Application Of Theory And Practice - 983 Words

Application of Theory to Practice Description of Theory The focus of attachment theory looks into how biological, neuropsychological, cognitive, and social factors highly affect child attachment and development. Bowlby started his clinical observations in the 1960s while working with maladjusted boys. There were two particular cases that strongly impacted his development of the theory. These two cases has one thing in common which was distressing relationships with their mothers. Bowlby believed that this was due to the early disruption in the child infant relationship. For an infant attachment appears to be more about the parent or mother’s proximity to the infant then their needs for sustenance. The proximity allows the child to†¦show more content†¦It appeared that infants that had a lack of affect that often continued this into adulthood with no significant changes even when their environments were different. Bowlby explained in his third volume of his trilogy on attachment (1980), â€Å"Intimate attachments to other human beings are the hub around which a person’s life revolves, not only when he is an infant or a toddler or a school child but throughout his adolescence and his years of maturity as well, and on into old age† (p. 442). Bowlby (1980) explained the children he worked with at the home as â€Å"affectionless children† that show signs of â€Å"partial and complete deprivation† (p.9). Partial deprivation is described by Zucker in The Birth of Attachment Theory as â€Å"extreme desire for love or revenge, guilt, and depression. Whereas complete deprivation gave rise to feelings of listlessness, unresponsiveness, developmental disruptions, and a lack of focus and concentration.† With these observations Bowlby developed a theory on the infantile reactions on separation. This can be explained as an infant relies totally on others to get their needs meet. If an infant is not getting their needs meet they cry to alert or protest their needs then they will develop feelings of despair If these needs are not being met or addressed this can eventually lead to detachment. When an infant goes into the despair mode they show this by lack of