Posted: October 20th, 2022

Attachment theory and influence on childrens emotional development

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Attachment theory focuses on how attachments are formed, in the very earliest months and years of life. These have a significant influence on emotional development, as well as providing a template for the child as he or she grows, into adulthood and into parenthood. Psychologists talk about attachment behaviour and define an attachment as. ` A close emotional relationship between two persons, characterized by mutual affection and a desire to maintain proximity, ` (Schaffer). Attachments serve the purpose of keeping the child and primary caregiver (usually the mother), physically and emotionally close.

Maternal deprivation hypothesis by Bowlby (1953), ` A mother’s love in infancy and childhood is as important for mental health as are vitamins and proteins for physical health. ` Bowlby noted a sequence of protest detachment and despair in children after separation from an attachment figure.

John Bowlby was born as Edward John Mostyn Bowlby, in London on the twenty-sixth of February 1907, to Major Sir Antony Bowlby and the former May Mostyn. John was one of their six children, when John was born. Major Sir Antony Bowlby a physician surgeon to King George v was fifty-two years old when John was born, and his mother was forty. Bowlby had a typical childhood for a child been born into a middle-upper class family, most of his early years were spent with a governess before attending boarding school.

Bowlby went on to attend the Royal Naval College in Cambridge, preparing himself for medical school. During this time he did a year’s voluntary work in a hospital for maladjusted children. This in fact set him up for his later work, while there Bowlby paid particular attention to a very nervous seven-year old boy, due to him following Bowlby around he became known as Bowlby’s little shadow. There was also an adolescent that had been expelled from school and was quite a loner, those two children left a lasting impression.

Bowlby moved on and began his medical training at the university college medical school in London, after becoming interested in psychiatry he attended the British Psychoanalytic Institute. He also trained at Maudsley Hospital, where he was supervised by child psychoanalyst Melanie Klien who specialised in the psychoanalysis of children, (1932) Envy and Gratitude, (1957) and a case study narrative of a child analysis (1961). Even though Bowlby did not agree with lots of Klien’s theories the guidance she gave him helped ground his own research later on.

After graduating Bowlby decided to stay on at Maudsley, he mainly worked with adults but gradually moved onto working with children. Bowlby’s first imperial study, known as, Bowlby’s forty-four juvenile thieves. The attachment theory was influenced by Freud (1920/1955), Freud was the psychologist of the 19th and 20th century, and was a very well for his theories of psychosexual development. Other psychologists that played roles in attachment psychology were, Ronald Fairbairn (1952) Fairbairn was the founder of object relations, and instead of the ECO and ID he described dynamic structures (Fairbairn’s structural Theory). The psychoanalytic theories of D.W Winnicott as applied to rehabilitation (1965). Mary Ainsworth’s innovative methodology, not only made it possible to test some of Bowlby’s ideas empirically, but also helped expand the theory itself and is responsible for some of the new directions it is now taking. Ainsworth contributed the concept of the attachment figure as a basis from which an infant can explore the world. In addition, she formulated the concept of maternal sensitivity to infant signals and its role in the development of infant-mother attachment patterns.

The idea now guiding attachment theories have a long developmental history. Although Bowlby and Ainsworth worked independently of each other during their early careers both were highly influenced by Freud. Blatz (1940) is identified as a cognitive develop mentalist. Mary Salter (1940), Mary Salter’s dissertation titled an Assessment of adjustment. Based upon the concept of security was completed in 1940. However the one that Bowlby was not influenced by was ethological theory in general, especially by Lorenz’s (1935) study of imprinting.

Konrad Zacharias Lorenz (1903-1935)

Lorenz studied instinctive behaviour in animals especially in Greylag Geese; animal behaviour develops as a result of the interaction between genetic and environmental influences. Some behaviour’s have more genetic (innate) determinants than learned ones; in other behaviours, the opposite is true. Innate is a Latin word which means “Born with”. In one side, there are the so called instinctive behaviours, which are genetically programmed and usually are very littlie influenced by experience or learning. They are part of a constellation of skills which are essential for life and survival. The suckling behaviours which we are born with, in the other side we have behaviours which are almost entirely dependent on learning. Lorenz discovered that if Greylag geese were reared by him from hatching, they would treat him like a parental bird. The goslings followed Lorenz about and when they were adults, they courted him in preference to other Greylag geese. Lorenz first called this phenomenon “stamping in “, in German, which has been translated to English as imprinting. The reason for the name is because Lorenz thought that the sensory object, met by the new born bird is somehow stamped immediately and irreversibly onto its nervous system. Lorenz’s work provided startling evidence that there are critical periods in life, where a definite type of stimulus is necessary for normal development. Since repeated exposure to an environmental stimulus (association) is necessary, we could consider that imprinting is a kind of learning, albeit with a very strong innate element.

Bowlby’s aim was to establish a cause and effect relationship between maternal deprivation and emotional maladjustment. The Hypothesis ` The sample of Juvenile Thieves will have experienced more early and prolonged separations from their mothers with in the first five years of life than a matched control group of children with emotional difficulties who have not committed any crimes`.

Bowlby designed a retrospective study comparing the experiences of prolonged separation from the mother, for children under five, taking a group of forty four thieves, and matching them to a group forty four emotionally disturbed youngsters who had committed no crimes. The forty four thieves were attending the Tavistock child guidance clinic and all had different kinds of referrals, twenty two by their schools, two referrals were made by schools but at their parent’s requests, eight of them were referred directly by their parents, nine of them had been referred by probation officers, and three were done via court orders. Half of the thieves were described as chronic and serious offenders, 16 % had been stealing for over three years, 10 % had only committed a crime once, and 20% had stolen on a few occasions.

Bowlby conducted instructed interviews to gain extremely detailed data about childhood, the boy’s had psychiatric assessments and IQ tests which lasted around an hour and was conducted with a social worker present. This was ecologically valid as parents and guardians consent was given. Bowlby was given the results from the IQ tests and interviews; he then interviewed each of the boys and their mothers for another hour asking all about childhood experiences relationships. Thirty four% of thieves were under nine years old; fifty % were under eleven, only one of the under elevens had been charged. Bowlby found that thirty-two %| of the thieves were affectionless psychopaths that had little concern for others, they had the inability to form meaningful and lasting relationships, also he found that twenty % of them to be suffering from depression. Zero % of the control group were affectionless psychopaths, thirty % of them had suffered with depression and twenty % of overly conscientious `priggish`, he discovered that eight-six% of the affectionless psychopaths had experienced early separation before the age of five, even if it was only for one week.

Bowlby concluded that once the attachment bond was broken, the negative effects could not be reversed or undone. He found that maternal deprivation can have severe and potentially long term effects on emotional development including affectionless psychopath. The effects can show up several years later, this was also supported by Robert Hinde’s study with monkeys, Hinde found the effects of separation could be seen Hinde found the effects of separation could be seen up to two years later with regard to poor parenting of subsequent generations and sexual deviancy.

Bowlby thought that the affectionless character was, depressive at an earlier stage in life, and had suffered total loss of mothers during infancy and early childhood. Bowlby made his conclusions that those adolescent problems were linked directly to their experience of early separation. However Rutter (1981) questioned Bowlby’s theory, in Rutter’s study he found that in 9-12 year old boy’s in the Isle of Wight. That it was not necessarily separation causing the problems, he found a positive correlation between there antisocial behaviours, and how there was a stressful atmosphere in family life during their early years.

Also Privation Koluchova (1972) studied Czechoslovakian twin boys; their mother had died during child birth in (1960). During their first five months they progressed well while living in an institution, at eighteen months old they were living with their father and step-mother. They were severely neglected while in there care, and completely isolated from the outside world, they were kept in either a punishment room (the basement), or in unheated rooms. The twins were found in these disgusting conditions, aged seven they were placed into the foster care system, and were taken in by two sisters. Since having the loving care that they needed, and also the help of a special school, at the age of fourteen both boys have progressed extremely well, they also have normal IQ ranges, Privation Koluchova study showed that despite maternal deprivation, been an issue that with the help those boys came out of their situation the other side. And with help and support they continued to do well.

Ijzendoorn & Tavecchio (1987) argue that a stable network of adults can provide adequate care, and that this care may even have advantages over a system where a mother has to meet all a Childs needs.

` There is evidence that children develop better with a mother who is happy in her work, than a mother who is frustrated by staying home` (Shaffer, 1990)

Critics such as Rutter (1981) have also accused Bowlby of not distinguishing between deprivation and privation- the complete lack of an attachment bond, rather than its loss. Rutter stresses that the quality of the attachment bond is the most important factor, rather than just deprivation in the critical period.

Another criticism of Bowlby’s study is that it concluded that affectionless psychopathic, was caused by maternal deprivation. This is correlation data and as such only shows a relationship, between these two variables. Indeed, other external variables such as diet, parental income, and education may have affected the behaviour of the forty-four juvenile thieves. And not as Bowlby had concluded it to be the disruption of the attachment bond.

Other general criticisms were there may have been gender bias due, to the fact that the Tavistock Child Guidance clinic only usually had sixty percent of boys, and forty percent of girls. This meant that the two groups did not represent the usual intake at the clinic, making the study vulnerable.

` Mothers are the exclusive carers in only a very small percentage of human societies; often there are a number of people involved in the care of children, such as relations and friends` (Weisner & Gallimore 1977).

It could also be argued that Bowlby’s study was unethical as it discriminates against women, making them feel guilty for not being at home caring for their children, when they had to be out at work. Many women may have felt their children would turn out to have lots of emotional issues due to them not being able to stay home to provide all of their care.

Other organisations have since criticized Bowlby’s study, saying that there is no ethics committee in the world that would approve Bowlby’s study in this day and age.

The diversity of ethical and moral behaviour reflects the diversity of human societies, what is ethical and immoral behaviour for one may be unethical and immoral for another. Ethics are moral codes laid down by professional s, these are important factors psychologists have to take into consideration when conducting a study, these have been enforced since Bowlby’s study.

I have thoroughly enjoyed working on this essay, and learning all about Bowlby’s theory, along with the other psychologists. I feel it has been an important eye opener, it has made me realise that maternal deprivation can have, harsh and long term effects on children. I as an adult like to know I’m loved and secure, so why wouldn’t a child need to feel the same.