Bowlby's Attachment Theory.

For my literature review I read Bowlby’s Attachment Theory. This information was useful for me because it helped me understand more about the orphans and their needs.  This would help me develop my design in a way to accommodate their psychological needs.

Attachment

Attachment is a bond. In this case, a bond formed between a child and their parent or caregiver.

Summary of Bowlby’s Attachment Theory.

John Bowlby (1907, 1990.)  He was a psychoanalyst who believes that mental health and behavioural issues begin at a small age. 

He talks about the attachment that a baby automatically has with their mother at birth. When the baby feels this closeness, the attachment is immediately activated.

Social Releasers.

Bowlby mentions “Social Releasers.” This is a behaviour that babies are born with which helps them become closer with their mother such as crying, smiling crawling etc., as feeding is not the only thing that determines attachment.

Bowlby mentioned that in the first two years of life, babies are in a critical period of their development, and this bond should be formed with the mother during this period.  If for some reason this attachment is delayed or not formed, this could lead to the child suffering long term consequences such as aggressive behaviour, depression, lack of affection, limited or reduced intelligence or delinquency.  There are several reasons why the mother does not give this maternal care, such as death, marriage separation or lack of funds to support raising the child. This risk continues until the child is five.

Whilst researching Bowlby’s theory, I found information on an experiment that was conducted by Harlow and Zimmerman in 1959. This experiment proves that developing a close relationship with the caregiver is not only derived from or related to food.

The experiment involved a baby monkey and two artificial mothers, one made from cloth and the other made from metal wire which had a milk bottle attached to it. The experiment shows that the monkey was more attracted to the cloth mother, because it made it feel comfort and security. The monkey went to the wire monkey only to drink, but as soon as it was ready he went back to his original mother being the tower cloth mother. This shows that warmth and comfort is a big part of a baby’s development period.

This is part of my research about Bowlby’s Attachment theory. Next blog I will continue discussing this theory.

Reference

simply psychology, 2007. Bowlby's Attachment Theory. [online] Available at: <http://www.simplypsychology.org/bowlby.html> [Accessed 14, January 2017].

Psychology concepts, 2011-2013. Harlow’s Studies on Attachment. [online] Available at: < http://www.psychologyconcepts.com/harlows-studies-on-attachment/> [Accessed 29, January, 2017].

Slide share, 2013. Bowlby's theory of attachment. [online] Available at: < http://www.slideshare.net/preethibalan9/bowlbys-theory-of-attachment> [Accessed 29, January, 2017].