bowlby's theory (explanations of attachment)

• Attachment is innate

  • Bowlby gave an evolutionary explanation = that attachment is an innate system that gives a survival advantage
  • Imprinting and attachment evolved because they ensure young animals stay close to their caregivers and this protects them from hazards
• Bowlby’s monotropic (having a primary attachment figure) theory

  • Bowlby’s Theory is described as monotropic because of the emphasis on the child’s attachment to one caregiver
  • This attachment is different from others and more important
  • Bowlby believed that the more time a baby spent with this primary attachment figure the better, two main reasons:
  • Law of continuity = the more constant a child’s care, the better the quality of attachment
  • Law of accumulated separation = the effects of every separation add up, so ’the safest dose is therefore a zero dose’
• babies are born with social releasers

  • Bowlby’s suggested that babies are born with a set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours that encourage attention from adults
  • Eg = smiling, cooing, gripping
  • The purpose of these social releasers is to activate adult social interaction (ie make an adult attach to the baby)
  • Bowlby’s recognised that attachment is a reciprocal system
• critical period

  • Bowlby proposed that there is a critical period of about 2 years when the infant attachment system is active
  • He viewed this as more of a sensitive period
  • A child is maximally sensitive at 6 months and this may extend up to the age of 2 years
  • If an attachment has not formed in this time, a child will find it much harder to form one later
• first attachment forms an internal working model of relationships

  • Bowlby argued that the child forms a mental representation (internal working model) of the relationship with their primary attachment figure
  • This internal working model serves as a ‘template’ for what relationships are like
  • A child whose first experience is a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver = will tend to form an expectation that all relationships are loving and reliable
  • BUT a child whose first relationship involves poor treatment = may expect such treatment from others
  • The internal working model may also affect the child’s later ability to be a parent themselves
• limitation = concept of monotopy lacks validity

  • The relationship with the primary attachment figure may simply be stronger than other attachments, rather than different in quality as Bowlby believed
  • Other family members may well develop attachments with the baby that have the same qualities (such as comfort and a secure bases from which to explore)
  • Means that Bowlby May have been wrong to suggest that there is a unique quality to a child’s primary attachment
• strength = evidence supporting role of social releasers

  • Brazelton et al = instructed primary attachment figures to ignore their babies’ social releasers
  • Babies (who were previously shown to be responsive) initially showed some distress but eventually some curled up and lay motionless
  • Supports the idea that social releasers play an important role in attachment development
• strength = support for idea of the internal working model (IWM)

  • The idea of the IWM predicts that patterns of attachment will be passed from one generation to the next
  • Bailey et al = studied 99 mothers
  • Those with poor attachment to their own parents were more likely to have 1 year olds who were poorly attached
  • This supports Bowlby’s idea of an IWM of attachment as it is being passed though families
• counterpoint to support for the idea of IWM

  • There are other influences on social development
  • eg = a baby’s genetically-influenced personality is important in the development of social behaviour (including their later parenting style)
  • Suggests that Bowlby overemphasised the importance of the IWM in development
• extra evaluation = feminist concerns

  • The laws of continuity and accumulated separation imply that working mothers may damage their baby’s development (social sensitivity)
  • BUT = Bowlby’s theory did draw attention to a mother‘s importance and also has real world applications (eg day care)
  • Means that although Bowlby’s theory has had important applications, it may also have contributed to the oppression of women, particularly working mothers