1. Introduction:
1.1 John Bowlby and his theory of ‘Attachment’
“The quality of attachment during infancy lays the foundation for healthy
development in a variety of realms” (Belsky, 2018 ).
According to John Bowlby and his “attachment theory” (Belsky, 2018 ), the
experiences that children endure during their early stages of life with their so called
‘caregivers’, do, somewhat shape their adult lives, or part of their adult lives. The
‘attachment theory’’ runs on the basis that during the years of early childhood, it is of
utmost importance that a child be closely connected to, or have a strong,
unbreakable bond with their so called caregiver. Bowlby believes that this plays a
crucial role in a species survival.
Let’s take a closer look at what attachment is all about, and whether the quality of
attachment does in fact, lay the foundation for healthy development in a variety of
realms within the child’s early stages of life, and if the quality of this attachment
hinders or facilitates the infants developmental stages in their primary benchmarks of
childhood.
2. Body:
2.1 attachment and exploring the “attachment response”
Attachment, as we all know, is the bond between a caregiver and a child, or a bond
between any two individuals. It can also be referred to as “the powerful bond of love
between a caregiver and child” (Belsky, 2018 ). Let’s take a look at a landmark study
performed by Harlow, which shows just how important it is to have a caregiving
figure that provides an essence of nurture and warmth in its presence.
3
, During this study, Harlow created a wire-mesh mother that offered food to the baby
monkeys, simultaneously, he also created another cloth-covered mother that
essentially would then provide “contact comfort” (Belsky, 2018 ) for these baby
monkeys. His study showed, that although the need for food is a vital part of survival
of any individual from any and all species, the baby monkey’s still chose to cling onto
the cloth-covered mother and only lean over to feed from the wire-mesh mother,
clearly indicating the very importance of nurture and the significance of providing a
sense of comfort and calm to the infant. As Bowlby would say “there is no such thing
as excessive mother love” (Belsky, 2018 ). Thus, it is critical in the process of
childhood development for a primary attachment figure to be present in the infants
life.
2.2 The attachment response and attachment milestones
According to British psychologist, John Bowlby, “human beings have a critical period
when the attachment response comes out”. (Belsky, 2018 ). But what exactly does
this mean? Well, its’ simple really; any individual, primarily speaking, an infant,
exhibits this conjecture of an ‘attachment response’ or otherwise known as;
“proximity-seeking behaviour” (Belsky, 2018 ) during specific situations that they find
themselves in, or during precarious situations whereby the individual feels
threatened.
In life, there is always an abundance of opportunities to reach “milestones” such as;
losing your first tooth, graduating high school, getting a degree or getting your first
job. This too, applies to babies during their initial/early stages of childhood. Bowlby
devised a theory around something called “attachment milestones” (Belsky, 2018 ).
These milestones start appearing at the earliest stages of the infants life. The
earliest being “the pre-attachment phase” (Belsky, 2018 ) which is said to begin
during the first three months of the infants life and shows no apparent indication of
attachment. The second milestone is that known as the “social smile” (Belsky, 2018
), which, in the opinion of Bowlby still did not yet show, the quintessence of
4
1.1 John Bowlby and his theory of ‘Attachment’
“The quality of attachment during infancy lays the foundation for healthy
development in a variety of realms” (Belsky, 2018 ).
According to John Bowlby and his “attachment theory” (Belsky, 2018 ), the
experiences that children endure during their early stages of life with their so called
‘caregivers’, do, somewhat shape their adult lives, or part of their adult lives. The
‘attachment theory’’ runs on the basis that during the years of early childhood, it is of
utmost importance that a child be closely connected to, or have a strong,
unbreakable bond with their so called caregiver. Bowlby believes that this plays a
crucial role in a species survival.
Let’s take a closer look at what attachment is all about, and whether the quality of
attachment does in fact, lay the foundation for healthy development in a variety of
realms within the child’s early stages of life, and if the quality of this attachment
hinders or facilitates the infants developmental stages in their primary benchmarks of
childhood.
2. Body:
2.1 attachment and exploring the “attachment response”
Attachment, as we all know, is the bond between a caregiver and a child, or a bond
between any two individuals. It can also be referred to as “the powerful bond of love
between a caregiver and child” (Belsky, 2018 ). Let’s take a look at a landmark study
performed by Harlow, which shows just how important it is to have a caregiving
figure that provides an essence of nurture and warmth in its presence.
3
, During this study, Harlow created a wire-mesh mother that offered food to the baby
monkeys, simultaneously, he also created another cloth-covered mother that
essentially would then provide “contact comfort” (Belsky, 2018 ) for these baby
monkeys. His study showed, that although the need for food is a vital part of survival
of any individual from any and all species, the baby monkey’s still chose to cling onto
the cloth-covered mother and only lean over to feed from the wire-mesh mother,
clearly indicating the very importance of nurture and the significance of providing a
sense of comfort and calm to the infant. As Bowlby would say “there is no such thing
as excessive mother love” (Belsky, 2018 ). Thus, it is critical in the process of
childhood development for a primary attachment figure to be present in the infants
life.
2.2 The attachment response and attachment milestones
According to British psychologist, John Bowlby, “human beings have a critical period
when the attachment response comes out”. (Belsky, 2018 ). But what exactly does
this mean? Well, its’ simple really; any individual, primarily speaking, an infant,
exhibits this conjecture of an ‘attachment response’ or otherwise known as;
“proximity-seeking behaviour” (Belsky, 2018 ) during specific situations that they find
themselves in, or during precarious situations whereby the individual feels
threatened.
In life, there is always an abundance of opportunities to reach “milestones” such as;
losing your first tooth, graduating high school, getting a degree or getting your first
job. This too, applies to babies during their initial/early stages of childhood. Bowlby
devised a theory around something called “attachment milestones” (Belsky, 2018 ).
These milestones start appearing at the earliest stages of the infants life. The
earliest being “the pre-attachment phase” (Belsky, 2018 ) which is said to begin
during the first three months of the infants life and shows no apparent indication of
attachment. The second milestone is that known as the “social smile” (Belsky, 2018
), which, in the opinion of Bowlby still did not yet show, the quintessence of
4
