Life and Work of John Bowlby - 2584 Words

Bowlby was born in London to an upper-middle-class family. He was the fourth of six children and was brought up by a nanny in the British fashion of his class at that time. His father, Sir Anthony Bowlby, first Baronet, was surgeon to the King s Household, with a tragic history: at age five, Sir Anthony s own father (John s grandfather) was killed while serving as a war correspondent in the Opium Wars. Normally, Bowlby saw his mother only one hour a day after teatime, though during the summer she was more available. Like many other mothers of her social class, she considered that parental attention and affection would lead to dangerous spoiling of the children. Bowlby was lucky in that the nanny in his family was present throughout his†¦show more content†¦He focused on how attachment difficulties were transmitted from one generation to the next. In his development of attachment theory he propounded the idea that attachment behaviour was essentially an evolutionary survival strategy for protecting the infant from predators. Mary Ainsworth, a student of Bowlby’s, further extended and tested his ideas, and in fact played the primary role in suggesting that several attachment styles existed. The three most important experiences for Bowlby’s future work and the development of attachment theory were his work with: Maladapted and delinquent children. James Robertson (in 1952) in making the documentary film A Two-Year Old Goes to the Hospital, which was one of the films about †young children in brief separationâ€Å". The documentary illustrated the impact of loss and suffering experienced by young children separated from their primary caretakers. This film was instrumental in a campaign to alter hospital restrictions on visiting by parents. In 1952 when he and Robertson presented their film A Two Year Old Goes to Hospital to the British Psychoanalytical Society, psychoanalysts did not accept that a child would mourn or experience grief on separation but instead saw the child s distress as caused by elementsShow MoreRelatedThe Theory Of Development Concepts And Applications By William Crain1076 Words   |  5 Pagesare  John Bowlby,  Mary D.S. Ainsworth,  and  Ã‚  Erik H. Erikson.   I couldn t help but reminisce about the stages of my own children’s  growth while reading the work of Bowlby, Ainsworth and Erikson.   I remember having my  young children with me when ever it was possible, but what attachments to them might I have  missed while I  was busy working or did I  miss any at all?   Bowlby’s work on attachment gives a compelling argument as to the importance of attachment in the first 6 months of a Childs life.   Ainsworth’sRead MoreAttachment Theory Essay1152 Words   |  5 PagesChris Livoti 3/5/13 IB Psychology Mrs. Urso John Bowlby is the pioneer of the attachment theory and worked with children who had been separated from their parents during World War 2. He observed that many of these children developed emotional problems, and he made the connection that the emotional problems stemmed from the separation from the mother. Bowlby was born in London to an upper class family, and would rarely see, and interact with his motherRead MoreMary Ainsworth And Attachment : An Influential Psychologist1576 Words   |  7 PagesMary Ainsworth and Attachment Mary Ainsworth was an influential psychologist in the area of attachment. She had a great life and not only helped further other psychologists’ findings, but also made significant findings of her own. Historical Context The types of studies in the area of attachments before Mary Ainsworth were the works of Harry Harlow, John Bowlby, and William Blatz. Harry Harlow was born October 31st, 1905 in Iowa to a small farming community. He obtained his BA and PhD at StanfordRead MoreHow Does Attachment Influence The Social And Emotional Development Of The Child? Essay1378 Words   |  6 Pageschildren develop and thrive better when they are brought up in an environment where the caregiver satisfies a child’s needs physically and emotionally. A British psychiatrist, John Bowlby, developed a theory around these parent-child relationships called attachment theory. Throughout the Late 1930s and 1940s a psychologist John Bowlby investigated the nature and the purpose of the close relationships that a person forms with people throughout their lives, in particular, childhood. He researched the makingRead MoreThe Theory Of Love By Robert J. Sternberg1458 Words   |  6 PagesIt can be applied to early development studies of attachment theory, such as those by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, and carried over to our studies of romance and love through the works of Robert J. Sternberg. Many of our class lessons have focused on cause and effect: childhood cause and adulthood effect. Thus it is not strange to note, Sternberg’s research, the triangular theory of love, is impacted by Bowlby and Ainsworth’s attachment theory. As we notice within each stage and style of relationshipRead MoreEthological Theory of Attachmen t: The Development of Emotion in Children1803 Words   |  7 Pagesin Understanding the Development of Emotion in Children from Adversity? Introduction Attachment theory has been jointly worked out by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. In presenting this theory, both of them have drawn out ideas from the fields of ethology, cybernetics, information processing, developmental psychology, and psychoanalysts. However, John Bowlby is the chief contributor who has originated the essential tenets of the theory. Thus, he has revolutionized the thinking of general publicRead MoreAttachment : A Deep And Enduring Emotional Bond1313 Words   |  6 Pagesperson to another across time and space’’ Mary Ainsworth (1973) In this essay I will explore the meaning and purpose of attachment and discuss research into attachment concentrating on John Bowlby’s 1944 â€Å"44 thieves† study conducted to test his maternal deprivation theory and Schaffer Emerson’s 1964 â€Å" Glasgow babies† study. There are two approaches to attachment; evolutionary theory and behavioural theory, and for the purposes of thisRead MoreThe Theory Of Attachment Theory1510 Words   |  7 PagesAttachment theory was advanced in 1951 by British psychoanalyst and psychiatrist John Bowlby. According to this theory infants have an inborn need to be close to their main caretaker. If the attachment is deprived from an infant Bowlby argued that the infant could suffer from negative impacts on their development. This could possibly imply that children places in early daycare will later in life suffer consequences for this. The basis of attachment theory can be linked to Sigmung Freud s (1926)Read MoreTheories And Research Studies Into Attachment1227 Words   |  5 PagesBritish psychoanalyst John Bowlby (1907-1990) who described it as a ‘lasting psychological connectedness between human beings’ (1988). According to psychologist Mary Anisworth attachment â€Å"may be defined as an affectional tie that one person or animal forms between himself and another specific one-a tie that binds them together in space and endures over time: Attachment is a bond that develops between an infant and their main caregiver usually the mother. Researchers Bowlby, Anisworth, Main and SolomonRead MoreThe Attachment Theory and Factors Damaging to Attachment1163 Words   |  5 Pagesgrow into substantial individuals who can thrive in an often harsh world. Constructing lasting and fulfilling relationships is an integral part to development as the interpersonal bonds forged are not only highly sought after bu t also set the ground work for all upcoming expressive interactions. Relationships and attachment go hand in hand as attachment is the strong and lasting linkage established between a child and his or her caregiver. Moreover, attachment significantly influences a large capacity