Applying Bowlby's Theory Of Attachment

Bowlby (1951) saw attachment behaviour as an instinctive reaction. The infant will use social releasers, such as crying and smiling to seek proximity to the primary caregiver, to ensure survival in evolutionary times. The infant will use social releasers when proximity to the caregiver is threatened, such as by separation, insecurity or fear. Social releasers will stimulate caregiving in adults, so that care and responsiveness become determinant for attachment. A securely attached child will regulate its emotions well, and the secure attachment will act as a safe base for the child to explore the world from. Bowlby believed if the bond to the attachment figure gets broken or interrupted, especially in the sensitive period, the child will suffer …show more content…
Ainsworth (1969) identified four main attachment patterns, using the strange situation protocol. Secure children are thought of to be in the knowledge that the primary caregiver will be attentive to their needs. This securely attached child regulates it emotions well. If the main caregiver, on the other hand, is avoidant or unpredictable available an insecure attachment pattern will form where the child is not good in regulation its emotions. The insecure avoidant child will be highly distressed when the primary caregiver leaves the room, but display anger and rejection at the main caregivers return. It is thought that the child displays this behaviour as a strategy to maintain proximity to the caregiver. The avoidant infant displays little distress when the caregiver left the room and ignored her when she returned. Measuring the infant’s heart rate the avoidant behaviour of the infant had later been identified to be a mask for distress (Sroufe and Waters, 1977). If the departure or return of the caregiver is not dealt with by the infant in any organized way, the child is classified as is organised. It is believed that the attachment system is flooded with emotion, such as fear. In this case the child has an attachment with the caregiver but can regulate emotions badly. Attachment alone might be insufficient for emotional regulation alone, but it is the quality …show more content…
Privation is likely to lead to an initial phase of clinging behaviour, attention-seeking, uninhibited friendliness and a personality characterised by lack of guilt, an inability to keep rules and an inability to form long lasting relationships. Comparing the effects of privation in two case studies, it is suggested that a lack of attachment from early age has severe effects on emotional development. Curtiss (1977) studied the case study of Genie, a girl who suffered extreme privation. Genie was thought to have learning difficulties at birth and as a result locked away, and tied to a potty chair during the day and tied into a sleeping bag during the night, in an under stimulating room. Found at the age of 13, Genie was malnourished and suffered delays in her speech and physical development. Furthermore, when in foster care, she often acted out and had temper tantrums. Her speech and behaviour exhibited a great deal of latency, when something had frightened her. Comparing this to the case study from Koluchova (1972, 1991) of two Czechoslovakian twin boys had suffered privation, but at the age of 14 had caught up academically and emotionally with their peers and showed no signs of psychological abnormality, it is to point out that there are marked differences between the twins boys possibly leading