Outline and evaluate Bolwby's theory of attachment

Suggest that children come into the world biologically programmed to form attachments with others, because this will help them to survive. The infant produces innate social releaser behaviours such as crying and smiling that stimulate innate caregiving responses from adults. The determinant of attachment is not food but care and responsiveness. Bowlby suggested that children would initially form only one primary attachment (monotrophy) and that the attachment figure acted as a secure base for exploring the world. The attachment relationship acts as a prototype for all future social relationships so disrupting it can have severe consequences. This theory also suggests that there is a critical period for developing an attachment. If an attachment has not developed during this period…