What evidence is there that attachment is a two way process?

The bonding occurs during a critical period normally before 18 months to 2 years old. However the bonding starts at a very early age. Even before the child is born it starts to recognise it mother’s voice though the womb and begins to attach to it. There is a pre-wired –or innate- programme which means babies will automatically attach to those who care for them.

If the child is to become adopted straight after birth, it can be hard for the birth mother to give the child away; this shows that the bonding in the womb is a two-way process and that the mother will also become attached to baby in the womb. This, however, is normally a positive thing and will help the child for when it is born as its mother will feel a strong instinct to care for it.

One thing that affects attachment is skin contact. There is a theory that straight after birth there is a ‘sensitive period’ where bonding can occur through skin-to-skin contact. This is a two-way process which involves the carer holding the baby close to them as much as possible, straight after birth to help bonding, and within 15 minutes the baby can often actively react and attach to its carers.

Another two-way process in bonding is simply when the carer talks to the baby and the baby becomes used to the voice and starts to attach to it, the baby soon learns to link the voice with the face of its carer and attachment occurs.

A further thing which shows that it is a two-way process is the fact that attachment can be affected by personalities, both in the baby and the carer. If the baby continuously wants attention and the carer isn’t interested then the conflicting views can delay or prevent attachment. However if the carer and baby have same personalities this can speed up attachment.

Maccoby’s sign of attachment can be applied to the carer attaching to the child just as much as the child to the carer.

For example, Maccoby said that seeking to be near the other person and showing distress on separation from that person, is a sign of attachment. When a mother is without her child she will often wonder where they are and sometimes worry if they can’t find them. Also, the mother would show joy and relief when they are returned to their child.

The most important sign is the fact that the mother is generally aware and orientated to the child e.g. responding to their crying or playing with them.

The learning or behaviourist theory also proves that there needs to be an interaction between mother and child in order for attachment to occur. The learning theory explains that babies learn to recognise the mother with feeding and this satisfies hunger. This is a two-way process though which they can attach to each other.