John Bowlby facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Bowlby
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| Born |
Edward John Mostyn Bowlby
26 February 1907 |
| Died | 2 September 1990 (aged 83) |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge, University College Hospital |
| Known for | Pioneering work in attachment theory |
| Awards | CBE, FRCP |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Psychology, Psychiatry |
| Institutions | Maudsley Hospital, Tavistock Clinic, World Health Organization |
| Influences | Mary Ainsworth, Norman F. Dixon, Robert Hinde, Melanie Klein, Konrad Lorenz, Don Norman, Donald Winnicott |
| Influenced | Mary Ainsworth, Patricia McKinsey Crittenden, Mary Main, James Robertson, Allan Schore, Daniel J. Siegel |
Edward John Mostyn Bowlby (born February 26, 1907 – died September 2, 1990) was a British psychologist, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst. He is famous for his important work on child development and for creating attachment theory. This theory helps us understand how children form strong emotional bonds with their caregivers. In 2002, a survey ranked Bowlby as one of the most often quoted psychologists of the 20th century.
Contents
Early Life and Family
John Bowlby was born in London into a well-off family. He was the fourth of six children. Like many children from similar families at that time in Britain, he was mainly raised by a nanny. His nanny, Minnie, was his main caregiver when he was very young. He later said that when Minnie left the family, it felt as sad as losing a mother.
Bowlby usually saw his mother for only about an hour a day. This was common for mothers of her social class. They often believed that too much attention would spoil children.
His father, Sir Anthony Alfred Bowlby, was a surgeon for the King's Household. During World War I, his father was away serving in the military.
When Bowlby was almost seven years old, he was sent away to a boarding school. This was also common for boys of his social status. His parents sent him and his older brother to protect them from bombing attacks during the war. Bowlby later described this time as terrible for him. He once said, "I wouldn't send a dog away to boarding school at age seven."
Bowlby married Ursula Longstaff in 1938. They had four children together. He passed away at his summer home in Scotland.
Bowlby's Career Path
Bowlby first started studying medicine, following in his father's footsteps. However, he soon became very interested in developmental psychology, which is the study of how people grow and change throughout their lives. He decided to switch from medicine to psychology.
A very important experience for him was working at a school called Priory Gates. There, he worked with children who had difficulties. He said this time was "the most valuable six months of my life." It taught him that many problems people face later in life might come from their early experiences.
After studying psychology at Trinity College, Cambridge, Bowlby continued his medical training. He became a doctor and then trained as a psychoanalyst. A psychoanalyst helps people understand their thoughts and feelings, often by looking at their past.
During World War II, Bowlby worked as a doctor. He helped children who were separated from their families because of the war. Many children were moved out of London to keep them safe from air raids. This experience made him even more interested in how separation affects children.
After the war, he worked at the Tavistock Clinic and as a mental health consultant for the World Health Organization (WHO).
Understanding Maternal Deprivation
In 1949, Bowlby was asked to write a report for the World Health Organization. This report was about the mental health of children who had lost their homes after the war in Europe. The report, published in 1951, was called Maternal Care and Mental Health.
In this report, Bowlby said that babies and young children need a warm, close, and steady relationship with their mother or a main caregiver. He believed that not having this kind of relationship could cause serious and lasting problems for a child's mental health.
His ideas were very important and led to big changes. For example, hospitals started allowing parents to visit their young children more often. Also, the way children were cared for in institutions began to change.
Some people disagreed with Bowlby's ideas. They argued about how much a child needed a mother's love to grow up normally. There was also confusion between privation (never having a main caregiver) and deprivation (losing a main caregiver).
In 1962, the WHO published another report to clarify Bowlby's ideas. This report also looked at how not having a father figure might affect children.
Developing Attachment Theory
Bowlby was not happy with the old theories about why children behave the way they do. So, he looked for new ideas from different fields of study. These included evolutionary biology (how living things change over time), ethology (the study of animal behavior), and developmental psychology.
He came up with the idea that the way babies connect with their caregivers is a natural survival strategy. It helps protect them from danger. Bowlby believed that this need to form strong bonds is built into us.
Mary Ainsworth, a close colleague of Bowlby, joined his research team. She helped test and expand his ideas. She also suggested that there are different styles of attachment.
Ethology and Animal Behavior
Bowlby was very interested in ethology. He learned a lot from scientists who studied animal behavior, like Konrad Lorenz. Lorenz showed that young geese "imprint" on the first moving object they see. This inspired Bowlby to think about how humans form early bonds.
Bowlby saw that ethologists used clear evidence to support their ideas. He wanted to bring this scientific approach to the study of human relationships. He realized that the strong bond between a child and caregiver was not just about getting food. It was about safety and survival.
His ideas also influenced animal researchers. For example, Harry Harlow studied rhesus monkeys and showed how important comfort and contact were for baby monkeys, even more than food.
The "Attachment and Loss" Books
Bowlby shared his main ideas about attachment theory in three important books: Attachment (1969), Separation: Anxiety and Anger (1972), and Loss: Sadness and Depression (1980).
According to attachment theory, babies try to stay close to their main caregiver, especially when they feel scared or upset. This closeness helps them survive. Babies become attached to adults who are sensitive and respond to their needs. These caregivers should be consistent for several months, usually from about 6 months to two years old.
These early relationships help shape a child's feelings, thoughts, and expectations for future relationships. Bowlby explained that we all develop an "internal working model" of ourselves and others. This model is based on our early experiences with our main caregiver.
- The self-model affects how we see ourselves, our confidence, and our self-esteem.
- The other-model affects how we see others and how we interact in relationships.
Bowlby believed that children need a secure relationship with adult caregivers. Without it, their social and emotional development might not happen normally.
As a child grows, they use their caregiver as a "secure base" to explore the world. Mary Ainsworth used this idea to create a research method called the "strange situation." This method helps scientists understand and classify different attachment styles in children.
Attachment can form with any consistent caregiver, not just mothers. What matters most is how sensitive and responsive the caregiver is, not just how much time they spend with the child.
Bowlby's Last Work
Bowlby's last work was a book about Charles Darwin. In this book, Bowlby looked at Darwin's health problems and wondered if they were related to his family experiences. Bowlby believed that to understand a family's relationships, you often need to look at earlier generations and the events that shaped them.
Bowlby's Legacy
Even though some people disagreed with his ideas, attachment theory is now a leading way to understand how children develop socially. It has led to a lot of research into how children form close relationships.
Here are some key ideas from Bowlby's attachment theory:
- Young children (between 6 and 30 months old) are very likely to form strong emotional bonds with familiar caregivers. This is especially true if the adults are sensitive and responsive to the child's needs.
- These emotional bonds are shown when children prefer certain familiar people. They want to be close to these people, especially when they are upset. They also use these adults as a safe base to explore their surroundings.
- Forming emotional attachments helps build the foundation for later emotional growth and personality. How toddlers act towards familiar adults often continues into their social behaviors later in life.
- Events that disrupt attachment, like suddenly separating a child from familiar people, or caregivers not being sensitive or consistent, can have negative effects on a child's emotional and thinking life, both short-term and long-term.
A mountain in Kyrgyzstan has even been named after Bowlby!
See also
- Attachment in children
- Attachment theory
- Reactive attachment disorder
