Attachment
The unborn child is dependent on the mother for all its nutritional needs via the placenta and umbilical cord. In a similar way, this dependency carries on after a child is born and its umbilical cord is cut and knotted. The child needs someone to reattach itself to. In the Oxford, 'attachment' is defined as affection or devotion. "...Harlow discovered that love and affection may be primary needs that are just as strong as or even stronger than those of hunger or thirst..." (Hock, 1999). This need for love and affection is what the child seeks after the initial physical seperation from its biological mother. How it finds this love, after conception, shapes its idea of love for adulthood. This essay focuses heavily on the Attachment theory of Bowlby, Harlow's Discovering Love Experiments, Harris' discussion on The Bonding Theory and Ainsworth's studies on attachment patterns."...Attachment refers to the strong emotional bond between two individuals (usually between the child and the mother or primary care giver)..." (Louw & Edwards, 1997). The formation of this bond has proven essential for the healthy development of a child. "...The process is a gradual one of learned recognition and recall, of learned patterns of interactio
Observable discreet behaviours in human infants include grasping, sucking, following, approaching, smiling, crying and clinging. These disciplines were first employed to understand the origin, function and development of the child's socio-emotional relations. This is his view of the biologically natural pattern, but also the best pattern. These attachment bonds characterized the children's behaviour patterns in different situations. " (Louw & Edwards, 1997; Routh & Bernholtz, 1991; Bowlby, 1969). The mothers were exactly the same (nursing breast, light bulb), except the wire mother wasn't able to provide 'contact comfort'. Attachment as a concept was given meaning. John Bowlby first suggested that a child's subsequent socio-emotional well-being might be affected by disruption in the pattern of early infant care. These behaviours are a means of increasing proximity and establishing contact with the caregiver. They found that the primary attachment figure could be fathers, grandparents and even older brothers or sisters. The evidence from the work of Bowlby and Harlow does seem to support the idea that an infant must have a stable attachment figure in early life.
Common topics in this essay:
Montuori Garelli,
Bonding Hypothesis,
John Bowlby,
Walters Wall1978,
Louw Edwards,
Baltimore Obvious,
,
Schaffer Emerson,
Bowlby Harlow,
Theory Ainsworth's,
attachment figure,
harris 1991,
garelli 1997,
montuori garelli,
biological mother,
secure attachment,
montuori garelli 1997,
louw edwards 1997,
louw edwards,
edwards 1997,
observable discreet behaviours,
attachment bond,
mother child,
life harris 1991,
primary attachment figure,
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Acceptance Essays
