explanations of attachment: Bowlby’s theory

• Bowlby gave the 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 theory is described as monotropic because of the emphasis on the child’s attachment is different and more important. Bowlby believed that the more time a baby spent with this primary attachment figure the better. The 2 main reasons are:

  • 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
• Bowlby suggested that babies are born with innate behaviours like smiling, cooing and gripping that encourage attention from adults. The purpose of these social releases is to activate adult social interaction and Bowlby recognised that attachment is a reciprocal system
• Bowlby propose that there is a critical period of 2 and a half years when the infant attachment system is active. If an attachment hasn’t formed in this time, a child will find it much harder to form one later
• Bowlby argued that a child forms a mental representation (internal working model) of the relationship with their primary attachment figure. This internal working model acts 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. Opposite for bad first experience.
• One limitation of monotropy is that it 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 develop attachments with the baby that have the same qualities, such as comfort and a secure base from which to explore. This means that bowl by may have been wrong to suggest that there is a unique quality to a child's primary attachment.
• One strength of social releases is that there is evidence to support. Brazetton et al. instructed primary attachment figures to ignore their babies' social releases. Babies initially showed some distress, but eventually some curled up and lay motionless. This supports the idea that social releasers play an important role in attachment development
• One strength of the internal working model is support. The idea of the internal working model predicts that patterns of attachment will be passes from one generation to the next. Bailey et al. studies 99 mothers. Those with poor attachment to their own parents were more likely to have one year olds who were poorly attached. This supports Bowlby's idea of an internal working model of attachment as it is being passes through families