Outline and evaluate two explanations of attachment John Bowlby argued that attachment is a biological need

Outline and evaluate two explanations of attachment

John Bowlby argued that attachment is a biological need to attach to

our caregiver. This attachment is innate and we have evolved in this

way to maximise protection, as forming this attachment has survival

value – staying close to the mother or primary care giver (PCG)

ensures food and protection from danger. This one special attachment

that a baby has with his/her PCG is called monotropy, which gives us a

template, or internal working model for all future attachments and

relationships. This is because we learn how to care for and trust

others through this first special attachment. It also acts as a safe

base for the infant, where they trust that the mother will be there

and so can then be more independent and play, giving them confidence

to explore their environment.

The first 3-5 years are seen to be by Bowlby, the critical period.

This attachment must develop by this critical period, otherwise it

never will and the child’s internal working model will then for future

references have less trust and may not be able to care for others in

the same way. Bowlby said that if the attachment is not formed or is

broken, this may seriously damage the child’s social and emotional

development.

However, this explanation is not supported by Shaffer and Emerson, as

they found that a stage in the child’s development is multiple

attachments, and if these may be formed, monotropy would not exist.

Also, attachments are important in development, but lack of attachment

or a broken attachment may not have the severe consequences that

Bowlby claimed.

Another explanation into attachment is the psychodynamic theory. Freud

claimed that during infancy the id is in control of the baby’s actions

and the biological needs such as feeding or sleeping are priority at

this stage in development. The model suggests that the baby cries when

it is hungry, and because the mother feeds it this will give the baby

pleasure as the need is removed. Therefore, the baby will make a link