JOHN BOWLBY & THE
ATTACHMENT THEORY
oEdward John Mostyn
Bowlby
o February 26 ,1907
o Died: September 2, 1990
JOHN BOWLBY
ACTIVITY
As a group put the items
listed at your table in
order of importance
Upper-Middle class family
oNannies and Nursemaids
o1918 Lindisfarne Boarding School
o
CHILDHOOD
EDUCATION
o Britannia Royal Naval College
o Trinity College in Cambridge, Psychology
o studied Adult Psychiatry at Maudsley HospitalLondon
SCHOOL
PSYCHIATRIST
INTEREST IN ADVERSE
CHILDHOOD
EXPERIENCES
RESEARCH UNIT
WHAT LED TO
THE
ATTACHMENT
THEORY?
Noticed Children
experienced
intense distress
when separated
from their
mothers
“lasting
psychological
connectedness
between human
beings”
Evolutionary
context, safety
and security
Intrinsic need for
an emotional
bond
THE
ATTACHMENT
THEORY
preattachment (newborn to
6 weeks)
STAGES OF
ATTACHMENT
Attachment in Making (6
weeks to 6-8 months)
Clear Cut Attachment (6-8
months to 18-24 months)
Formation of Reciprocal
Relationship (18 months and
up)
Secure Attachment
Anxious resistant insecure
(ambivalent) attachment
Avoidant insecure
attachment
Disorganized/disoriented
attachment
ATTACHMENT
STYLES
KEY POINTS
Development and
Behavior
Early attachment
styles
regulate feelings
OBJECTIONS
o Social class, temperament, culture
o propaganda
oDollard and Miller in 1950
DISCUSSION QUESTION
Why would it be beneficial as a teacher to
understand the Attachment Theory?
SOURCES
1. Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1969). Object Relations, Dependency, and Attachment: A Theoretical
Review of the Infant-Mother Relationship. Child Development, 40(4), 969. doi:
10.2307/1127008
2. Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and Loss: Volume 1: Attachment. Hogarth Press.
3. Bretherton, I. (1992). The origins of attachment theory: John Bowlby and Mary
Ainsworth. Developmental Psychology, 28(5), 759–775. doi: 10.1037//00121649.28.5.759
4. Goldberg, S., Muir, R., & Kerr, J. (2009). Attachment theory: social, developmental, and
clinical perspectives. New York: Routledge.