Monotropic Theory

• Bowlby (1988) rejected the learning theory for attachment
• Bowlby put forward a theory of attachment based on ethologist's work
• Bowlby was inspired by Lorenz's Geese study and Harlow's monkeys
• Bowlby proposed the evolutionary theory of attachment
• Bowlby say humans just like other animals- attachment is an innate system that promotes survival
• Bowlby's theory focuses on the following concepts:

  1. Monotropy
  2. Social releasers
  3. Critical period
  4. Internal working model
• Monotropy- a concept that infants have an innate capacity to attach primarily to one caregiver
• Bowlby said that the primary attachment is the most important, who is often the mother, but not always the biological mother
• The law of continuity- the more predictable and consistent a child's care is, the better the quality of attachment
• The law of accumulated separation- all separations from the mother add together, therefore zero separation is best
• Infants and carers are innately programmed to become attached
• Babies are born with innate cute behaviours and features called social releasers
• Social releasers are designed to elicit a caregiver response in others
• Social releasers help babies to ensure their own survival
• Bowlby recognised that attachment was a reciprocal process as both baby and caregiver are 'hard-wired' to become attached
• Innate behaviours usually have a special time period for the development of an attachment
• The infant attachment system is active around 6 months
• Bowlby suggested that the critical period was around 2 years for humans. He later revised this to say there was also a sensitive period that lasted 5 years
• If an attachment does not form during the sensitive period, it may be difficult to form attachments in the future
• Bowlby suggested that infants develop a mental representation of their first attachment
• The internal working model has a profound influence on the way the child relates to people and acts as a parent later in life
• having a loving relationship with a reliable carer will cause the infant to expect loving, reliable relationships in the future
• Poor treatment from carer will result in the infant expecting poor treatment in their other relationships
• People tend to base their parenting style on their own experiences being parented
• Children from functional families, tend to have functional families themselves
• STRENGTHS

  • support for IWM- Bailey et al (2007) found that patterns of attachment are present, those who have poor attachments with their primary attachment figure were more likely to have poorly attached babies
  • Support for social releasers- Brazelton et al (1975) found babies became distressed, curled up and motionless when their primary attachment figure did not respond to their social releasers
• LIMITATIONS

  • Learning theory is an alternative explanation- attachment is formed through classical and operant conditioning
  • Socially sensitive concept- Burman (1994) proposed the monotropic theory places a huge burden on the responsibility of mothers, law of accumulated separation