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| John Mostyn Bowlby was born ] ] in ] to an upper-middle-class family. He was the fourth of six children and was raised by a nanny in traditional British fashion of his class. His father, Sir Anthony Bowlby, first ] Bowlby, was surgeon to the King's Household, but with a tragic history; at age five, his own father (John's grandfather) had been killed while serving as a war correspondent in the Anglo-Chinese ]. Normally, John saw his mother only one hour a day after teatime, though during the summer she was more available. She had thought that spoiling her children was dangerous, so that attention and affection was the opposite of what was required with a child. When Bowlby was almost four years old, his beloved nanny, who was actually his primary caretaker in his early years, left the family. Later, he was to describe this as tragic as the loss of a mother. | John Mostyn Bowlby was born ] ] in ] to an upper-middle-class family. He was the fourth of six children and was raised by a nanny in traditional British fashion of his class. His father, Sir Anthony Bowlby, first ] Bowlby, was surgeon to the King's Household, but with a tragic history; at age five, his own father (John's grandfather) had been killed while serving as a war correspondent in the Anglo-Chinese ]. Normally, John saw his mother only one hour a day after teatime, though during the summer she was more available. She had thought that spoiling her children was dangerous, so that attention and affection was the opposite of what was required with a child. When Bowlby was almost four years old, his beloved nanny, who was actually his primary caretaker in his early years, left the family. Later, he was to describe this as tragic as the loss of a mother. | ||
| At the age of seven, he was sent off to ]. His later work, for example ''Separation: Anxiety and Anger'', revealed that he regarded it as a terrible time for him. Because of such experiences as a child, he displayed an |
At the age of seven, he was sent off to ]. His later work, for example ''Separation: Anxiety and Anger'', revealed that he regarded it as a terrible time for him. Because of such experiences as a child, he displayed an particular sensitivity to children’s suffering throughout his life. | ||
| He died ] ] at his summer home in ], Scotland. He had married Ursula Longstaff, herself the daughter of a surgeon, on 16 April ], and they had four children, including (Sir) Richard Bowlby, who succeeded his uncle as third Baronet Bowlby and is active in continuing his father's work. | He died ] ] at his summer home in ], Scotland. He had married Ursula Longstaff, herself the daughter of a surgeon, on ] ], and they had four children, including (Sir) Richard Bowlby, who succeeded his uncle as third Baronet Bowlby, and is active in continuing his father's work{{fact}}. | ||
| ==Career== | ==Career== | ||
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| ==Legacy== | ==Legacy== | ||
| {{POV-section}} | |||
| {{main|Attachment theory}} | {{main|Attachment theory}} | ||
| ] is highly regarded as a well-researched explanation of infant and toddler behavior and in the field of infant mental health. It is hard to imagine any clinical work with an infant or toddler that is not about attachment, since dealing with that issue has been shown to be an essential developmental task for that age period. | ] is highly regarded as a well-researched explanation of infant and toddler behavior and in the field of ]. It is hard to imagine any clinical work with an infant or toddler that is not about attachment, since dealing with that issue has been shown to be an essential developmental task for that age period. | ||
| Following Bowlby‘s leads, a few established child-development researchers and |
Following Bowlby‘s leads, a few established child-development researchers and academics have suggested developmentally appropriate mental health interventions to sensitively foster emotional relationships between very young children and adults. These approaches used reliably tested and reviewed techniques which were not only congruent with ], but with other established principles of ]. Such approaches include those of Alicia Lieberman (parent-child psychotherapy), ] ("Floor Time"), Daniel Hughes ("]"){{Dubious}}, Mary Dozier (autonomous states of mind), Robert Marvin ("Circle of Security"), Phyllis Jernberg (]){{Dubious}}, Daniel Schechter (intergenerational transmission of trauma), and Joy Osofsky ("Safe Start Initiative"). | ||
| While some clinicians have used Bowlby's theory as the basis for controversial interventions (generally under the rubric of ]), this linkage has been rejected by established researchers. Among the many reasons for the rejection is the unjustified extension of treatment to older children and adolescents. . | |||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| ⚫ | *] | ||
| *] | *] | ||
| ⚫ | *] | ||
| ⚫ | *] | ||
| *] | *] | ||
| *] | *] | ||
| *] | |||
| ⚫ | *] | ||
| ⚫ | *] {{Dubious}} | ||
| ⚫ | *] | ||
| *] | *] {{Dubious}} | ||
| ==Selected Bibliography== | ==Selected Bibliography== | ||
Revision as of 21:29, 24 October 2006
John Bowlby (1907 - 1990) was a British developmental psychologist in the psychoanalytic tradition, notable for his pioneering work in attachment theory.
Background
John Mostyn Bowlby was born 26 February 1907 in London to an upper-middle-class family. He was the fourth of six children and was raised by a nanny in traditional British fashion of his class. His father, Sir Anthony Bowlby, first Baronet Bowlby, was surgeon to the King's Household, but with a tragic history; at age five, his own father (John's grandfather) had been killed while serving as a war correspondent in the Anglo-Chinese Opium War. Normally, John saw his mother only one hour a day after teatime, though during the summer she was more available. She had thought that spoiling her children was dangerous, so that attention and affection was the opposite of what was required with a child. When Bowlby was almost four years old, his beloved nanny, who was actually his primary caretaker in his early years, left the family. Later, he was to describe this as tragic as the loss of a mother.
At the age of seven, he was sent off to boarding school. His later work, for example Separation: Anxiety and Anger, revealed that he regarded it as a terrible time for him. Because of such experiences as a child, he displayed an particular sensitivity to children’s suffering throughout his life.
He died 2 September 1990 at his summer home in Isle of Skye, Scotland. He had married Ursula Longstaff, herself the daughter of a surgeon, on 16 April 1938, and they had four children, including (Sir) Richard Bowlby, who succeeded his uncle as third Baronet Bowlby, and is active in continuing his father's work.
Career
John Bowlby’s intellectual career began at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, where he studied psychology and pre-clinical sciences. He won prizes for outstanding intellectual performance. After Cambridge he took some time to work with maladjusted and delinquent children, then at the age of twenty-two enrolled at University College Hospital in London. At the age of twenty-six he qualified in medicine. While still in medical school he also found time to enroll himself in the Institute for Psychoanalysis. Following medical school, he trained in adult psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital. In 1937, he qualified as a psychoanalyst. And became president of Trinity College in 1938.
During World War II, he was a Lieutenant Colonel, RAMC. After the war, he was Deputy Director of the Tavistock Clinic, and from 1950, Mental Health Consultant to the World Health Organisation.
Because of his previous work with maladapted and delinquent children, he became interested in the development of children and began work at the Child Guidance Clinic in London.
Bowlby was interested in finding out the actual patterns of family interaction involved in both healthy and pathological development. He focused on how attachment difficulties were transmitted from one generation to the next. The three most important experiences for Bowlby’s future work and the development of attachment theory were his work with:
- Maladapted and delinquent children.
- James Robertson (in 1952) in making the documentary film ‘A Two-Year Old Goes to the Hospital’, which was one of the films about ”young children in brief separation“. The documentary illustrated the impact of loss and suffering experienced by young children separated from their primary caretakers.
- Melanie Klein during his psychoanalytic training. She was his supervisor, however they had different views about the role of the mother in the treatment of a three-year-old boy.
The most famous and enduring work of John Bowlby was theorizing about attachment styles of infants with primary caretakers. He observed and generalized from his observations, and hence developed a scientific theory (attachment theory). In his view, attachment behavior was an evolutionary survival strategy for protecting the infant from predators, and attachment theory reflects that. Mary Ainsworth, a student of Bowlby’s, further extended and tested his ideas.
Legacy
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Attachment theory is highly regarded as a well-researched explanation of infant and toddler behavior and in the field of infant mental health. It is hard to imagine any clinical work with an infant or toddler that is not about attachment, since dealing with that issue has been shown to be an essential developmental task for that age period.
Following Bowlby‘s leads, a few established child-development researchers and academics have suggested developmentally appropriate mental health interventions to sensitively foster emotional relationships between very young children and adults. These approaches used reliably tested and reviewed techniques which were not only congruent with attachment theory, but with other established principles of child development. Such approaches include those of Alicia Lieberman (parent-child psychotherapy), Stanley Greenspan ("Floor Time"), Daniel Hughes ("Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy"), Mary Dozier (autonomous states of mind), Robert Marvin ("Circle of Security"), Phyllis Jernberg (Theraplay), Daniel Schechter (intergenerational transmission of trauma), and Joy Osofsky ("Safe Start Initiative").
While some clinicians have used Bowlby's theory as the basis for controversial interventions (generally under the rubric of Attachment therapy), this linkage has been rejected by established researchers. Among the many reasons for the rejection is the unjustified extension of treatment to older children and adolescents. .
See also
Selected Bibliography
- Bowlby, J. (1952) Maternal Care & Mental Health. World Health Organization, Monograph no. 2; Jason Aronson (1977). ISBN 1-56821-757-9
- Bowlby, J. & Fry, Margery (1953,1965) Child Care & the Growth of Love. London: Pelican. ISBN 0-14-013458-1. (Maternal Care & Mental Health abridged and edited for a general readership by Fry. 1965 2nd edition contains 2 additional chapters by Mary Salter Ainsworth)
- Bowlby, J. (1969,1982) Attachment . London: Hogarth Press; New York, Basic Books; Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin (1971). ISBN 0-465-00543-8.
- Bowlby, J. (1973) Separation: Anxiety & Anger . London: Hogarth Press; New York: Basic Books; Harmondsworth: Penguin (1975). ISBN 0-465-09716-2.
- Bowlby, J. (1980) Loss: Sadness & Depression . London: Hogarth Press; New York: Basic Books; Harmondsworth: Penguin (1981). ISBN 0-465-04237-6.
- Bowlby, J. (1988) A Secure Base: Parent-Child Attachment and Healthy Human Development. London: Routledge; New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0-415-00640-6.
- Bretherton, I. (1992) "The origins of attachment theory". Developmental Psychology, 28:759-775.
- Holmes, J. (1993) John Bowlby and Attachment Theory. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-07729-X.