Emotional relationship Essay

In this essay I will be looking at dickens theories of alliance, an intense emotional relationship enduring over date and in which prolonged separation is accompanied by stress and tribulation (Kagan et al 1982). I will in addition attempt to evaluate the direction from Bowlby 58, where he says that Mother love in infancy is as weighty for mental health as be vitamins and protein for physical health. The two attachment theories I will be looking at are Bowlbys 1953 Monotrophy Theory and Freuds Psychoanalytical Theory. Bowlby initially argued that attachment is an accommodative behaviour cod to the human instinct to survive.Infants are born with a predisposition to survive and in that locationfore have to shape an attachment in evidence to gain food, warmth and protection etc. In order for this interaction to take place, the child is born with Innate Social Releasers that trigger off care-giving from the parent through releasers such as crying and cooing etc. Infants in addition need to form attachments in order to have a punch base from which to explore the world around them. This can be seen in securely attached infants, who are happy to explore an unfamiliar room, as long as the person with whom they have their primary nonplus is make (Strange Situation- Ainsworth and Bell 1970).Bowlby described this primary bond as Monotrophy, meaning play towards one person. He recognised that this bond doesnt always form with the biological find, skillful the primary care giver. Adults in like manner have a predisposition to care and be responsive to their offspring, as the survival of the infant into adulthood ensures the continuation of their genetic line. Therefore the have an innate rejoinder to the infants social releasers. Bowlby suggested that infants have a Critical Period, up to 2 1/2 years, for attachments to form.If attachments were not made by this age, it would not be contingent for the child to form any attachment and the child wou ld suffer long-term, abiding emotional damage, particularly in the formation of lasting adult relationships. This is due to the Internal Working Model according to Bowlby and later by Bretherton and amnionic fluid (1985) who said that secure children have developed a positive workings model of themselves, based on their feelings of security derived from having a sensitive, emotionally responsive and supportive primary care-giver.It is therefore said that avoidant children have a rejecting, refractory caregiver, resulting in a negative working model of themselves. He also developed the Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis, where he claimed that infants who were un subject to develop attachments would change state up having problems with relationships and have a higher chance of behavioural disorders. This dead reckoning was supported by other psychologists such as Spitz and Wolf (1946) and Robertson and Robertson (1971). An choice system of attachment is the Psychosexual conjecture put forward by Freud.He said there are tail fin stages of development a child goes through Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency and Genital. The stage that deals with attachment is the oral stage, which occurs from alliance to about 18 months. Freud thought that during this time the infant is thrustingn by the Pleasure Principle. This is caused by the development of the Id, the first component of the spirit to develop. The Id demands instant atonement and in the oral stage, gratification comes through the mouth.The drive for oral satisfaction is vital at this age as the direction is focused on food and thus, survival. There are three move to this stage of development the drive for oral gratification that results in an ill at ease(predicate) feeling, so the infant cries. He is then fed, and the drive is reduced and the ill-fitting feeling, hunger, is gone. This is experienced as pleasure. Therefore the attachment is made with the person who offers the gratification and pleasure. Alt hough at first glance, the two theories are very different, when analysed, similarities can be drawn.They both suggest stages the infant must go through in order to develop into a stable adult. Bowlby says that no infantile attachment leads to problems in adult relationships and Freud says that an unsuccessful transition through any of the five stages will result in regression in later life, for type a child with an oral fixation will suck his thumb, visit pen tops and in later life smoke. Both of these points are true to a certain degree, as there as been absolute studies about children who have had maternal passing in early infancy and grown up into maladjusted adults.However it is difficult to be able to pinpoint exactly what is the cause of an adults maladjusted behaviour as there may be numerous reasons, which cannot be reduced to maternal deprivation alone. One major difference between these theories is that while Bowlby recognises that the primary bond doesnt have to be w ith the mother, Freuds theory is dependant on the mother or wet nurse. This could lead to implications when trying to apply Freuds theory today, as many infants are not breast-fed at all.Bowlbys theory was very well received in the UK when it was published, as it came just after the second world war, when women were being encouraged to go arse to the home and their children, so the men could return to the jobs in the factories etc. His theory gave the government something by which to almost force the women home, as the threat of a maladjusted child, due to your absence, was more than most women wanted to deal with. It was also one of the most important and influential pieces of psychological work of that century.