John Bowlby

5 Pages 1274 Words

IN THE LIGHT OF CHANGES TO THE FAMILY SINCE 1950, ARE BOWLBY’S IDEAS ABOUT CARE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN STILL RELEVANT TODAY?
For the purpose of this essay I have ascertained that young children are those under pre-school age (Block 1, Unit 1, Offprints 2. P8 and Block 1, Unit 1,Section 4. P54}. Bowlby’s idea of family consisted of mother, father and children commonly known as the ‘Nuclear Family’. I will discuss how this has changed and how Bowlby’s ideas have been modified and if his findings are still relevant in today’s society. It is important to look at the need of care for young children, who provides that care and the effects of separation in early development.

In the 1940’s John Bowlby started a study of childcare for the World Health Organisation and produced a report in 1951 (Block 1, Unit 1, Section 4, P48). He argues that infants form a special relationship with their mothers which is distinctively different to relationships they form with any other person.

Bowlby’s research was seized upon by the post-war pressure groups, which argues that women should stay at home to look after their children on a full-time basis. This was a politically sensitive area due to the fact that there were a large number of servicemen returning home and it was considered necessary that jobs should be made available for them. It was therefore argued that women should return to full-time childcare and free their jobs for the returning servicemen.

Bowlby had included in his book ‘Child Care and the Growth of Love’ (1953) (Block 1, Unit 1, Offprint 2, P9) that children who do not form an attachment or bond with their mother would suffer serious consequences and referred to this as ‘Maternal Depravation’. This would lead to severe emotional consequences for the infant in adult life. He claimed that maternal deprivation had consequences leading to aggressiveness, delinquency, anxiety and depression. These manifest more so ...