Explanations of attachment: Bowlby's theory

• What did Bowlby propose?

  Bowlby proposed an evolutionary explanation. He believed attachment is an innate system that gives a survival advantage.
• Attachment is innate, like imprinting:

  • Imprinting and attachment evolved because they ensure young animals stay close to their caregivers and this protects them from hazards
• What is Monotropy?

  • Monotropic - 'mono' means one and 'tropic' means leaning towards. This means that one particular attachment is different from all others and of central importance to child's development
  • Bowlby referred to this person as the mother, but he did not mean it had to be the biological mother, or indeed a woman.
• More on Monotropy:

  • More time a baby spends with the primary attachment figure the better. Two principles to this:
  • Law of continuity - more constant and predictable a child's care the better the quality of their attachment
  • Law of accumulated separation - effects of every separation from the mother add up 'and the safest dose is zero dose'
• What is the law of continuity?

  More constant and predictable a child's care the better the quality of their attachment
• What is the law of accumulated separation?

  Effects of every separation from the mother add up 'and the safest dose is zero dose'
• What are social releasers?

  Social releasers are innate 'cute' behaviours that babies are born with

  • E.g. smiling, cooing, gripping that encourage attention from adults
  • Purpose is to activate social interaction and make an adult attach to the baby
  • Attachment is a reciprocal process, mother and baby are hard wired to become attached
• What is the critical period?

  Critical period - Time within an attachment must form if it's to form at all

  • Bowlby argued that around six months an infant's attachment system is active, extending up to two years old
  • He described this as a sensitive period. If an attachment is not formed in this time a child will find it harder to form one later.
• What is the internal working model?

  • Internal working model - A child's mental representation of their relationship with their primary attachment figure
  • This then serves as a model for what relationships are like
  • The internal working model affects the child's later relationship and parenting behaviour
• Example of the internal working model:

  A child whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver, will tend to form an expectation that all relationships are loving and reliable, and they will bring these qualities to future relationships. A child whose first relationships involved poor treatment will tend to form further poor relationships in which they expect such treatment from others and/or treat others in the same way.
• Limitation of Monotropy:

  P - One limitation is that the concept of monotropy lacks validity

  E - Schaffer and Emerson found that although most babies did attach to one person first, most formed multiple attachments at the same time. Relationship with the primary attachment figure may simply be stronger than other attachments rather than different in quality as Bowlby believed.

  E - Other family members may have similar relationships, for example secure base behaviour

  L - This means that Bowlby may have been wrong to suggest that there is a unique quality to a child's primary attachment
• Strength of social releasers:

  P - One strength is supporting evidence for the role of social releasers

  E - Brazelton instructed primary attachment figures to ignore their babies' social releasers

  E - Previously responsive babies initially showed some distress but eventually curled up and lay motionless

  L - This supports the idea that social releasers play an important role in attachment
• Strength of the Internal working model:

  P - Another strength is support for the idea of the internal working model

  E - The idea of the internal working model predicts that patterns of attachment will be passed from one generation to the next

  E - Bailey et al studied 99 mothers, those with poor attachment to their own parents were more likely to have one-year olds who were poorly attached

  L - This supports Bowlby's idea of an internal working model of attachment as it is being passed through families
• Counterpoint: Internal working model

  P - A counterpoint to the internal working model is that there are probably other influences on social development

  E - For example, there is evidence genetically influenced personality is important in the development of social behaviour, including later parenting style

  E - These differences could also impact on their parenting ability

  L - This means that Bowlby may have overstated the importance of the internal working model in social behaviour and parenting at the expense of other factors.