Attachment

Attachment

1. Bowlbys Theory's

   • monotropy is the theory that you strongly attach to one person which is usually the mother and is usually the strongest person
     • ignored fatherly roles
     • ignores the roles of multiple attachments
   • internal working models the mental representation we all carry of our primary caregiver
     • ignores the influence of later life experiences and free will
   • critical period is the time in which an attachment must form if it is to be formed at all
     • Harlow and Lorenz noted that birds and monkeys have critical periods as well
   • Social releasers are when the baby induces a caring response from the caregiver e.g - hand holding/smiling

2. close two way bond between people who believe the other is essential for their emotional security

3. caregiver-infant interactions

   • Reciprocity is when the two people are able to produce responses to each other
     • M&T (1985) frozen face, supports reciprocity as the child was expecting a response but didn't get one.
       • Without a response infants will lack communication skills
   • Interactional synchrony is when the mother and infant simultaneously reflect the an event
     • Isabelle et al (1989) suppposrts as it shows high levels of synchrony resulted in better attachemnt
       • important as it gives infants development skills for future relatinships

4. Bowlny's maternal deprivation

   • deprivation from the primary caregiver has a greater effect then separation as it doesn't effect on a long term basis
   • lack of maternal care within the critical period caused inevitable psychological damage to children
   • Bowlby believed deprivation for too long during the critical period effected their intellectual development and cause mental retardation usually shown by a low IQ.
   • Bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the lack of being able to form strong emotions for others as well as the lack of empathy
   • 44 theives study, found that 14/44 thieves could be described as AP out of the 14, 12 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the first 2 years. It was concluded that prolonged separation periods caused affectionless psychopathy

5. Animal studies of attachment

   • Lorenz's studies imprinting on geese he found that they have innate readiness/instinct as well as having a strong bond to the mother (Lorenz) which tustve been formed within a specific time frame. Offspring follow the first large object they see.
     • hard to generalise to humans as we don't imprint
   • Harlows studies monkeys to understand the theory that softness serves some function of the mother, one wire one cloth doll. The monkeys cuddled the soft one more and only went to the wire one for food but always had some type of physical connection to the cloth mother. This showed that 'contact comfort' is more important then food regarding attachment
     • maternally deprived monkeys (monkeys who had wire mother) didnt develop normal social skills and were often aggressive as well as barely mating and neglecting their children
       • was unethical
       • helped social workers in real life to understand factors involved with neglected children