The ontogeny of an idea: John Bowlby and contemporaries on mother–child separation.

Abstract

In this contribution, the authors situate the development of Bowlby's attachment theory against the background of the social, cultural, and scientific developments in interbellum Britain. It is shown that fairly early in his life Bowlby adopted one fundamental idea-that an infant primarily needs a warm and loving mother, and that separations from the mother are potentially damaging-and never substantially changed that basic notion in later years. Bowlby's first and foremost goal-and his lifelong undertaking-was to convince certain others (e.g., orthodox psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, clinicians, and medical doctors) of the importance of this idea by theorizing and gathering empirical evidence. Bowlby's view of mother love deprivation as the main source of maladjusted behavior was at variance with the views of many practitioners and theorists, but it was by no means fully novel and original. The authors show that Bowlby took inspiration from various persons and groups in British society with whom he shared basically similar views.

Before Attachment Theory: Separation Research at the Tavistock Clinic, 1948–1956

“…Priory Gate School was a residential institution that served “maladjusted” children with behavioral problems ranging from nervousness to delinquency. The staff believed that those children's problems originated from early frustrating experiences they had with their parents (Van der Horst & Van der Veer, ).…”

“…Despite tensions, Bowlby was accepted as a candidate for further training and continued his analysis with Riviere until 1937, when he also started training in child analysis under Klein's supervision. The same kind of frictions he had with Riviere also haunted Bowlby's training with Klein, giving rise to profound disagreements between the two about the role of real‐life circumstances and parental environment in the development of neurosis (Van Dijken et al., ; Van der Horst & Van der Veer, ).…”

“…He began working there as a clinical assistant, conducting research under the supervision of Aubrey Lewis (1900–1975), admirer of Meyer and his psychodynamic approach. Under Lewis’ mentorship, Bowlby carried research on “personality types” associated with psychotic and neurotic disturbances (Van der Horst & Van der Veer, ). Conducting interviews with patients whom he saw at the Hospital, he constructed psychosocial case histories in the style of Meyer's psychiatric examination.…”

“…In 1934, Bowlby was appointed clinical assistant at the Department of Psychological Medicine at University College Hospital. In the same year, he was asked to become an honorary member of the staff of the Institute for the Scientific Treatment of Delinquency (ISTD) where he would continue to work part‐time until 1938 (Van der Horst & Van der Veer, ). Adopting the medical model of American child guidance, the ITSD sought to prevent delinquency by providing facilities for examination and treatment of cases of antisocial conduct.…”

“…Van Dijken et al. () and Van der Horst and Van der Veer () traced the intellectual sources of Bowlby's early ideas to his academic training at Cambridge and the Maudsley Hospital and a number of professional appointments he held at progressive schools, psychiatric clinics, and institutes during his formative years. Rayner (1990) discussed attachment theory against the backdrop of the views of the independent group of British psychoanalysis, analyzing the way Bowlby's ideas resembled and differed from the ideas propounded by influential analysts such as Donald Winnicott, Ronald Fairbairn, and Michael Balint.…”