Preview

John Bowlby's Attachment Theory Analysis

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1727 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
John Bowlby's Attachment Theory Analysis
In this essay it is going to go into detail on John Bowlby’s Attachment theory, Erik Erikson’s stages of development, FREUD and ROGERS. Each theory will be explained and how it can demonstrate differences between individuals.

Firstly, this essay is going to discuss John Bowlby’s Attachment Theory, which was developed in 1969(REFERENCE), and how it can identify differences between individuals. According to Gross (2015), an attachment is:

“…an intense emotional relationship that is specific to two people, that endures over time, and in which prolonged separation from the partner is accompanied by stress and sorrow.” MAY CHANGE TO 1 IN POWERPOINT

An infant develops an attachment based on the psychoanalytic concept of “cupboard love”. In other
…show more content…
The crisis involved in this stage is identity versus role confusion (Schacter, 2011 p477). In other words, this is where they are concerned about what other people think of them. In this stage, the main groups that they are concerned with are their peers and our-groups. These groups are who they try to be like and impress as a way of being accepted (Gross, 2015 p639). Young people tend to socialise with people that they were friends with in primary school of the same gender, then broaden out and become friends with the other sex. Throughout the younger years of this stage, they typically only hang around in big groups of people. However, as they get older they will most likely become closer with another person in or outwith their group that they will go on to have an intimate relationship with (Schacter, 2011 p477). For the duration of the adolescence stage, people tend to spend more time with their peers and less time with their parents. Many of their values and opinions will be influenced by their peers as this is who they are spending all of their time with. It is incredibly important for young people to be accepted by their peers, and if they are not then this can lead to them feeling lonely, isolated and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Furthermore, there are few weaknesses that Bowlby`s attachment theory displays. For instance, his theory promotes the idea that attachment behaviour has evolved therefore the child`s development presents good face validity. But he fails to take into consideration that these evolutionary ideas he proposes are seen as outdated and not universal to today’s modern society. Secondly, the theory is viewed as gender bias because it emphasises on the role of the mother being the caregiver. There is a research that has shown within two parent families, the father `s involvement in the quality of attachment can play major role in the child’s behaviour and development (Grossman & Grossman,…

    • 108 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    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.…

    • 2361 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many researchers have studied attachment; however, John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth are the researchers responsible for the origination of the attachment theory, therefore also becoming catalysts for the research of attachment in the late eighteenth century. Attachment, as defined by Ainsworth, is “‘an affectional tie’ that an infant forms with a caregiver—a tie that binds them together in space and endures over time” (Berger, 2014, p. 142). Furthermore, as described in Berger, the attachment theory assesses the behaviors associated with four identified types of infant attachment. These four types include secure, insecure-resistant/ambivalent, insecure avoidant, and disorganized attachment. Berger defines each of these types as follows: securely…

    • 186 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Looking over a couple theories that related to Chris and his family, it seemed like attachment theory fit best. I believe that attachment theory is best for Chris because he had that secure attachment with his mom that allowed him branch out and do something completely unexpected of him. He knew that if anything went wrong he had someone there who had his back, which was his mom and sister. That knowledge of security allowed him to go on this journey and experience the unknown. Attachment theory, established by John Bowlby, is a set a concepts that are used to explain the emergence of the emotional bond that forms between an infant and their primary caregiver. It then goes on to explore that way in which the bond affects the child’s emotional…

    • 142 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Attachment theory is a concept in developmental psychology that concerns the importance of "attachment" in regards to personal development. John Bowlby was the first Psychologist to experiment this childhood development that he believed depended heavily upon a child's ability to form a strong relationship with at least one primary caregiver. Bowlby’s studies led him to believe that children needed someone dominant for support and reassurance. Without this relationship, Bowlby felt that children would long for stability and security. On the other side of this theory, he believed a child with a strong attachment to a parent knows that they will have their “backs”, and will tend to be more adventurous and eager to have new experiences. Mary Ainsworth…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Psychologists have put forward different explanations of attachment, such as learning theory and Bowlby’s theory.…

    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Contribution tma05

    • 2471 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Bowlby's attachment theory identifies three types of internal working models underpinning three basic infant attachment styles which were later translated empirically by Mary Ainsworth (1989) into infant attachment classifications. The attachment theory relies on the assumption that these internal working models are stable over time and enduring, hence each type of Ainsworth's infant attachment types can be associated with their related adult attachment styles (Wood, Littleton, Oates, 2007). Also it counts on the premise that having established a robust internal working model during early childhood, one is then bound to have 'healthy' relationships in adulthood (Wood, Littleton, Oates, 2007).…

    • 2471 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rudolph Schaffer and Peggy Emerson studied the progress of 60 babies starting from a few weeks old to 18 months. These children were observed in their own home , and a pattern was identified in their development of attachment. They found that babies attachment developed in a sequence…

    • 1428 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    As the scientific realm continues to expand, knowledge surrounding psychiatrist John Bowlby’s Attachment Theory has become increasingly popular in regards to human biological and psychological evolution. Specifically, understanding the cognitive development of the human infant provides justification to the naturally selected pathway that humans have ventured down; including why infant brains develop slower than those of most animals. Selective adaptation has intrinsically inflicted human infants with a period of time that renders them helpless and dependent on others for survival. Many members of the scientific community imply that the delay in infant development is necessary for facilitating the complex construction of the many cultural building blocks important to human dominance over other species. However, from an intra-species perspective, varying parenting attitudes reflect constraints on the necessities for raising a naturally fit individual. Bowlby suggested that attachment is a developing relationship established between a primary caregiver, usually the mother, and her child. (American Orthopsychiatry Association 2010) Attachment behaviors for infants begin early in life and are paralleled by a sponge-like time frame called the critical period. This relationship provides solidification to the foundation of a child 's development; if a child is raised with a sense of secure attachment, he or she will continue into adulthood with the same aptitude of security. With this type of development one will often perceive society as a safe place and will profoundly explore the development of other human emotions, which can be depicted as vitalities in human culture.…

    • 1317 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Lifespan psychology is concerned with the ways in which we change and develop throughout our life and aims to find out firstly if “developmental change in just one aspect of our psychology (personality, biological and cognitive factors) will have an impact on some or all of the others” (Wood, Littleton & Oates, 2007) and secondly if, these factors are affected more by nature (internal factors) or nurture (external factors). One of the theories called upon to explore this is attachment theory which was first introduced by John Bowlby (1907-1990). A British psychoanalyst who was intrigued by the bonds between parent and child and the high levels of distressed he witnessed by the child during separation from the parent. Bowlby believed the distress behaviours shown by the child such as “crying and searching are adaptive responses to separation…from the primary attachment figure” (Fraley, 2010) providing an “evolutionary function” as the primary caregiver provides the essentials for survival at that point.…

    • 2601 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Attachment Theory

    • 1361 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Ainsworth observations, `the strange situation` procedure highlight emotional bond that connects mother/infant, she believed, much like Bowlby 1969(Farrington-Flint 2014 p 77) that responding sensitively and appropriately to the child’s requirement, such behaviour appears universal across cultures. Attachment theory provides an explanation of how the parent/child relationship materializes and influences development, this is supported by Psychologist Bowlby, Harlow, Lorenz theories of attachments. Bowlby also suggested a child forms one primary attachment initially, acting as a model for all future social relationships towards others, peers and personal relationships so disrupting it can have consequences. Whereas John Watson (Farrington-Flint 2014 p 133) proposed through the process of conditioning, explaining aspects of attachments though patterns of stimulus and reaction. The nature via nurture debate continues, and appears that a mixture of both enhances attachments. However the question remains can attachments if delayed be rebuilt over time of which it can but with some consequences as seen in The Open University (2014) ‘Feral children’ which focus on nature/nurture factors in cases such as feral children, Romanian orphans, highlighting extreme…

    • 1361 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    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…

    • 1818 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The psychoanalysis, John Bowlby formulated the idea between psychoanalysis and other subjects. He approached psychoanalysis through Darwinism, by how it has shaped human nature. Bowlby emphasized natural instincts are encountered from the environment that are basic survival skills. Bowlby studied the connection between people, without having to be reciprocal, which developed into the theory of attachment. The relationship between the attachment between child and mother is essential in personal development, and is evolutionary behavior. He claimed the strong bond between the two is instinctual and essential for the child's survival skills. Therefore, the better care and dependence from the parent, the child develops stronger skills, and feels…

    • 262 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    As humans we form attachments with other humans throughout our lifetime. As we go into each stage of life our attachments change. I believe our first attachment as human starts as fetus’s in our mother’s womb. Before we know about life we know our mothers and from that moment our attachment starts. What exactly is an attachment? Attachment is an emotional tie to a specific other person or people that endures across time and space. In 1958 the first attachment theorist by the name of John Bowlby’s came up with the theory that attachments emerges from a system of traits and behaviors that have evolved over time to increase the infant’s chances of survival. He also described attachments as the lasting psychological connectedness between human beings. Through this paper I will attempt to explain the attachment theory as it applies with children from age’s four to six and how their attachment to a parent essentially shapes the life of the child.…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bowlby's Attachment Theory

    • 4698 Words
    • 19 Pages

    The most recognised attachment theorist was a man called John Bowlby, a British Psychologist, Psychoanalyst and Psychiatrist famous for his work and fascination in child development and for his revolutionary and ground-breaking work in attachment theory. Attachment Theory has grown to be the main influential theory applied today in the study of child behaviour, mental health in toddlers, children’s treatments, and associated domains. It is described as an emotional bond and affectionate tie to another person. Bowlby believed that the bonds formed between the caregivers and a child has a huge impact throughout the child’s life. According to Bowlby, through an optimistic shared…

    • 4698 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Powerful Essays