Theories Of Attachment
Introduction
The theory of attachment has been widely debated for years. It is an important issue because it concerns on how important it is in affecting later adult relationships. A variety of different theories in attachment have been put forward in this essay and point to some of the problems that could happen later in life.
Attachment describes patterns of relationships from birth to death. It was first studied with non-humans, then human infants and later in human adults. Attachment theory provides an understanding in emotional reactions in infants, and also the basis for understanding love and behavioural problems such as aggression in adults.
Attachment process for the parents seems to begin with the development of an initial emotional bond and then extends to more and more skilful attachment behaviours. For the infant, the process seems to begin with attachment behaviours and then progresses to the full attachment somewhat later.
John Bowlby's interest in child development began when he worked as a volunteer at two progressive institutions. Two children the first being an affectionless teenager with no history of any stability, the second an anxious boy aged seven or eight caused bowlby to examine the theory of harmful effects of maternal deprivation in early character development.
It was claimed that attachment to the mother was that she provided all of the babies needs, such as warmth and nourishment. Freud's view, which was to become later known, as the Cupboard Theory was that the absence of the mother would frighten the baby into believing it, would not be nourished. This theory has been criticized many times, as there is no evidence to suggest that the infant associates the mother with food. Bowlby's view to supplement this is that babies have inborn tendencies towards the mother and are not attached by food or warmth.
In an experiment conducted by Harlow & Harlow (1977), Rhesus monkeys were raised without their mothers. Isolated in cages each of the monkeys had one model mother made from wire, and another model mother made from terry cloth. The terry cloth model's had no provision in which to feed the infant monkey's but the study concluded that every time the monkey's were frightened they would cling to the terry cloth model. Harlow called this "contact comfort". The model mother's made from wire had the provision for feeding as they were equipped with a milk yielding nipples, yet the monkey's never sought any comfort from them, this disputed Freud's cupboard theory completely. It proved that mother love is not nourishing but comforting, and children like the rhesus monkeys use teddy bear's for comfort if they feel in anyway threatened. (As cited in Gleitman,H; Fridlund,A.F; Reisberg,D.(1999). Psychology,5th Edition).
Introduction
The theory of attachment has been widely debated for years. It is an important issue because it concerns on how important it is in affecting later adult relationships. A variety of different theories in attachment have been put forward in this essay and point to some of the problems that could happen later in life.
Attachment describes patterns of relationships from birth to death. It was first studied with non-humans, then human infants and later in human adults. Attachment theory provides an understanding in emotional reactions in infants, and also the basis for understanding love and behavioural problems such as aggression in adults.
Attachment process for the parents seems to begin with the development of an initial emotional bond and then extends to more and more skilful attachment behaviours. For the infant, the process seems to begin with attachment behaviours and then progresses to the full attachment somewhat later.
John Bowlby's interest in child development began when he worked as a volunteer at two progressive institutions. Two children the first being an affectionless teenager with no history of any stability, the second an anxious boy aged seven or eight caused bowlby to examine the theory of harmful effects of maternal deprivation in early character development.
It was claimed that attachment to the mother was that she provided all of the babies needs, such as warmth and nourishment. Freud's view, which was to become later known, as the Cupboard Theory was that the absence of the mother would frighten the baby into believing it, would not be nourished. This theory has been criticized many times, as there is no evidence to suggest that the infant associates the mother with food. Bowlby's view to supplement this is that babies have inborn tendencies towards the mother and are not attached by food or warmth.
In an experiment conducted by Harlow & Harlow (1977), Rhesus monkeys were raised without their mothers. Isolated in cages each of the monkeys had one model mother made from wire, and another model mother made from terry cloth. The terry cloth model's had no provision in which to feed the infant monkey's but the study concluded that every time the monkey's were frightened they would cling to the terry cloth model. Harlow called this "contact comfort". The model mother's made from wire had the provision for feeding as they were equipped with a milk yielding nipples, yet the monkey's never sought any comfort from them, this disputed Freud's cupboard theory completely. It proved that mother love is not nourishing but comforting, and children like the rhesus monkeys use teddy bear's for comfort if they feel in anyway threatened. (As cited in Gleitman,H; Fridlund,A.F; Reisberg,D.(1999). Psychology,5th Edition).
