed that early relationships with caregivers play a major role in child development and continue to influence social relationships throughout life. What is Attachment? Attachment is a special emotional relationship that involves an exchange of comfort, care, and pleasure.
Attachment theory, as postulated by John Bowlby, sought to achieve just that. Bowlby's aim was to discover the consequences of difficulties in forming attachments in childhood, and the effects this would have on an infant's later development. Drawing on much work in the psychoanalytic literature, such as that of Freud and Harlow, Bowlby formulated the idea that infants develop a close emotional bond with an attachment figure early in life, and that the success or failure of this earliest of relationships lead the infant to form a mental representation that would have profound effects on their later relationships and their own success as a parent. A concept that Bowlby referred to as an internal working model. (Bowlby, 1969) Fonagy et al.
For example if a child has insecure attachments as a child, this would lead to be shown in difficulties with later relationships. In bowlbys theory, attachment being innate, means that the child has built mechanisms known as ‘social releasers’ which encourages care-giving behavior from parents for example the
Bowlby believed that a mother has similar genetic coding that allows her to react instinctive to, and respond to her infants needs. Bowlby stated that the first attachment formed is the most important and he believed this should be the mother. He called this “monotrophy”. This attachment must be formed within a “critical period” in the infant’s early life for it to be effective. This first attachment is imperative to enable the child to go on and form other attachments and develop socially and emotionally.
Attachment can form at any age but early attachments are formed through being sociable from birth, this happens through interactions with people from the moment they are born. An example of a social interaction that can later contribute to the child forming a bond is face recognition. This is being able to recognise familiar faces and therefore can be the start of a bond. If early attachment is made with another person, for example this may be the main carer, then the child is likely to go on to strengthen that bond until firm attachments are made. Attachment allows the child to learn trust and feel secure with the person they are bonding with, this is important in how they form relationships with others.
Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachment suggests that children come into theworld pre-programmed to form attachments with others as this will help them tosurvive. His theory consists of five clear factors that were linked to the developmentof attachment from an infant to its primary care giver; usually the mother. Firstly hestates that attachments are “adaptive” which means the child is at an advantageto survive as it ensures safety and food in order to reproduce. Bowlby states thatchildren are born with innate social releasers such as laughing, crying and attractivefacial features including big cheeks and large eyes which provide them with extracare and comfort. It is important for the infant to form a bond with its caregiverwithin a certain period of time, also known as the critical period.
He proposed a theory of continuation; individuals who are securely attached during infancy develop to be socially and emotionally competent in the future, on the other hand, insecurely attached children have more social and emotional difficulties later on in childhood and adulthood. The reason behind this is because the mother’s behaviour creates an internal working model of relationships that in effect leads the infants to expect the same in later relationships. According to Bowlby, children have an innate determination to become attached to a caregiver because it has long-term benefits as does Imprinting. This is because both attachment and imprinting ensures that a young child/animal stays close to a caregiver who can provide it with food, comfort and protection. In this way, attachment and imprinting are adaptive behaviours.
First, the formulation of Bowlby's theory will be explained. This will be followed by a presentation of research which enabled the discovery of different forms of attachment. Also factors influencing infant's internal working model such as parental sensitivity and association between early attachment, and later development as well as the concept of transmission of attachment will be discussed. Moreover changes to original theory in light of this research will be examined. According to Bowlby (1973) a strong emotional bond between the mother figure and the infant called attachment has the biological origin.