Ainsworth's Attachment Theory

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John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth collaborated to develop Attachment theory (Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991 cited in Bretherton 1992). Bowlby a psychoanalyst was instrumental in identifying an understanding of the ‘concepts of mental health and mental ill-health’ (Bowlby, 1951 cited in Blakely & Dziadosz 2015, p. 283). In addition, Bowlby asserted that psychopathology could be attributed to the lack of a mother–child relationship, although dependent on duration and method (Bowlby, 1951 cited in Blakely & Dziadosz 2015). Bretherton (1992), maintains that Bowlby formulated Attachment theory presupposing based on ethological hypothesis that separation from the mother or primary carer, the attachment figure, in the formative years resulted in attachment