In this essay I will explain Bowlby’s theory of attachment were Bowlby argues that a baby goes through a certain amount of stages to form an attachment with its primary caregiver and then multiple attachment. I will explain the stages throughout my essay.
To begin, Bowlby argued that attachment is a type of mechanism that ensures the survival of the child. In other words, forming a bond with someone, often the child’s primary care giver is the most essential in order to survive. According to Bowlby which is why they strive to maintain close proximity to the significant adult. He argued that babies have abilities such as crying and smiling to encourage the primary care giver to look after them, and vice versa, the parents, particularly mothers, possess instincts designed to protect their child from harm. Bowlby presented his theory which comes under five sections, firstly being adaptive where babies have an attachment gene ensuring that the infant stays close to the caregiver for food and protein. As this is innate, the baby has social releasers (physical characteristics and behavioural characteristics) which are adaptive because a child’s behavioural characteristic helps the baby to survive. They are innate because survival of a baby’s life is naturally selected. Without any carte from the primary caregiver the baby will not be able to survive on its own. The second stage is Bowlby’s concept of monotropy, which the theory consists of a number of essential factors. Which he described as the attachment to one person who is most important in the baby’s life. While Bowlby doesn’t deny that the baby forms multiple attachments, they always have one more important person to them. Often, Bowlby argues, this is the farther as well as the mother. This has been controversial claim to Bowlby’s theory as fathers are also very important in a child’s upbringing, so why should