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
"...One way to begin to uncover the components of the love between an infant and mother would be to place infants in situations where the mother does not provide for all the infant's needs and where various components of the environment can be scientifically manipulated..." (Hock, 1999). Harlow constructed this situation not with humans, but with monkeys. Two wooden surrogate experimental mothers were built for the rhesus monkeys. One of the mothers was covered in sponge rubber and terry cloth and the other in wire mesh. The mothers were exactly the same (nursing breast, light bulb), except the wire mother wasn't able to provide 'contact comfort'. Harlow's experiments demonstrated the huge influence of contact comfort in producing an attachment between mother and infant. This factor is seen to be even more important than the ability for the mother to provide milk. The next stage, also known as filial imprinting (strangers to close kin are avoided) results in a closer following of the offspring to their parents. Attachment bonds are formed and strengthened when proximity is maintained. An attachment is said to have been formed when the infant begins to display signs of anxiety when separated with the caregiver. This phase usually occurs during the age of 7 to 8 months. Factors such as protection from predation and filial imprinting increase proximity. Protection from predation (protection of offspring from predatory or parasitic animals) is what parents do to protect their genes. "...Several studies have shown that children approach their caregivers not only in response to dangerous external stimuli but also they do so to check the availability and attentiveness of the caregiver, and a sort of permanent monitoring activity..." (Montuori & Garelli, 1997).
Some common words found in the essay are:
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,
Approximate Word count = 1659
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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