A child has an innate need to form an attachment with one person. This is called monotropy. ( attachment could be with a main attachment figure, not necessarily the natural mother)
So if the child is deprived of their mother, which is their main attachment figure they would have problems later in life.
This strong relationship with one person should continue unbroken for the first 2 years of life if adverse effects are to be avoided.
Bowlby thought that the first main attachment was different from any other attachment, Bowlby thought social,emotional and intellectual development would be adversely affected if the mother- child bond was broken early in life.
The maternal deprivation hypothesis holds that broken attachment ( or lack of an attachment) leads to problems for the child with relationships on reaching adulthood.
Bowlby believed such problems in adulthood are permanent and irreversible, meaning that once there are problems, nothing can be done about them.
Broken attachment leads to delinquency and affectioness psychopathy.
Attachment included features that means providing a safe haven for when the child is afraid and a secure base from which the child can go and explore the world.
When the child is seperated from the main attachment figure, the child will seek for comfort and show distress and sepration anxiety, which has the effect of drawing the attachment figure back to the infant, a useful survival mechanism.
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