An Evalution Of The Attachment Theory Essay

An Evalution of the Attachment Theory Essay
THE ATTACHMENT THEORY
AN EVALUTION OF THE ATTACHMENT THEORY
WHEN WORKING WITH CHILDREN IN CARE
Gail Walters
Dissertation
Social Work BA (HONS)
Manchester Metropolitan University
Tutor: Pauline Black
CONTENTS
Pages
Abstract 3
Acknowledgements 4
Statement of Ownership 5

Chapter1: Introduction
1. An...show more content...
Theory based strategies help carers of Looked after Children to facilitate and rebuild secure attachments when they are supporting and working with
children in care, or if they move placements for example, into an adoptive or foster family. These strategies help the carers manage and understand
challenging behaviour that is often caused as a consequence of an insecure attachment. Attachment can be defined as a long–lasting bond that is
developed by infants towards their parents and is described as 'a positive emotional link between two people – a link of affection'.
(Lindon,1998,35,Cited in Crawford et al, 2005). Attachment disorders can impact on a child's developmental wellbeing throughout childhood and into
adolescence. Evaluating the attachment theory can show different ways these disorders affect the relationship of the child and carer.
British psychotherapist, John Bowlby (1907–1990) was recognized as the father of the attachment theory and advanced a multidisciplinary stance,
which included psychoanalysis with ethnology and cognitive development. Bowlby (1969) wanted to understand more about the level of distress that
occurred in infants when they were separated from their parents and how that experience impacted on their developmental wellbeing.
There are strong associations between early insecure attachments and later negative vulnerabilities and problematical
Get more content on HelpWriting.net

Essay on Attachment Theory
To gain a better insight of attachment theory Mary S. Ainsworth developed a concept unfolding the underlying behaviors infants display towards their
mothers. Without a mother infant bond, insecure attachment can develop causing psychological and emotional stresses. However, a maternal bond is
needed for a healthy development in an infant, without the necessary mother infant bond negative behaviors can arise leading to difficulties in
relationships, negative behaviors, and an anxious attachment beyond infancy caused by a lack of the care giving system. In order for children to
thrive, infants need to experience healthy nurturing relationships with their mother or caregiver. Nevertheless, without a mother infant attachment bond
the growth...show more content...
Mother infant attachment plays an import role is psychosocial and behavioral dispositions. Attachment beyond infancy Bowlby distinguishes four main
levels in the development of attachment behavior. Phase (1) orientation and signals without discrimination of figure; Phase (2) orientation and signals
directed toward one or more discriminated figures; Phase (3) maintenance of proximity to a discriminated figure by means of locomotion; Phase (4)
formation of a reciprocal relation (Ainsworth, 1969, p. 30). Phase (1) during the first few weeks of infancy, demonstrates ways to discriminate from
one another, by responding with grasping, smiling, and crying by responding to tactile functions and stimuli. Phase (2) infant behaves in the same way
as phase one, but in a discrete fashion by displaying behaviors by mothers voice, such as crying, smiling, and by touch. Phase (3) infant shows
behaviors when mother approaches, using signals such as, climbing, exploring, clinging to mother, and using the mother or caregiver as a secure base.
Phase (4) infant predicts mother's movement and adopting mother's behaviors as his/her own (Ainsworth, 1969). Early attachment is needed for healthy

Attachment Theory: A Case Study
All of this evidence suggests that parasocial relationships are comparable, if not exactly equivalent, to an individual's real–life relationships.
Consequently, one can see important implications for attachment theory, which describes characteristic patterns of interpersonal attachment among
individuals. According to attachment theory, an individual's interactions with others are influenced by the childhood relationship with his or her
primary caregiver (Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1980; Hazan & Shaver, 1987). Over time, these early experiences and interactions form "working models" of
attachment, or cognitive representations of self and others, that revolve around the regulation and fulfillment of the infant's needs. The end result is a
characteristic...show more content...
Avoidant infants, who have learned that their proximity seeking will be rejected, show a pattern of avoidance to their primary caregiver.
Anxious–ambivalent (or anxious–resistant) infants, who have learned that attachment figures are inconsistent and unreliable, are preoccupied with the
whereabouts of their attachment figures, and often display ambivalent or conflicted behaviours toward them. Although these internal working models
may be malleable and subject to revision in the light of new attachment experiences (Hazan & Shaver, 1987), they seem to be resistant to change and
extend into adulthood (Fraley, 2002). This may be due, at least in part, to the reciprocal nature of interactions with others: not only do working models
shape an individual's interactions with the environment, but they also shape the interpretation of the environment's effects on the individual, and
therefore tend to reinforce the individual's original belief (e.g., an avoidant individual will often interpret people's actions in a negative way, which
supports their negative beliefs about people, and reinforces their underlying

Attachment Theory And Family Systems Theory Essay
When a parent is incarcerated, we often think about the negative impacts that it leaves on the child. However, what is often overlooked are the negative
effects that the incarceration of one partner can have on the attachment and parenting styles of both partners. When a father is incarcerated the mother
becomes the primary caregiver, causing a stress. This stress often impacts the mother's attachment with her child and the parenting style. Likewise, the
father begins to feel a loss of control, lower self–esteem, and feel powerless in the situation. Attachment theory and Family Systems theory relates to
the issues that arise when a parent is incarcerated. Attachment theory is based on the idea that children's sense of contingent on the relationships
formed with their caregivers. How assured they are in this security predicts the their development of cognitive and social skills continuing into
adulthood (Makariev & Shaver, 2010). Family systems theory explains how everyday functioning develops, either in roles, behaviors, rules, goals, and
how families adapt to change. Not only does it describe the everyday functioning, but it describes the relationships within the family subsystem. They
describe this relationship between parent and child to be bidirectional meaning that influences are two ways. This direction begins to evolve, as the
child grows older (Binger & Gerhardt, 2014). There are programs within prisons that use these theories, and help to alleviate some of the

Attachment Theory: A Case Study
Summary As we have seen in Rose's counseling session, past relational patterns are elicited from exploration of the patients' past and early
relationships. Key themes are: the degree of love and care (emotional warmth) they experienced in early life; the degree of neglect and abuse; and
the types and qualities of core conflicts. In Rose's case, the key issue, as Dr. Berenson discovers over the course of the interview is the subtle
manipulation of a mother by her child. She tests her and puts her through a lot of stress, to see how she responds; in this case losing sleep and
stressing over the situation. Critical analysis Emerging from early relating patterns, people develop a number of 'working models' (Bowlby 1980) or
schemas (Young et al. 2005) about themselves and others. In cognitive interpersonal therapy it is the emotional core of these schemas that it is crucial
to understand. These arise from previous, direct emotional experiences and are key to the sense of one's core identity. When they are activated they
give rise to direct emotional experiences within the self (Guidano and Liotti 1983) and may not be easily coded into language. This does not mean that
core emotional schemas arise only before language, as some suggest (Young 2004); it can also be their direct emotional quality (as in trauma and
shame) which is important. Research has shown that the way the caregiver and infant interact has a significant effect on the maturation of the infant's
nervous system,

Personal Reflection According to John Bowlby's Attachment Theory, children come into the world "programed" to create attachments with others in
order to help them survive. The attachment that is created during the infants first few days and week of life is extremely important. The attachment that
is created early on in the life, can affect development through out ones life. During Anisworth's research, she established several types of attachment
styles. The securely attached child would be visibly upset when their mother walked out of the room and wanted the mother's attention once she came
back into the room. The Avoidantly attached child did not really cry when they were separated and chose to avoid their mothers when they came back.
...show more content...
After quite sometime of spending every single day with my dad, I started to call my dad mom. I referred to him as both dad and mom. When my
mom finally returned, I didn't automatically change over to calling her mom. The issue here was that I would say mom and look at my dad, even
thought my mom was back. Now, I did talk to my mom over the phone while she was away and my dad reminded me every single day that she is
coming back yet I couldn't adjust. This carried on for about two or three weeks after she got back from Italy. I do not actually remember what kind
of contact I had with her when she got back or how I reacted after almost seven months of not seeing her. But I do recall my mom trying to give me
a hug and I ran to my dad saying "mom". According to Orville Brime and Jerome Kagan "Sometimes after 6 months of age, babies begin to show a
decided preference for a particular adult, usually the mother...during any time of stress–anxiety, illness, appearance of strangers–the baby will move to
the preferred adult."(pg. 16)
In my case, I formed a stronger bond with my dad while my mom was away for those seven months. Even though I was five years old, I looked at
my dad as someone who was there and someone I can run to when I was in a stressful situation. Now that I think about this, I spent more time with my
dad than mom in general. My mom would usually work till the night hours at the grocery store and my dad would be the one that

BowlbyвЂ™s Attachment Theory Essay example
Bowlby's attachment theory has greatly influenced practice. His theory of attachment explains the importance of having a figure that the child shares a
strong bond with. Having an attachment can significantly support a child's development as Barbara Woods suggests that "his theory of attachment
proposed that attachment is innate in both infants and mothers, and that the formation of this attachment is crucial for the infants development" Wood,
B (2001, p.53). Bowlby believed that forming an attachment will help a child develop in all areas e.g. emotionally, physical and mentally. However if
they did not form an attachment in the sensitive period, the child may have issues or problems in their cognitive, emotional and social development.
If any problems occur to the child, they can return to their secure base which is their key worker, who can offer them comfort. Although key workers
are not there for children who have not formed an attachment with their parents, they are they to offer support and comfort. The strength of Bowlby's
approach is that it has introduced the key worker system, which has helped a great deal with supporting children's needs and development. Key
workers can track their progress and plan and implement activities which promote their development. While working at my last year's placement in a
nursery setting, I was informed that each child had a key worker assigned to them. I observed that when parents would leave their children, some
would cry and get upset, the key worker would then take them aside and comfort them or try to distract them. Having the key workers there for them
made the child more emotionally secure. His theory has also influenced other child care practices such as hospitals. Parents are now able to stay with
their children due to understanding their emotional development can be disrupted if their attachment figure is not with them through a difficult period
of their life when they need support. "Parent's were encouraged to be with the child in hospital: nursing care and the ward itself became
child–centered" Wood, B (2001, p.60). Some research states that children need to have a good relationship

The Development of Attachment Essay
One of the most important factors that affect child development is the relationship of the child with their primary caregiver. This is a tenet of
developmental psychology known as attachment theory. John Bowlby, the creator of this theory, wanted to examine how early childhood experiences
influence personality development. Attachment theory specifically examines infant's reactions to being separated from their primary caregiver. Bowlby
hypothesized that the differences in how children react to these situations demonstrates basic behavioral differences in infancy that will have
consequences for later social and emotional development.
To study attachment theory, Mary Ainsworth developed the Strange Situation Paradigm. This procedure
They also show high levels of stress during separation and remain distressed even after the reunion. Although these are the two main insecure
attachment categories, current research suggests that there are countless forms of insecure attachment patterns besides the ones Ainsworth highlighted
in her research (Barnett & Vondra, 1999).
The Strange Situation is meant to be a snapshot of the relationship between infant and caregiver, and provide insight into the dyadic patterns that define
this bond. Securely attached children are thought to have a primary caregiver who is sensitive, available and receptive to their infants needs.
Insecure–avoidant children have primary caregivers who are intrusive, controlling and hurtful. These caregivers may be present in the infant's life but
unable to understand their infants needs, and provide the correct response. Caregivers of insecure–ambivalent infants have been found to be
unresponsive to the needs of the infant, and very often unavailable. The effect of this treatment is that the infant is starved for affection and attention.
The infant also feels the need to amplify their needs in an effort to reach their caregiver (Barnett & Vondra, 1999).
There is not only psychological evidence of the importance of the attachment relationship, but also neurobiological evidence. Many important brain
structures, including the amygdala, septal nuclei and hippocampus "require considerable social, emotional,

Short Essay On Attachment Theory
First of all, attachment theory is revealed in this movie. mentions that "" In addition, this theory have two aspects, dismissive and preoccupied. when I
replace with summer and Tom, Summer reflects the dismissive model. Instead of that, Tom reflects the preoccupied model. Firsltly, the reasons why
summer classified the dismissive style are her self–reliance, how she constantly downplays, and distance in relaitonship. In other words, her
communicaitong styls classified as a low self–monitoring; although she has a self –confidentce like she attracts a lot of mens, she usualy avoide
initimacy. Her characteristc is revead this phrase: "I don't feel comfortable being anyone's girlfriend, I don't actually feel comfortable being anyone's
anything... I like being on my own, relationships are messy and people's feelings get hurt, who needs it?" As this sentece shows that, she does not need
the initimacy. In addition, she likes flow communication. for instance, at the first time, she has a passion toward Tom, but in the end they break up
beucase Summer relazied that Tom is one of the best frineds, not boyfriend. It is evid ent that she is...show more content...
It is clear that he tries to invest amd involve hin his relationship with summer. To,m gives a strong effor to pleaseinf summer which shows that he is
like a self–monitor. In addition, he made a effort to adapt his communication style for summer and prioiritize her relaitonship with him over anyone
else in his life. Thus, his dreams and future goals is influenced by Summer. For example, when he conffessed he tried to be a archtest reflected this
characteristic because he never tried before to be a archtest. Thus, the power of the relaitonship is very obviouse here: summer has a superiority and
dominace him. his needy behavior and above–and–beyond attention towards Summer makes him vulnerable. However at the same time it also puts a
lot of pressure on Summer to

Attachment Theory
Attachment theory comes out of the work of John Bowlby. However, it finds its genesis in Freud's Psychoanalysis. Bowlby himself was trained in
psychoanalysis and became a qualified practitioner in the approach. In his early 20s, however, before he enrolled in medical school or in the Institute
of Psychoanalysis, he worked with children with behavior problems. These two forces, these experiences, perhaps formed the foundation and later
development of his Attachment Theory. Spurred on by the number of children separated from their parents during World War II, Bowlby became
interested in the interaction between caretaker and child, and what impact the character of that dynamic had on the development of either healthy or
Bowlby proposed that there are four characteristics of attachment:
1.Proximity Maintenance: The need to be close to the caregiver.
2.Safe Haven: The attachment figure's availability when the child is experiencing distress.
3.Secure Base: Where the caregiver provides a base from which the child can securely explore the local environment.
4.Separation Distress: The anxiety that occurs when the child is separated from their caregiver.
In assessing these characteristics–which was the purpose of Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure–one could conclude what type of attachment was
operating.
Types and Causes of Attachment Styles Bowlby and Ainsworth determined that attachment styles could be effectively differentiated into four distinct
categories based on the observed attachment behaviors, behaviors that were based on the attachment characteristics. These styles, though not
necessarily reflecting a true spectrum, do represent a brief array that includes a healthy schema of attachment, a severely dysfunctional schema, and two
others that fall between. The styles are described by the nature of the manifestation of the characteristic.
1.Secure Attachment Style: The child can use the attachment figure for a secure base for exploration of their environment. Protests caregiver's
departure and seeks proximity and is comforted on return; returns to exploration after soothing. May be comforted by a stranger but shows definitive
preference for the caregiver.

Attachment Theory: Social Work Implications
Short Essay: LaNita Proctor
Introduction
Lehmann and Coady (2001) state that attachment theory adheres to the notion that mental health issues come from detrimental early childhood
caregiver relationships. Lehmann and Coady (2001) further state that this can include a breakdown in relationships that fail to give a child emotional
security, comfort and protection. Lehmann and Coady (2001) reiterate that this can also include bad reactions with caretakers that are inconsistent,
unreliable, insensitive and abusive. This theory is critical in a rural social work setting as it pertains to trauma.
Social Work Implications
Every client a social worker encounters has had an early childhood caregiver in some form or fashion. That relationship...show more content...
Straussner and Calanan (2014) remind us that in spite of developing research that is offering up a solid base of systematic information surrounding
hopeful interventions, there is still a lot to be gleaned about successful interventions with traumatized children and adults–to make sure that we do not
make the situation worse. Straussner and Calanan (2014) finally caution that because of the danger of encountering secondary trauma, social workers
should be cognizant of the peril of laboring over large caseloads of traumatized persons and be taught to take care of themselves so that they do not
turn into part of the overall issue, but are a successful part of the

Essay On Attachment Theory
Attachment Theory was originally created by John Bowlby who is British psychoanalyst in 1958. When John Bowlby as a psychiatrist worked in Child
Guidance Clinic in London in 1930's. He was trying to understand and concerns many emotional children, and think that the most importance influence
on baby's development with the caregiver in social, emotional and cognitive development. This theory to understand long–term emotional and deep
between caregiver and baby. Also, the infant will the tendency to seeking closeness and more secure to the caregiver in the environment. There are four
develop attachment stages begin at infancy. Frist stage is pre–attachment. The infant birth to 6 weeks, they built the signals, bring closer between infant
and...show more content...
When the mother in the room, the baby will seek a room and physical contact with the mother. If a mother leaves the room, they will cry and scream,
and intense distress. The baby becomes happy and greet, and continue playing when the mother returns the room. The general state of a child being
secure, explorative and happy. Mother's responsiveness to her children is quick, sensitive and consistent to understand child's need. They will fulfill the
child's need and, believe and trust them. Avoidant attachment of infant indicates no pressure when the mother leaves the room and alone with a
stranger. If the mother returns room, the baby will avoid interaction and ignore with the mother. 20% of this attachment style sample in the experiment.
This type of infant is not very explorative and emotionally distant. Mother's respond is distant and disengaged to child's signals and needs. They are
subconsciously believing that baby needs probably won't be fulfilled. Only 10%to 15% is the ambivalent and disorganized attachment of infant.
Ambivalent attachment of child is resistance physical contact when mother's return. They will be crying but feel angry when a mother picks up. This
style of child's state of being is anxious and insecure angry. The mother is inconsistent of behavior with the child; sometimes will sensitive and ignored.
They cannot fulfill on infant needs. Last attachment style of the child has contradictory behavior with a

Questions On Attachment Theory
1. Attachment theory is meant to describe and explain people's enduring patterns of relationships across the lifespan. Mary Ainsworth is a prominent
researcher who advanced the theory of attachment. Parenting style, on the other hand, is the reciprocal, enduring tie between infant and caregiver, each
of whom contributes to the quality of the relationship. Discuss your attachment style as a child and your mother and/or father's parenting style. How
do your attachment style and the parenting style affect your present relationships? (1000 words) 2. The theory of Multiple Intelligences by Howard
Gardner expanded the definition of intelligence. (a) Describe the benefits of this theory in everyday life (for example, in school setting). (b) Assess the
type of...show more content...
According to Bowlby, children who face abusive relationship, or have an insecure or unreliable caregivers end up in the later stage having a disturbed
parenting style and skills.
John Bowlby attachment theory
His theory explains the importance of various forms of attachments that children adopt for their survival. The main concepts involved in John Bowlby's
attachment theory are as follows:
1.Child by nature gets attached to the caregivers; their relationship with their mother is different from other relationship.
2.At least for the first two years of growth the child should receive continuous care and concern form the attachment figure.
3.Deprivation of affection and concern from the attachment figure will lead the child to depression, delinquency and other psychological issues in the
later stages of life.
Hence in the year 1969 John Bowlby designed an internal working model, which gives the relationship of individual with the world, self and others.
INTERNAL WORKING MODEL: JOHN

Attachment is the emotional bond between humans, which is based on our relationship with a parent or early caregiver during the years of childhood.
There are four different attachment styles – secure, preoccupied, dismissive, and fearful – each describing a different way in which individuals interact
with others, approach social and romantic relationships, and deal with life.
Each attachment style is divided along two dimensions – the fear of abandonment and the fear of closeness. Bartholomew and Horowitz define fear of
abandonment as the model of self which describes the belief of an individual to be either "worthy of love and support or not" (1991). They also define
fear of closeness as the model of other which describes an individual's...show more content...
The preoccupied attachment style is characterized by low fear of closeness and high fear of abandonment. Individuals classified as preoccupied have a
negative model of themselves. Because preoccupies see themselves as unworthy of love and unsupportive, they tend to "strive for self–acceptance by
gaining the acceptance of valued others" (Bartholomew, 227) and would do everything to keep people in their life; Preoccupied individuals try to
avoid any kind of conflict in order to make themselves loveable and others happy. Despite the fact that preoccupies often see others as trustworthy and
available, they also feel that others do not care about them as much as they care about others.
Somebody I would classify as preoccupied would be my ex–boyfriend. He always felt that other people around him would not care as much about him
as he cared about them. He was worried that I would not love him as much as he loved me and that I would not return his love. Whenever I broke up
with him, he became upset; he talked to my parents and friends, texted me every day and tried to convince me to go back to him.
My ex–boyfriend tried to avoid any kind of conflict – not just with me, but also with his parents – just to keep us happy. However, every time we had a
conflict, he either agreed with me or felt bad afterwards and was afraid that I would not love him anymore.

Attachment Theory And Attachment Theories
To begin with attachment theory, first everyone should understand what the attachment is. According to attachment means bonding between a child
and caregiver or vice versa. The attachment theory is the theory that describes the long term interpersonal relationship between the humans. Also, it can
be defined as the strong bond between parent and child, and later in peer and romantic relationship (Metzger, Erdman, Ng 85). It generates a specific
fact that how the humans react in relationships when they get hurt, separated from loved ones and perceiving a threat. Basically the two main types of
attachment are secure and insecure. Secure attachment is the attachments where mother and father are available for their child and during that time
child demonstrates his or her stress and reestablish the connection (Metzger, Erdman, Ng 87). Insecure attachment is the attachment where parents are
not regularly in touch with their children or they ignore their child which built a failed emotion communication (Metzger, Erdman, Ng 87). Also, it
may be repeated from one generation to another until it is not recovered. However, as a result of attachment theory, it is so important for children to
know about it and there are also several emotional effects on children when their parents leave to go to another county due to their connections or bond
between them. The children have to understand the importance of attachment theory because, it may help them to solve many

Attachment Theory Essay
Chris Livoti3/5/13
IB Psychology Mrs. Urso John Bowlby is the pioneer of the attachment theory and worked with children who had been separated from their parents
during World War 2. He observed that many of these children developed emotional problems, and he made the connection that the emotional
problems stemmed from the separation from the mother. Bowlby was born in London to an upper class family, and would rarely see, and interact
with his mother. At the young age of seven he was sent off to boarding school, which was very common for boys of his social status. He would later
go on to say "I wouldn't send a dog away to boarding school at age seven." These circumstances would lead...show more content...
Finally was mild deprivation which could result in minor problems for the child, but no serious complications. Bowlby's main theory which he is most
well known for is his Attachment Theory. Bowlby believed that for a strong attachment to be formed there must be proximity maintenance (the desire to
be near the people we are attached to), a safe haven(returning to the attachment figure for comfort and safety in the face of a fear or threat), a secure
base(the attachment figure acts as a base of security from which the child can explore the surrounding environment),and separation distress (anxiety
that occurs in the absence of the attachment figure). The main points of his attachment theory were that a child has an innate need to attach to one
main attachment figure(monotropy). Another main point in his theory was that he believed a child should receive the continuous care of the single
most important attachment figure for the first two years of life. Bowlby used the term maternal deprivation to refer to the failure to develop an
attachment, and to refer to the separation or loss of a mother. To support his hypothesis that the relationship between the infant and mother in the first
five years was crucial to socialization, and the disruption of this relationship can lead to emotional difficulties, antisocial behavior, and delinquency, he
studied forty–four juvenile delinquents in a child guidance clinic. The study was called the forty four thieves study, and the goal was

Reflection On Attachment Theory
Introduction
Bereavement is inevitable and fundamental human's experience. Grieving on loss can trigger diverse reaction and some can be morbid. The reason
contributes to the problematic grief can draw from different aspect such as culture, attachment, and different type of bereavement etc. Therefore, this
paper is examined the mourning for loss on the loving relationship between my father and I, which I never experienced, to approach the theme of loss
with different theories. The paper is going to separate into 4 different sessions to explain the loss I felt with personal and profession tone. The first is the
attachment theory, to explain the way I establish my reaction to bereavement. The second part is disenfranchised grief to talk about the feeling of
disenfranchised grift and how it became complicated grief. The third part is explanation of my complicated grief and comforting object. The final part
is impact of grief on counselling.
Before I begin my assessment, I ask myself a question. Can I have feeling of loss in something I never had? I search this answer from different
sources. The answer is clearly no. One response even says that greedy people like me never appreciate thing that I already had. After a strong debate in
my head, I still decide to write on this topic because the feelings of loss are real to me.
Attachment Theory
Attachment theory is based on an observation of the child's behavior during the separation between the caregiver and the child (Parkes,

Attachment Theory
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 that fear of strangers was an important survival mechanism; he said that babies
display natural behaviours, such as: crying, laughing, smiling and crawling, this ensures the baby to feel in close contact with the mother. Attachment
is an...show more content...
Children with attachment disorders will have a lack of self–esteem and trust, and will fears forming a bond with people. Attachment disorder will most
likely to result in emotional and behavioural problems, such as: a child displaying aggressive behaviour to attract negative attention. It is also said that
child suffering Mary Ainsworth, a psychologist, was most famous for her research and explanations of the differences between attachments. Mary
Ainsworth made an assessment called 'Strange Situations Classification;' this was used to investigate how attachments vary. This assessment was
used to observe the variety of attachment forms displayed between mothers and their child. The assessment is set up in a small room with one way
glass so the behaviour of the infant can be observed. Infants were aged between 12 and 18 months. The sample comprised about 100 middle class
American families. The assessment was observed for seven, three minute episodes, which are: 1) Parent and infant alone. 2) Stranger joins parent and
infant. 3) Parent leaves infant and stranger alone. 4) Parent returns and stranger leaves. 5) Parent leaves; infant left completely alone. 6) Stranger
returns. 7) Parent returns and stranger leaves. During these episodes the child was observed for: separation anxiety, the infants' willingness to explore,
stranger anxiety and

John Bowlby's Attachment Theory Essay
John Bowlby's attachment theory established that an infant's earliest relationship with their primary caregiver or mother shaped their later development
and characterized their human life, "from the cradle to the grave" (Bowlby, 1979, p. 129). The attachment style that an infant develops with their parent
later reflects on their self–esteem, well–being and the romantic relationships that they form. Bowlby's attachment theory had extensive research done by
Mary Ainsworth, who studied the mother–infant interactions specifically regarding the theme of an infant's exploration of their surrounding and the
separation from their mother in an experiment called the strange situation. Ainsworth defined the four attachment styles: secure,...show more content...
An infant with a secure attachment style has a natural bond with their parent, where they are able to trust them, at the same time leaving their side to
discover and explore their surroundings. In an insecure/resistant attachment the relationship the child has with their mother or caregiver is very clingy,
thus making them very upset once the caregiver is away. When the mother or caregiver is back they are not easily comforted and resist their effort in
comforting them. In an insecure/avoidant attachment the infant is, "indifferent and seems to avoid the mother, they are as easily comforted by a
stranger, as by their parent" (Siegler 2011, p.429). Lastly, the disorganized/disoriented attachment is another insecure attachment style in which the
infant has no way of coping with stress making their behavior confusing or contradictory. Through these brief descriptions of the attachment theory,
many researchers have defined the turning point in which each attachment definition can have an influence on one's self esteem, well–being and their
marital relationship.
Since the attachment theory provides a fundamental framework of an infant's development from womb to tomb, this research can be used to
characterize specific behavior that a person may develop from childhood throughout adulthood. In Huis in 't Veld

An Evalution Of The Attachment Theory Essay

More Related Content

More from Paper Writing Help Wise (16)

Recently uploaded (20)

An Evalution Of The Attachment Theory Essay