Bowlby Attachment Theory Essay

Attachment theories is an area that has received a large amount of attention and been subject to a considerable amount of further research since the 1950s. This essay will strive look at what makes up the foundations of Bowlby's theory, as well as looking to consider in more detail how this theory has been developed and expanded by other psychology researchers such as Ainsworth and Main and Goldwyn.
Bowlby is a major leading figure in the investigation of parent/child relationships and the development of attachment theory. The interest for him in taking up research in this field was triggered by becoming aware of ethological research surrounding animal imprinting. Mostly the work of Lorenz, who was responsible for discovering the theory that
Winnicott worked directly with mothers and their infants in order to investigate the importance of emotional availability within the relationship and in doing this he looked to challenge the ideology of the 'perfect mother'. Winnicott coined the term 'good-enough mother' in reference to his ideas of how to best build an infants independence and sense of self. These original theories based on the direct relationships between caregiver and infant were a strong basis for Bowlby's ideas and prompted him to personally investigate the significance of attachment to
Another key aspect of Bowlby's original attachment theory which has not been modified but yet has provided considerable basis for further research, is the concept of internal working models (IWM). An IWM is made up of a series of impressions: of the self, the other, and the relationship between the two. These three impressions form a model which enables us to study relationships (Oates. Lewis & Lamb,