Biography of John Bowlby (1907 - 1990)

John Bowlby was born in London, in the month of February 1907 and died in 1990 in Scotland. It was a remarkable psychoanalyst who made remarkable contributions about the importance of maternal bond. It is he who is mainly due to attachment theory. Although today he has become one of the most cited authors, it was perhaps a painful experience for him to reach his own conclusions. Let us know a little more!

John Bowlby biography

John Bowlby He was born in London, within a high middle -class family. The main upbring. A tragic event hit John Bowlby's life; It was the death of his grandfather, who died while exercising as a war correspondent in the opium war.

An hour a day was what John had allowed to see his mother and this only happened after the time of having tea. Although in the summer she was more available, the attention to her son was scarce, so Bowlby's caregiver was her babysitter. Again, something sad happens that would mark Bowlby's life, his babysitter leaves when he turns 4 years old. For him, This was comparable to losing a mother, due to the deep pain that this meant in her life.

When he turned 7 he was admitted to a school with other children of his age and in his same separation or abandonment. A sample of these terrible events left them reflected in his work Separation: Anxiety and anguish. Over there, He recounts his most nostalgic experiences and memories. It was what led him to develop extreme empathy with the children who suffered from abandonment. Although Bowlby died in 1990, his legacy has been key to understanding everything related to attachment theory and how significant some figures can be in childhood.

Bowlby's sensitivity to children's suffering

For Bowlby, Relationships with the mother are decisive in the subsequent development of the child, especially in relation to your mental health, bringing with them effects in the medium and even in the long term. Between 1969 and 1980, Bowlby already has developed its attachment theory and the traces that the early experiences leave in the person with respect to the figures with which the first links are created.

Bowlby did several studies and in all of them He could verify that there were certainly devastating effects on adults who had been abandoned when they were children. In fact, according to Josu Gago, in the article on attachment theory, In Bowlby's work, "maternal care and mental health", there are negative aspects that bring with it the deprivation of the maternal figure in the life of a child.

In this same article, Gago points out that, for John Bowlby, There is a trend that is fundamental in children, and it is to forge strong links with the maternal figure, since this would be part of a primitive inheritance that would allow the survival of the species and that would not keep dependence with other needs such as food. In principle, Bowlby's work aroused certain concerns among the other health professionals, and it was of such magnitude that the World Health Organization made him publish a text entitled: "Need for maternal care", in which refute part of His statements.

Subsequently, and following other studies, Bowlby adapts to his first works, giving better form to his attachment theory. Later, one of his students, called Mary Ainsworth, examined the ideas of his teacher Bowlby and He suggested that there were several attachment styles. Currently, a part of the community of psychologists still does not grant all the necessary relevance to Bowlby's attachment theory, however, it laid the basis for subsequent studies on the subject and this legacy is unquestionable.

Attachments: What are they? How to identify when an attachment is not healthy?

Bibliography

• Bretherton, i. (1992). The Origins of Attachment Theory: John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. Development Psychology, 28(5), 759.
• Bowlby, j., Figlio, k., & Young, R. M. (1986). An interview with John Bowlby on the origin and reception of his work. Free Associations, 1(6), 36-64.
• Delgado, a. EITHER., & Oliva Delgado, to. (2004). Current status of attachment theory. Magazine of Psychiatry and Psychology of the Child and Adolescent, 4(1), 65-81.
• Gago, J. (2014). Attachment theory. The link. Basque-Family Therapy School.
• Holmes, j. (1993). John Bowlby and Attachment Theory. Psychology Press.
• Marrone, m., Diamond, n., & Juri, l. (2001). The attachment theory: a current approach. Madrid: Psimatic.