The Attachment Theory

The Attachment Theory

The attachment theory talks about the early significance and

developments of attachment between infants and their mothers.

Attachment can be defined as intense, emotional ties to specific

people.

The attachment process can be divided into pre-attachment,

discriminate and indiscriminate and multiple attachment phases.

The development of specific attachment is shown through separation

anxiety.

The most influential versions of this approach was probably that of

Sigmund Freud, who believed that the infants upset at the mothers

absence is based on the crass fear that bodily needs would now go

unsatisfied.

The British psychiatrist john bowlby called this the cupboard theory

of mother love. The cupboard theory of the infants tie to her mother

has been criticized on several grounds. One problem is the fact that

babies often show great interest in other people even those who have

never fed them or satisfied their other bodily needs.

Bolwbys theory of attachment

He proposed that attachments results because infants are born with a

number of interrelated built in tendencies that make them seek direct

contact with an adult.

One facet of attachment seeking is positive; the infant evidently

enjoys being with his mother and interacting with her. From birth on

he start to get used to her, voice even her smell. As the infant gets

older and acquires some locomotors control, he will do whatever he can

to be in the adults company.

According to the bolwby, attachment seeking has a second, more

negative cause. This is a built in fear of the unknown and

unfamiliar, he would want someone he or she...

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... overcome deprivation.

Furthermore, the idea that early experience produces inevitable

consequences for later life exerted a powerful influence on adoption

policies. The usual beliefs of adoption agencies is that children

need to be adopted before they reach the age five in order to

reconstruct the damage done to their attachment.

In conclusion, attachment in infants is concerned with how the

infant’s closets relationship with its parents and caretakers develop.

Although early processes are important, emotion goes on developing

throughout the life-span.

Infants who do not have any sort of attachment or close relationship

with an adult do feel deprived however, research implies that it is

possible to recover from the worst severed deprived childhoods, as far

as they can experience help and warm relationships.