Discuss research into the disruption of attachments.

by thenainoji (student)

Discuss research into the disruption of attachments. (12 marks)

According to Bowlby, if an infant experiences disruption to an attachment then it would suffer both emotionally and socially later in life. This is called the maternal deprivation hypothesis. Bowlby supported his theory with his research on juvenile delinquents. He found that of the juvenile thieves reported to be `affectionless psychopaths` 86% had experienced early attachment disruption. For Bowlby, this was evidence that early disruption can lead to later problems. However, this research was correlational, so it is not proving that early disruption cause delinquency. Also, the data about early attachment experience was gathered retrospectively, so might be reliable. Other research appears to contradict Bowlby’s hypothesis. For example, Freud and Dann studied the development of a group of six children rescued from a Nazi concentration camp. They spent their early life in the absence of adults to provide care. They all suffered attachment disruption but Freud and Dann reported that they had no social/emotional problems later in life.

According to Stovall and Dozier being placed in foster care means that children experience a serious disruption to their attachment relationships, and that this kind of separation can lead to a variety of problems, such as withdrawal and depression. The age at which fostering occurs appears crucial. This is supported by Tyrell and Dozier. They interviewed foster parents about attachment-related difficulties and found that, although there were some problems with children placed after 6 months, the greatest problems were reported with children placed after 12 months. These children were more likely to have insecure attachments.

Another cause of attachment disruption ...