Attachment
In the 1950's the foster care system was having difficulty understanding a very confusing phenomenon: children preferred being with abusive parents rather than in loving foster homes. It was John Bowlby, PhD who took on the challenge to study this problem. Dr. Bowlby discovered that all humans have an innate drive, which he called Attachment, that motivates us, when stressed, to seek physical closeness. This is similar to other more well known innate drives we have, such as hunger, which motivates us to seek out food.
All infants are born with this drive, which, when activated by stressors, such as fear, discomfort, harm, loneliness, etc. causes an infant to seek physical closeness to, and establish communication with, their primary attachment figure, which is typically a parent. This closeness helps to ensure the infant’s survival. Later research has shown this seeking closeness and communication also allows the infant to unconsciously use the attachment figure to assist the infant to organize its own mind and learn to regulate its own emotions, skills necessary for an emotionally stable life.
How a child chooses their primary attachment figure is based simply on which person in their lives is the most emotionally available to them. The quantity of time this person spends with them is not as important as the emotional quality of the time spent. Once this attachment is securely formed, and as the baby grows, the baby will develop other attachments to other people.
This attachment drive persists throughout life, although the primary attachment figure often shifts from a parent to a partner. Even as adults, though, the attachment system is more activated in times of stress. This is what activates the urge to hug a loved one when leaving them, for one example. This is also why abused children cling even more closely to their parent when stressed, regardless of whether or not the parent is the one creating the stress. This explained the foster care phenomena: while under the stress of being removed from their parents, a child’s attachment system activates and their innate drive is to get closer to their primary attachment figure, which is not going to be a foster parent they have never met, no matter how loving or wonderful they may be.
Mary Ainsworth followed up on Bowlby’s attachment theory, and studied infants in Africa, and later in
Since then, there have been many more continuing studies on Attachment. New theories have developed and much of the information from the study of Attachment is being used to help counselors have a better understanding of relationships which they can use to help their clients.
If the infant's need for a secure base was not met, the child developed an insecure attachment. Mary Ainsworth distinguished two forms of insecure attachment: anxious and avoidant. A child whose parent was available inconsistently would develop an anxious attachment, while a child whose parent was not emotionally available, or was rejecting, would develop an avoidant attachment. These categories were obvious in observing in the infant’s ability to soothe themselves once reunited with their parents after a brief separation: securely attached infants were able to use their parents to soothe themselves at reunion, while insecurely attached infants were not able to do so.
Later researchers Main and Solomon developed a fourth category, another insecure form of attachment called disorganized/disoriented attachment which is the result of abuse and resulted in a child who really did not have a coherent and consistent form of attachment, thus their behaviors were unpredictable at reunion.
While it took time for Bowlby'sconcept of attachment to catch on, currently there is a great deal of research and studying of this drive. Studies have shown that if we had a secure attachment as infants it will have a positive impact on many important aspects of our adult lives, including our levels of emotional maturity, our adult relationships and even our academics in life. If, during our infancy, our parents suffered from any number of issues, i.e., divorce, mental illness, death of a loved one, drug abuse, or insecure attachment as infants themselves, or if we suffered in infancy from loss of a parent, numerous separations, lack of a consistent caregiver, or physical or sexual abuse, we then have a greater chance of having an insecure attachment style which we can carry throughout our lives.
More recent research has shown that attachment relationships in our lives play a more crucial role than ever imagined. They shape the development of the brain’s basic structures and functions; they influence how we mentally construct reality; and they impact our ability to cope with stressful events and maintain relationships throughout our lives.
If we are aware that we or our parents suffered from any of the above issues, especially if we are currently having trouble in relationships now, or respond poorly in stressful situations, we may have an insecure attachment style. Many therapists are trained to identify and treat this, and it is within the counseling relationship itself that one can have a new experience, and an opportunity to acquire the relationship, stress response, or other missing skills that will allow us to be more successful in life.
Secure attachment is the result of an emotionally available caregiver who is able to accurately and consistently interpret the baby’s signals, meet the baby’s needs, and provide a safe environment for the baby to explore the world, and a secure place for the baby to consistently return to. If a parent had a secure attachment with their parent, this usually comes naturally. If the parent has an insecure attachment style, it can often negatively impact their ability to provide a secure base for the baby.
A parent provides a secure base by giving the infant just enough safety, without being overly restrictive or smothering, and, equally as important, provides enough freedom for the baby to explore the world while still being available as necessary. Not so easily said, for many, even less easily done. The parent must be able to meet the infant’s needs without the parent’s own needs getting in the way. For an insecurely attached parent, this can be very difficult.
References
John Bowlby, Attachment and Loss, Vol I, Basic Books, Inc., NY 1969
Daniel J. Siegel, MD, The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape who we are, The Guilford Press, NY 1999
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