Child Development Theories That Have A Degree Of Influence Over Current Practice

The origins of Attachment theory can be traced to the influential work of John Bowlby (1958). Bowlby’s work as a psychiatrist in a Child Guidance Clinic in London caused him to consider the significance of the child’s relationship with their mother in terms of their cognitive, emotional and social development. Specifically, it contributed to enthralling his interests surrounding the link between early infant separations with the mother and later maladjustment, leading Bowlby to formulate the Theory of Attachment. Bowlby argues that this attachment between the mother and child is different in a qualitative form from any other form attachment. This theory, although seminal, holds many criticisms from others, stating that children learn more from their peers rather than from their parents (Harris, 1998). A separate criticism is that of Field’s (1996), who evaluates the many limitations of the Attachment Theory.

This essay will compare and contrast the work of psychologists Harry Harlow and Mary Ainsworth. To compare and contrast will be to emphasise the similarities and differences of both Harlow and Ainsworth’s work on understanding attachment, to which they have both made great contribution. Attachment refers to the mutually affectionate developing bond between a mother and any other caregiver (Custance 2010). It is a bond in which the infant sees the caregiver as a protective and security figure. Failing to form any type of attachment during the earliest years of childhood is thought to lead to social and emotional developmental issues that can carry on well into adult life (Custance 2010). Attachment theory was formulated by psychoanalyst

The formal origin of attachment theory can be traced to the publication of two papers in 1958 “The Nature of the Child’s Tie to his Mother” by Bowlby in

John Bowlby’s work in attachment has been one of the foundational works when determining the level of attachments and bonds that a child and parent may experience (Webb, 2011). According to Bowlby, “attachment” is referring to a lasting, mutual bond of affection that is dependent on an individual or more than one person (Webb, 2011). Establishing a secure attachment during infancy and early childhood is an important task of a parent or a caregiver. Not all parents or caregivers can provide their child or children with a secure attachment at this important in life due to various reasons. Since parents are the main providers in their child’s development of attachment, their lives and history have a great influence on their children’s lives.

Prior to the early 20th century little interest was paid to how a child developed; indeed most early research appears to be based on abnormal childhood behaviour (Oates et al. 2005). However, over time researchers began to acknowledge that both genetics and environment factors impacted on the way a child developed. Although there are many theories of child development, in particular constructivism, behaviourism, social constructivism and social learning have influenced developmental psychology enormously (Oates et al. 2005).

Bowlby’s work on attachment theory shows infants treated well develop a secure attachment. Hence they have a good foundation for healthy self-esteem, behavior, and future relationships (Barnet, Ganiban, & Cicchetti, 1991). If the infant develops an insecure bond with the caregiver, they may develop mental disturbances (Cicchetti, Ganiban, & Barnett, 1991). Mary Ainsworth, Bowlby’s contemporary, applied Bowlby’s theory in her research. In 1978, Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, and Wall, created the strange situation technique to study one year old infant attachments (as cited in Colonnesi et al., 2011, p.631). Results of their analysis led to three categories of attachment. They distinguished a secure (B), an insecure avoidant (A), and insecure ambivalent attachment (C)

In 1958, the Attachment theory came into existence. It was developed by John Bowlby on the notion that the quality of the parent -child relationship was essential for development and mental health (Howe, 2011, pg, 7). This thinking was in the context of distress shown by children when separated from their parents or when in unfamiliar surroundings. While having credit for the emergence of the attachment theory, Bowlby subsequently carried out a lot of research work with Mary Ainsworth concluding that children view their attachment figures as both a ?safe haven? to return to for comfort and protection and also a ?secure base? from which to explore their environment. The birth of children gives rise to the need to feel loved and wanted by caregivers, (Maclean and Harrison,2015 pg, 103), the absence of which might result in a range of behaviors to either

Bowlby was influenced by the ideas of evolutionary psychology and the theories of Freud which were about the effects of early experiences on children. Bowlby worked with children who had experienced disrupted early lives and after studying children of post-war Europe, who had being separated from their parents, Bowlby came up with the theory of attachment. Bowlby observed and interviewed children in both hospitals and institutions to better understand the impacts of parent-child separation on a child. Bowlby believed that a child’s mental health was dependent upon a warm, continuous and loving bond between caregiver and child and found that the mental health of children who suffered deprivation (loss of attachment) was affected as a result, which lead Bowlby to come up with the maternal deprivation hypothesis. Bowlby called it maternal deprivation as women typically took the role of single primary caregiver at the time which links to Bowlby’s theory of monotropy. This emphasises the importance of the relationship between a child and a single primary caregiver. Bowlby realised that a child who suffers from maternal deprivation within the first 24 months of life, known as the critical period for attachment, will develop an internal working model of themselves as unworthy. An internal working model is a cognitive representation of relationships formed from the first maternal relationship we have. An unworthy

Another psychologist who has had major input in the subject of attachment is Spitz and Wolf (1946). Spitz and Wolf (1946) “studied 91 orphanage infants in USA and Canada (3)”, what they found amazed the world of attachment. They found that despite getting better care and maintaining adequate health many had died before their first birthday. This and Bowlby’s research lends a hand in understanding attachment and both complement each other in facts. Seen as Bowlby was researching about the critical stage in development the research that Spitz and Wolf did also proves that.

Mary Ainsworth is known today as “The Mother of the Attachment Theory”, and it is by no fluke that she earned this title. In 1969, the British psychologist took on the studies of John Bowlby consisting of infant humans and their attachment styles towards their caregiver. While Bowlby already had his own theories, Ainsworth took his ideas and ran with them. She developed a study known as the “Strange Situation.” During this experiment, she took infants ranging from 12-24 months and categorized them according to their reaction to a stressful situation.

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,

In this essay I will explore the meaning and purpose of attachment and discuss research into attachment concentrating on John Bowlby’s 1944 “44 thieves” study conducted to test his maternal deprivation theory and Schaffer & Emerson’s 1964 “ Glasgow babies” study.

Attachment theory has an interesting history in Psychology. Its origins can be traced back to Freud’s Drive Theory. Freud, who, like many other psychologists at the time, believed an infant’s bond with its mother was tied to the fact that the infant was entirely dependent on its mother for survival, and as the mother provided for the infant, the infant would learn to associate its mother with drive reduction producing that infant-mother bond (Fitton, 2012). This school of thought made way for John Bowlby, the founder of Attachment Theory, to challenge drive theory and come up with his own school of thought regarding infant-mother bonds. Bowlby denounced drive theory and instead explained that the infant’s bond was instinctual and evolutionary

By responding with care and comfort, this enables for an “attachment bond” to form between the infant and caregiver, most commonly the mother (White et al., 2013). Following on from Bowlby’s theory, Mary Ainsworth investigated the theory of attachment through observing the reactions of infants when their mothers left them alone with strangers. The investigation was named as the “Ainsworth’s strange situation assessment” (White et al., 2013). It was discovered through this investigation that infants who had secure attachments with their mothers were upset when separated and were easily soothed when the mother returns. This investigation implies that infants with secure attachment to their mothers show signs of normal social development.

Attachment theory is the idea that a child needs to form a close relationship with at least one primary caregiver. The theory proved that attachment is necessary to ensure successful social and emotional development in an infant. It is critical for this to occur in the child’s early infant years. However, failed to prove that this nurturing can only be given by a mother (Birns, 1999, p. 13). Many aspects of this theory grew out of psychoanalyst, John Bowlby’s research. There are several other factors that needed to be taken into account before the social worker reached a conclusion; such as issues surrounding poverty, social class and temperament. These factors, as well as an explanation of insecure attachment will be further explored in