In this essay I will be looking at two theories of attachment, Kegan et al 1982 and Bowlby '58.

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In this essay I will be looking at two theories of attachment, “an intense emotional relationship…enduring over time and in which prolonged separation…is accompanied by stress and sorrow” (Kagan et al 1982). I will also attempt to evaluate the statement from Bowlby ’58, where he says that “Mother love in infancy is as important for mental health as are vitamins and protein for physical health”.

The two attachment theories I will be looking at are Bowlby’s 1953 Monotrophy Theory and Freud’s Psychoanalytical Theory.  

Bowlby initially argued that attachment is an adaptive behaviour due to the human instinct to survive. Infants are born with a predisposition to survive and therefore have to form an attachment in order to gain food, warmth and protection etc. In order for this interaction to take place, the infant is born with Innate Social Releasers that prompt care-giving from the parent through releasers such as crying and cooing etc. Infants also need to form attachments in order to have a “secure base” from which to explore the world around them. This can be seen in securely attached infants, who are happy to explore an unfamiliar room, as long as the person with whom they have their “primary bond” is present (Strange Situation- Ainsworth and Bell 1970). Bowlby described this primary bond as “Monotrophy”, meaning turning towards one person. He recognised that this bond doesn’t always form with the biological mother, just the primary care giver.

Adults also have a predisposition to care and be responsive to their offspring, as the survival of the infant into adulthood ensures the continuation of their genetic line. Therefore the have an innate response to the infants’ social releasers.

Bowlby suggested that infants have a Critical Period, up to 2 ½ years, for attachments to form. If attachments were not made by this age, it would not be possible for the child to form any attachment and the child would suffer long-term, permanent emotional damage, particularly in the formation of lasting adult relationships.  This is due to the “Internal Working Model” according to Bowlby and later by Bretherton and Waters (1985) who said that “secure children have developed a positive working model of themselves, based on their feelings of security derived from having a sensitive, emotionally responsive and supportive primary care-giver”. It is therefore said that avoidant children have a rejecting, unresponsive caregiver, resulting in a negative working model of themselves.

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He also developed the Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis, where he claimed that infants who were unable to develop attachments would grow up having problems with relationships and have a higher chance of behavioural disorders. This hypothesis was supported by other psychologists such as Spitz and Wolf (1946) and Robertson and Robertson (1971).

An alternative theory of attachment is the Psychosexual theory put forward by Freud. He said there are five stages of development a child goes through: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency and Genital. The stage that deals with attachment is the oral stage, which occurs from birth to about 18 ...

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